What Are Microsites?
Microsites are branded mini-sites that don’t carry the brand name of a business in the URL. They can “live” on a company’s Website under a subdomain, but they are usually set apart from a company’s main Website, under a separate domain. Here’s microsites, a complete guide.
Types of microsites
There are generally 2 types of microsites
Campaign driven: Usually features a single product that a company wants to promote or a campaign aimed at getting potential clients to sign up for a demonstration, get discounted offers or increase brand awareness. An example would be Porsche Carrera Cup, which was set up with the aim of selling tickets to a race featuring porsches. Another great example is Elf Yourself, set up by Office Max, to distribute vouchers for their store. The campaign runs over the Xmas holidays & users can turn themselves into animated elves & share the resultant video on social media.
Content driven: Generally, feature articles, video or audio rich Content aimed at informing potential clients in a manner designed to change their thinking or enrich their awareness of a particular subject with the aim of converting clients or improving brand awareness. Example: Open View, an article rich Site to help technology startups.
Best Development Strategies
Deploying a microsite is a good idea if the Content does not fit well into a company’s main Website.
The most salient aspect to bear in mind when developing a microsite is to keep it succinct, engaging (preferably in a fun way) & to offer an easy to find bold call to action (CTA) that results in conversion.
The Site should not comprise more than a few pages, with a SPA (Single Page Application) being the most popular. Colors should be bold & contrasting. Any forms, such as subscription collecting or booking forms should be short, easy to complete & offer instant advantage to the client. The site should have a domain name that describes its functionality, not the brand’s name, but the brand should be clearly discernible by the Content.
Who Are MicroSites For?
Generally, any Online business can benefit from launching a microsite if they feel that the message they want to send to potential clients deserves an in-depth description, especially if the content might conflict or be at odds with their main Site. However, it’s not cheap to develop, so businesses need to figure out if their RoI will be achieved.
What Are The Pros & Cons?
Pros
- If implemented correctly, microsites can improve SEO for the parent Website, by providing a solid backlink & by gaining high rankings for long tail keywords (low volume keywords).
- Audience appreciation & improved brand awareness.
- Increased sales. Especially on promoted items.
- Get more subscribers.
- Get more social media followers.
- Long lasting brand image improvement & an understanding of the products & services on offer.
Cons
- Unless you implement a DIY microsite builder, it could cost a lot, especially if you want custom graphics & animations.
- Beware of duplicate Content, duplication will hurt your SEO.
- If you employ your own developers to build out microsites, they may not have sufficient time to devote to the parent site, which will surely get you nowhere.
- If you develop a Content-driven microsite, it could cost many man hours & dollars to populate it regularly.
How To Get A Microsite?
Now that you know what microsites are, have a good knowledge of what a good site should look like & understand the pros & cons, how do you find a supplier?
Agencies
The benefits of engaging an agency to develop your ideas are that you’re probably going to get exactly what you want with very little input. However, the costs will be high.
DIY builders
Low cost option, but you’re going to need design & artistic smarts. Mailchimp offers a free landing page builder & you can develop any static resource using Wix.
Freelancers
Great option, especially if you use a recommended service such as Upwork or Fiver. You can set out your plans & negotiate a fair price.
Image by Cyber Rabbit from Pixabay
