There’s always a new term out there every single day. One day it’s going to get impossible to catch up with all these new phrases. But the latest one that everyone is talking about is microsite marketing. The team here at ThunderQuote were also shaking our heads when we first came across it a few months ago. However, we have taken the liberty to break it down and explain it to you in this article.

With Google’s search algorithm evolving everyday to only publish trusted and established domains in your search engines, there is a debate heating up on the marketing value of microsites. But before we can even go ahead with this so-called debate, we need to make sure that everyone knows what a microsite is. 

So what is a microsite?

The loose definition would be that a microsite is a website that is independent from your main website and it is differentiated by having a unique design or layout as well as a domain URL.

What does one use a microsite for?

Well, most companies that have adopted the usage of a microsite usually uses it for marketing and promotional purposes. They could also be launching a new product or are using it for an offer or promotional events. Let’s dive into how one uses a microsite :

#1 Campaign-Based Microsites

Campaign-based microsites are usually independent sites – this would mean that they don’t share the URL with the parent site. They are created only for the purpose of supporting and anchoring a brand campaign. This could be a product launch or a promotional campaign that is set out to only be around for a few months.

When these sites are launched they are usually more content-heavy as there will be a lot of pictures, videos and visual cues. It will be blasted on the internet with whatever content marketing strategy the company sees fit and it will be left online after that. The developers will monitor it for a few months and when the campaign is over, most of the times the website is left online just without any maintenance.

#2 An Ongoing Microsite

This is something that a few people are doing. It’s basically a microsite that is also independent from the parent website. The catch is that it constantly publishes content. It can be a news site or a media site. It is there to amplify the credibility of the main site or if the owners feel like they want to branch out and do something else.

Something like this is so much harder to do because someone needs to constantly publish content for the website and they need to keep the website out to date and flush bugs out regularly. It’s not easy to successfully launch a microsite that constantly stays current and publishes content that everyone wants to read on a regular basis.

The hard truth about maintaining a site like this is that you need to be creating new content day in and day out. It will take a lot of work and commitment. Quoting Contently.com “the internet is a beast that must be fed nonstop”. A beast that needs to be fed like this needs a constant budget and a team of dedicated content writers and marketers to be on its site 24/7. If done properly it will take off and it will be a great addition to your already flourishing parent website.

So, is an ongoing microsite worth it? Well it all depends on what your company is planning to do. Once you pull off a microsite like this, you will have a ready made platform that you can talk to your audiences directly and to build a good relationship with them.

This is just the first part to our multi-part series on microsites! If you want to create your own, ThunderQuote can help you find the best developer to create your microsite!

ThunderQuote is the most comprehensive business services portal in Singapore, Australia and ASEAN , where hundreds of thousands of dollars of procurement contracts are sourced every month by major companies like Singapore Press Holdings, National Trade Union Congress and more.