A microsite is a web page or small website made to promote a company’s product, service, campaign, or event. Microsites typically use a different domain or subdomain from the main company website and include links back to the main website, but act as a separate entity for the brand1.
Microsites can help brands achieve a number of things, such as:
- Highlighting a specific campaign or targeting specific buyer personas
- Telling a short story or experimenting with new types of branded content
- Spreading awareness and promoting sign-ups for an event
- Testing new site technology or design
- Offering a limited amount of products or services
Whatever the reason, the goal of a microsite is to engage visitors with a specific message, generate interest, and draw them to the business’s offerings.
But how do you create a stunning microsite that stands out from the crowd? Here are five easy steps to follow:
1. Define your purpose and audience
Before you start building your microsite, you need to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve with it and who you want to reach. Ask yourself questions like:
- What is the main objective of your microsite?
- Who are you trying to attract and persuade?
- What action do you want them to take after visiting your microsite?
- How will you measure the success of your microsite?
Having a well-defined purpose and audience will help you craft your message, design your layout, and choose your domain name.
2. Choose a catchy domain name
Your domain name is the first thing that visitors will see when they come across your microsite. It should be catchy, memorable, and relevant to your purpose and audience. You can use your main company name as part of your domain name, or you can create a new one that reflects your microsite’s theme.
For example, HubSpot’s Website Grader1 is a microsite that helps users improve their website performance. It uses HubSpot’s name as part of its domain name, but also adds the word “grader” to indicate what it does.
Another example is FutureofCarSharing2, a microsite that showcases different car-sharing options around the world. It uses a descriptive domain name that tells visitors what they can expect to find on the site.
3. Design your layout and content
Your layout and content are the core elements of your microsite. They should be simple, focused, and engaging. You don’t want to overwhelm your visitors with too much information or too many options. You want to guide them through your story and persuade them to take action.
Some tips for designing your layout and content are:
- Use eye-catching visuals and animations to attract attention and create interest
- Use clear headings and subheadings to organize your information and make it easy to scan
- Use short paragraphs and bullet points to convey your message concisely and effectively
- Use testimonials, statistics, or case studies to provide social proof and credibility
- Use call-to-action buttons or forms to encourage visitors to take the next step
For example, EveryLastDrop2 is a microsite that raises awareness of water consumption habits. It uses an infographic-style layout that scrolls down as visitors interact with it. It uses colorful illustrations, animations, and facts to educate visitors about how much water they use every day.
Another example is Doritos Ketchup Roses2, a microsite that was created for Valentine’s Day to promote Doritos’ ketchup flavor. It uses a simple layout that features a video of how to make rose-shaped Doritos, a form to order a bouquet of them, and some social media buttons to share the idea.
4. Optimize your microsite for SEO
SEO stands for search engine optimization, which is the process of improving your site’s visibility and ranking on search engines like Google or Bing. Optimizing your microsite for SEO will help you reach more potential customers who are searching for topics related to your microsite.
Some tips for optimizing your microsite for SEO are:
- Use keywords that match your purpose and audience’s intent in your domain name, title tags, meta descriptions, headings, content, and URL structure
- Use internal links to connect different pages of your microsite and external links to provide additional resources or references
- Use alt text for images and videos to describe what they show and make them accessible for screen readers
- Use responsive design to make sure your microsite looks good and works well on different devices and screen sizes
- Use fast and reliable hosting to ensure your microsite loads quickly and smoothly
5. Promote your microsite and track your results
Once you have created your stunning microsite, you need to promote it and track your results. You want to get as much exposure and traffic as possible, and you want to measure how well your microsite is performing and achieving your goals.
Some tips for promoting your microsite and tracking your results are:
- Use social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or LinkedIn to share your microsite with your followers and encourage them to share it with their networks
- Use email marketing to send your microsite to your existing customers or subscribers and entice them to visit it or forward it to their friends
- Use paid advertising like Google Ads, Facebook Ads, or Instagram Ads to target specific audiences who might be interested in your microsite
- Use analytics tools like Google Analytics, HubSpot, or Hotjar to monitor your microsite’s traffic, engagement, conversions, and other metrics
Creating a stunning microsite can be a great way to showcase your brand, product, service, campaign, or event. By following these five easy steps, you can create a microsite that attracts, engages, and persuades your visitors.
If you need help with creating a stunning microsite, contact us today. We are a team of experts who can help you with everything from domain name registration, web design, SEO, promotion, and analytics. We can help you create a microsite that meets your needs and exceeds your expectations. Contact us today and let’s get started!