Microsites are small sites that focus on a particular niche, but they don’t necessarily look and act like full blown websites.
What has worked really well for many marketers is to build a website, called a microsite, for a particular purpose that is temporary. For instance, if you are planning a seminar or a one-time event, you can set up a website separate from your main website to promote that event. You can link to the microsite from your main website and may link to the main site from the microsite, but usually that is not necessary or recommended. You don’t want to create any exit holes that give people an out.
The focus of the microsite should be singular. If you are promoting an event then promote that specific event. If you are launching a book or creative product then focus only on that book or creative product, nothing else. Then, you can use pay per click advertising the way you would normally use it drive traffic to your microsite.
The primary distinction between a microsite and a landing page is that a microsite will have more than one page. The landing page is a single page sales letter. The microsite could be three pages, five pages, even ten pages, but usually no more than that. The number of pages is determined by the event or product you are promoting. You’ll have a home page then supporting pages as necessary – About Us, Product Info, Background, History, etc. Whatever you deem necessary to close the sale, but you should have a call to action on every page and make it visible and strong. Every page should act as a sales letter on its own as well as work as a cohesive group.
Microsites are good tools when you want more than a landing page, but less than a full blown website.
Thanks for the wonderful post. We have tried both landing page & microsites for promoting our products through PPC. Microsites worked well than the landing page. The conversion ratio is good for the microsites.
Thanks
Gemking
Thanks for weighing in, Gemking. Good testimonial.
Would love to hear someone speak about the performance of a microsite vs a landingpage promoting the same product. Does anyone have any experience with that?
@Kenneth
There are some important questions to ask yourself first –
How complex is your product?
If you are just selling an ebook, you probably don’t need more than a single page to tell someone what it is about.
How will you be driving traffic to the site?
Having only a single page to index probably won’t get you very far organically for the keywords you will be targeting. If you’re going to be paying for traffic or promoting through affiliates or partners, a single page is one of the best ways to convert.
Are you tied to a brand?
Chances are good that if a recognized brand is setting up a single landing page, traffic will find it. But if it’s a completely unknown entity, how will you establish your web presence with only a single page?
I found a great article on this over at SEOmoz here.
Good luck with your ventures and informative post Brick!
Warmest Regards,
Vitaliy Levit
Web Optimization Consultant
Good thoughts, Vitaliy. I do think there is a correlation between the complexity of your product and whether or not a microsite suits it for marketing.