In recent years, more brands have turned to microsites as a means of providing specific information to a targeted audience. Because they exist outside of your company's main website and most often have their own unique URL, microsites offer more flexibility and a greater opportunity for conversion. Unlike landing pages, which can come off as too much of an advertisement to consumers, microsites offer an easier, cleaner experience and can present a more in-depth response to the user as to why they should choose your product or service. But how do you create a microsite that gets noticed on the Web?
There are seven key elements in creating a microsite that provides your campaign with the SEO value necessary for success:
Identify a niche and build a brand in that niche.
A microsite allows for the creation of a highly targeted, sometimes differently-branded site that is focused on the exact needs of a specific audience. Microsite design and content depends on its specific conversion goal. In some ways, it is an extension of your main website, but it has a distinct purpose. Therefore, content should match the user's intent.
Produce content that's relevant.
The point of a microsite is to deliver relevant information, quickly. As such, the content of your microsite should be clear, concise and to the point. You don't need to add blogs, too much technical information or in-depth pages. The content should simply give the user the information needed to take action.
Create content that is robust and actionable.
The focus of the microsite is basically three-pronged: to provide information in a concise manner, to encourage the user to take the next course of action (such as calling for more information, signing up for a newsletter, or making a purchase), and then finally to give them an avenue to take that step that's as simple as a tap or a click.
Generate high value links to increase domain authority.
In the world of SEO, it's a good thing for your site to have a high domain authority. A greater domain authority allows your site to rank higher in the search engines. For a link to have high value, it should be relevant to your microsite and should come from an established, reputable source.
Build an audience.
In order for a microsite to be successful, you will need to build your audience. This is accomplished by creating a keyword-specific microsite, and a targeted ad campaign surrounding it. Most social media sites, like LinkedIn and Facebook, allow for advertising aimed at a particular audience, and pay-per-click (PPC) advertising can generate traffic to your site right away from people who are searching for what you're offering.
Create useful social profiles.
Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn are all viable choices when it comes to your social profile - the trick is finding the right one (or more) on which to showcase your microsite. You will want to create social profiles in venues that are most suited to your specific audience. And when you do, it's important to have relevant keywords in your microsite's page name or username.
Participate in online social communities.
Beyond having a useful social profile, participation in online social communities is crucial. "Social" at its very essence means interaction. To effectively promote your microsite in online social communities, you'll need to generate opportunities for your audience to react, and you'll also need to respond to those reactions and encourage community participation.
The Beverage Institute for Health & Wellness provides a great example of a successful microsite. While some of the branding and logo placement is suggestive of its powerful parent, Coca-Cola, the microsite clearly shows that the Beverage Institute is clearly its own entity as a health and wellness organization. The microsite utilizes several of the key elements successfully:
- It reflects a brand that is distinct from Coca-Cola, while retaining some elements of the Coca-Cola brand, such as logo presence and the red and white colors;
- It offers relevant information that is targeted toward health professionals, teachers and coaches
- It provides simple navigation and clear call-to-action buttons that make it easy for users to find information quickly;
- It utilizes valuable internal linking throughout the site;
- It has built an audience by ensuring specific keywords relevant to their target audience are used site-wide.
You can build a microsite that provides SEO value and brings your users the content they need simply by ensuring that you incorporate the key elements above. Building a brand, providing relevant, robust and actionable content, generating high-value links, building your audience, and creating and participating in online social communities will help your microsite deliver the right information to the right audience - giving you the conversions you need for success.