Microsite vs. website vs. landing page vs. microsites network

Every organization starts with a website to describe its operations and provide information. Over time, content and functionality are added as the purpose of the site evolves to accommodate more business objectives and the organization’s stakeholders. As long as it can successfully meet everyone’s needs, the single website works well.

Eventually, some folks may feel the site is no longer helping them accomplish their goals. Such as, it’s not communicating effectively. It doesn’t provide the right features. It doesn’t look right. As a result, it’s time to look for solutions.

The most common scenario is the marketing and sales departments feeling the site is not helping them as much as it could.

Enter the microsite as a marketing tool.

Sometimes, highly customized single pages within a main website work, for example, to pay off a specific promotion, direct mail effort, or cost-per-click campaign on Google. This single page contains all the information necessary to meet the objectives. Additional pages are unnecessary. These are called Landing Pages.

Other times, an entire network of sites may be required for organizations that want many sites (pick a number larger than 3) for promotions or product offerings — or when a company has affiliates, franchisees, or different store locations, each one wanting an independent site. All the sites are managed by a “Super Administrator” who can make micro-changes to each site individually or universal edits that affect every site at once. This is called a Microsites Network.

Next: 8 reasons to use a microsite »