Do Microsites Benefit More from SEO?

Does it Pay to Have Your Content Specialized?

First of all, we should explain what a microsite is. A microsite is just that, a mini site, or a site that is devoted to a particular, specific topic or content niche. Microsites have become mainstream in the advertising world, where large corporations will use them as portals to their main website.

Microsite Examples

Classic examples of microsites include Ford's FordRaceChallenge.com website, as well as the Dr. Pepper Snapple Group's www.7up.in. One of the main purposes of these microsites is to guide a targeted pool of visitors to the company's main website. These microsites are often driven by large advertising and marketing budgets, and therefore are able to attract many visitors while the advertising campaign is running. What these microsites often fail to do, however, is build a recurring stream of visitors, or act as a consistent source of online traffic. They're like a traveling circus that opens it's doors in your city for a fixed period of time before leaving and going elsewhere, sometimes under a different name. That's where the big guys miss out.

Microsites SEO : More than a One-Time Investment

The problem with the microsites the big players create is the fact that they view them as a temporary opportunity. They are missing out on the big picture - the fact that search marketing is a huge resource for recurring, targeted traffic, and should not be viewed as a one-time investment. Microsites should not just be interactive versions of traditional ads, such as those in newspapers or magazines. They're much more - microsites are doorways to your target demographic. They provide a way for merchants to reach out to consumers, and provide a lasting resource that can be accessed over and over again.

Microsites SEO : Content is King

The same principles that apply to the search marketing campaign of a traditional website, apply to a microsite. As we've described over and over again on Guru of Search, the key to launching a successful search campaign is targeted content that addresses the topics your visitors are searching for. This is where microsites come into play.

Microsites SEO : More Than a Temporary Gateway

At this point, you've probably learned that your microsite should function less as a redirect to your main site, and more as its own targeted source of traffic for your business. You can still direct visitors to specific portions of your main website, but don't treat your microsite as a temporary portal to your main website. Treat is as a lasting, long-term source of traffic to your business - like a specialized arm of your business that addresses a specific need your customers have.

Skip the Flash Bang Whizz

First, you want to create a microsite without all the flashy graphics and sound   that the large budget microsites of today typically feature. As we've pointed out many times, a search engine is after content, not graphics and sound and animation. Those elements are for your users, and they can enhance your visitors' experience, but should be used sparingly. Focus on Content.

Give Your Microsite a Lasting Identity

View your microsite not as a temporary portal to your main website, but as a lasting gateway - one that will continue to bring in highly targeted traffic for years to come. Give your microsite a simple, easy to remember name that is not easily misspelled and that speaks to the topic your microsite is addressing. Then, allocate resources to continually produce targeted and fresh content on the microsite. Interact with your visitors via social media, comments, blogs, forums - in other words, build a community around your microsite.

Microsite vs. Traditional Website

You're probably thinking by now, if that's the case - what's the difference between a microsite and a big, traditional website? The difference is that a microsite addresses a highly targeted, very specific niche or topic area. A search engine is more likely to consider a microsite an expert on a particular topic. For example, if you have 10 pages about chocolate, and you add them to a larger, 10,000 page website about food, they will most likely not rank as highly in the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages), as they would if you placed them on a 100 page microsite that is completely devoted to chocolate. Why? Because experts on a topic (ie. microsites), are given priority by search engines.

Allocate Your Resources

The key to a successful microsite campaign, and to any search marketing campaign, is to allocate your resources in advance. Plan ahead. You're going to need to tend to and update your microsite on a regular basis, just as you would a traditional website, if it's going to be successful. The difference is, the microsite will be more successful on the particular topic it's addressing. So what's the drawback to a microsite, if any? Resources. It takes much more time and energy to design, build, and develop 10 microsites devoted to specific topics than it does to build one large website with 10 topic categories. But if you invest the time, you will be rewarded.