Microsite

A microsite is a small, purpose-built website or a distinct section of a larger site created to support a specific marketing objective. It typically exists on its own domain or subdomain and has content that is tightly scoped to a single theme, product, campaign, or event. Unlike a main corporate site, a microsite often has its own branding, navigation, and content strategy tailored to a focused audience.

Characteristics: It features a dedicated design, concise messaging, and one primary call to action. Content is limited to what is necessary to achieve the objective, and the site is usually temporary, with a defined launch and end date. Microsites are used for improved search performance on targeted keywords and for delivering a tailored user experience.

Common uses include product launches, marketing campaigns, event registrations, brand storytelling, regional or language-specific campaigns, and documentation hubs. They can be hosted on a separate domain (for example campaign.example.com) or as a subdomain (such as example.com/campaign).

Advantages include focused messaging, higher conversion rates, and easier performance tracking. Drawbacks include higher maintenance, potential content fragmentation, and possible confusion if users cannot locate related information on the main site; SEO and analytics require careful management.

Best practices: define a clear objective and audience, align branding with the parent site, minimize navigation to reduce distractions, optimize for mobile, load quickly, and include clear analytics and a single primary CTA. Ensure accessibility, privacy compliance, and a plan for content updates or decommissioning after the campaign.

Metrics commonly tracked are visits, engagement, conversions, bounce rates, and time on page. A microsite project typically follows a lifecycle from goal setting and design through development, testing, launch, monitoring, and eventual archival or removal.