DigiDigest

Microsites maximise your business

We placed a very creative Microsite live earlier this month Jag the black series.

Created for JAG Clothing the Microsite is designed to promote a limited edition jean range. A range that is so exclusive and limited that we have even developed a stock control counter for each product, when each hits zero that is it, no more available!

The site has been very successful for the client so check it out and tell us what you think!

But why a Microsite? Why did the client not simply extend the existing JAG site with this product range? Why go to the trouble of creating a new site, look and feel and register a new domain? More importantly what benefit does it have for the client?

The main deciding factors in creating a Microsite instead of adding pages to an existing website are focus and priority.

Your existing site may have information for investors, company information, other products and be expected to appeal to many different diverse audience groups. A Microsite will not suffer these burdens. It is often focused on one product line and branded accordingly. There is nothing else on the pages competing for the audience’s attention other then the single message that the business intended.

This focus also allows added benefits in the area of online advertising, more specifically keyword contextual advertising or pay per click (PPC is the process were you only pay if you advert is clicked). Microsites are often specifically created with contextual adverting in mind as they can lower PPC costs because they often focus on specific keywords therefore improving your Quality Score which in turn lowers your cost per click. Goodle adwords has a good example of how this works.

A Microsite with its own URL can be effective in creating a consistent and easily remembered message. For example rather than www.yourcompany.com.au/a-new-product the Microsite could be www.productA.com.au which will be aid better recall in offline campaigns and is more effective in branding the campaign.

Also, as a Microsite is usually used to focus the attention of a particular demographic on a specific product, a company can grow their market by capturing interest. Often this is achieved through viral means such as “forward to a friend” (note that the example above has this feature) which allows the visitor to past it on to people they feel may find the message or product interest, therefore ensuring that Microsite gets further attention.

Microsite should only be used if the application of the above points ring positive with your marketing initiatives. Remember that a Microsite could affect the traffic to your main site so think through your options carefully. To allow you to assess if a Microsite is needed ask yourself “What is the overall objective of the campaign?”. Is it to:

• Simply promote your existing site - If no, then a Microsite maybe an option
• Introduce a new product – If yes, then a Microsite maybe an option
• Target a key demographic -  If yes, then a Microsite maybe an option

If you decide that a Microsite may not deliver the results you desire then look at how you can utilised your existing site/s to promote your product through theme application and homepage promotion.

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