Microsites
What is a Microsite?
A microsite is a website with a special purpose. While your website draws attention to all of your products or services, your microsite might only focus on one very important component of what you do.
A microsite is a small site that lives outside of your main home page or brand URL. It usually has its own domain, navigation, and design—and typically, it contains only a few pages. Microsites can help you share focused content about a specific topic. They can also help you connect with an audience that's passionate about something very specific. And they can be a good resource when you need to shine the spotlight on one aspect of your organization.
Disadvantages of a Microsite
A microsite can hurt your SEO for the following reasons: Google sees the microsite URL as a wholly new website, forcing you to build up its search value with new backlinks and content updates, which can take time and resources that are better spent improving your main site
Microsites Confuse Users.One of the most significant problems with microsites is that they force users to adapt to different user interfaces. They visit the main corporate website, click on a link, and find themselves on a microsite. Suddenly the design is different, navigation has changed, and there is often no clear way back. In short, it breaks every principle of good user interface design.
When to Use a Microsite
- Consider the lifespan of the microsite. If the content is only going to be around for a few months, then a microsite may be appropriate
- If visitors will reach the microsite from a banner and they don’t need to reach the corporate site, then you don’t need to worry about them having a disjointed experience. A microsite may be the right choice
- If you can deliver your experience within the corporate site, a microsite is not needed
- Consider the cost of the microsite vs. the expected return on the investment. The cost of the microsite may not be warranted
- At AVEVA, microsites are typically used for event experiences. For strategic campaigns, a microsite makes sense if the campaign experience is focused on a short-term window with very focused content a contains only a few pages