What is a microsite and what can you use it for?

What is a microsite and what can you use it for?

Websites have become a must-have tool for business, whether you are a brand or an individual professional. Having a site to back up your persona is one of the best ways to create connections, promote yourself and reach your business goals. With more than a quarter-million websites created every day, there has been a huge expansion of how you can build a website and what you can use it for.

Yes, websites at their core remain containers of data, meaning storing information like a store’s catalog or a designer’s portfolio and showcasing it to target audiences. What has changed is the nature of the site structure and how complex they are to build. You can now build a site in minutes thanks to no code website builders like Linkcard, and you can also choose a different type of site from the one you are used to.

What is a microsite?

A microsite is a website that stands alone, apart from your main landing page. It is an extra digital marketing tool to extend promotion or put focus on a particular product or service. It’s made up of its own unique content and designs. While it may contain standard pieces of branding like logo and slogan, it allows creators the freedom to explore new creative designs and purposes.

Differences between microsites and landing pages

If you are considering microsites then you should be aware of the differences between that and a regular landing site. Knowing the differences will allow you to take full advantage of the microsite’s benefits.

Different names and domains

Your main website and microsite will have different domains and names. The first one can represent your brand or service while the microsite can be named after a specific product, campaign, or event you are organizing.

Note: they can share names when you start your business with a microsite, to get your audience warmed up while you build the main site. This makes microsites a great tool for small businesses and entrepreneurs.

Separate objectives

Your microsites will have their own business goals to achieve. For example: if you create a microsite for a new product that’s all you should promote there. The first step to creating your microsite should be narrowing down an objective that is unique from the main site.

Temporary use

Another characteristic of microsites is they are meant for temporary use and not long-term. You can create several microsites for each seasonal campaign or new product launch. They serve their objective of promoting, and then you can discard them.

Unique content

What’s on your microsite should be original and have different content from what is on your main website. Why? Because they have different goals. Create content that serves the unique objective of the microsite to see better results.

Why are microsites a great option?

Microsites can allow you many different benefits from enhancing your digital marketing strategy, bottom-line earnings, launch success, or saving money on website costs.

Increase focus on products

Having separate microsites to highlight new products can make launches easier and more effective. You are able to remove the noise from the main site and bring the focus on a particular product, service, or event you want to make shine.

Bring attention to campaigns

Microsites are particularly useful for seasonal promotions or packages. Because you can create separate pages that allow customers to know everything about a campaign without disrupting your main site.

Create a new lead generation source

Another site will increase the chances of collecting leads, and you get the added benefits that with the microsite you can really narrow down the target audience. You will be selling or advertising one product, so you should be able to enhance SEO practices and reach interested audiences quicker.

Affordable building and marketing

Microsites are a fraction of the cost of traditional websites. So, you can make more of them for less and use them as targeted, budget-friendly, and effective digital marketing tools. You can build one in minutes with Linkcard for free, so you are also saving on your most valuable resource, time!

Extra: We live in the age of mobile navigation, shopping, and browsing, just like microsites. These sites tend to be mobile-first and made for the user. If you don’t know what mobile-first design is read about it here.

When should you choose a microsite?

So, now you know what they are, and what they are good for. Let’s apply it to real use cases and see in which instance a microsite is the best choice for your business.

1. As a first site, or warm-up site
2. To create hype and anticipation for a launch
3. Launching a new product or service
4. To host temporary campaigns or special editions
5. For event planning
6. Targeted objectives and audiences
7. For pitching business ideas

Tips on creating a great microsite

If you’ve decided that a microsite is the ideal online presence for your goals, then it’s time to start planning and strategizing on how to build the best microsite for your goals.

1. Have concrete goals for the site
2. Come up with a creative concept for the site
3. Choose a no-code builder like Linkcard to save cost and time
4. Start with a template to make building easier
5. Collect your design resources and write your site copy
6. Put it all together
7. Go live!