There is a great deal to know about microsites and what they can do for your company’s website. The best thing to consider is the ability of your team to design each microsite specifically within the specific guidelines of your company and any individual campaign you are running, product being sold or other marketing goal.
The best thing to know about the microsite when extending your company’s online marketing tools is that it is an individual page that holds more especially specific and detailed information about a product, event or other item. This is NOT your main page. There will be another URL or domain name where this page is based, and though by owning this domain you are able to use the link anywhere on your company website, it will be managed separately.
It is important to know that with the creation and development of all the microsites that your company may desire, there is no need to overwork your marketing and IT divisions teamed together. There is always the ability to develop a creation and approval process from marketing content to digital publication.
Six Common Misconceptions of the Microsite:
- Microsites can be replaced by a Facebook page or other social media.
- A microsite is an instant SEO boost.
- Microsites are just another extension of your company webpage.
- A microsite will NOT help increase your search results.
- A microsite is ONLY a marketing tool, separate from your homepage.
- Creation of a microsite is slow-built from the ground up.
First, there is a common misconception that a Facebook page or other social media can replace the creation of a microsite. While social media can draw in potential leads and help with SEO, there is not an ability within social media pages to create a full hub page to present the contents of a marketing campaign, new product or service, new brand or other digital presentation.
Then, there is also the assumption that every microsite created provides an instant increase in SEO benefits for your company homepage. While Microsites can add to your pages value to search engines, it doesn’t always cause a spike in homepage traffic overnight. With the management of the content included in the microsites there is the ability to improve SEO, but it may take some time to see a noticeable effect.
And this leads us into the third misconception; that microsites are simply an extension of your company webpage. It is important to remember that microsites are independent domains that must be purchased on their own, and then also managed on their own. With the same ownership by your company, it is helpful to try to gain a domain name that is related to the content that will be included, and the inclusion of your company’s name in the specific content that is being laid out.
Some also assume that a microsite will not help increase SEO or search results for your company homepage because it is a separate website. Again, it should be repeated that this is not true, and that the content must be managed to assist with SEO and that your company page and microsite can be connected because of your ownership of the URL. So, take the time to manage the microsite content well for help with SEO.
Another assumption that occurs often is that a microsite only serves as a marketing tool because it is separate from your homepage. Microsites can in fact be managed separately from marketing campaigns, and in a manner that the IT and digital production teams of your company may have the basic marketing information available to put together the detailed microsite and work closely to help improve SEO, test the results of the campaign and much more. The technical details can be laid out in even more depth in the microsite by being managed within IT.
And finally, there is also an assumption that a microsite can only be built slowly from the ground up, especially with the combination of marketing and technology divisions to collate the content for the page. Looking at the details from the key points above, it is helpful to know that the IT and digital production professionals of your company can manage content and coding in a manner that will both build the microsite quickly, test its functionality immediately and work toward the goals of the marketing team and their campaign as well.
So, there are many more things to look forward to with the creation of microsites and allow yourself to ignore the many misconceptions that these are difficult beyond the need to add them to your online content.
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References: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsite, catalyst.ca/blog/are-microsites-good-or-bad-for-seo/, www.microsite.com/microsites/, www.wow.com/wiki/Microsite, www.stephanspencer.com/microsites-seo-pros-and-cons/