Blog Post | Jul 25, 2023
Landing Pages vs. Microsites: Choosing the Right Tool for the Job
Landing pages and microsites aren't the same, and they're not just junior versions of your website. Learn about each one's unique functions and how they can boost your marketing efforts.
Your website is one of your company's most important assets, but to generate leads and drum up sales, think about a web page or satellite site built and designed for a specific purpose—such as a landing page or a microsite. Many marketers think of them as being interchangeable, but learning the differences can help you determine when to deploy each of these resources to boost your digital marketing.
The Best Landing Pages Do Only One Thing
A landing page isn’t the same thing as the homepage of your website. Landing pages are usually built to support a specific campaign or initiative—and the best, highest performing landing pages all encourage a customer to take just one specific action, such as creating an account, subscribing to a newsletter, or providing an email address to get access to a download. Because the purpose of a landing page is to drive to this action, it is usually relatively free of distractions like links to other pages. It's all about getting your audience to that big shiny “submit” button.
Generally speaking, a landing page is just that: a single page that's light on content. A thank you popup or secondary page may be triggered once the user takes the desired action. The landing page is quick and easy to put up, and most landing pages exist within a company's primary website domain: e.g., yourcompany.com/landing page or yourcompany.com/subscribe. That's another reason why they're so useful for lead gen: Sending users to a custom URL means you can track how effective your marketing efforts are. It's also common to do A/B testing and tweak relatively simple elements (e.g., the URL, the offer, or even the color and shape of the submit button) to see what performs best.
A Microsite Offers Users an Entirely Distinct Experience
The name “microsite” is a misnomer: it's the focus that's small, not the site or the experience. A microsite focuses on one thing, such as a new product line, launch or experience. Unlike a stripped-down landing page, microsites should have all the bells and whistles—they should be “sticky,” immersive and promote user engagement.
Another significant benefit of microsites is they are content-rich. That means they’re SEO-rich, so in addition to serving your current audience, a microsite can help you reach even more people. You can also develop a microsite to provide a deeper experience to a specific segment of your audience.
Because the goal of microsites is to create something distinct that lives independently of the main company website, they generally have unique URLs that are not subdomains of the company's primary URL. One of the most famous examples of a microsite is Office Max's Elf Yourself site. It goes live every holiday season, and besides spreading cheer, the microsite helps build customer loyalty and stimulates new business with coupons and offers at key points of the experience. Microsites often have their own unique look but should still have branding and visual elements that tie back to your company.
Need Help Determining Which to Use?
Choosing one or the other depends entirely on your marketing goals, and we realize ROI factors into that, too. Let's talk. We can help you select the right option for your needs and create stunning marketing tactics to help it work even harder. Contact us to learn more.
The Best Landing Pages Do Only One Thing
A landing page isn’t the same thing as the homepage of your website. Landing pages are usually built to support a specific campaign or initiative—and the best, highest performing landing pages all encourage a customer to take just one specific action, such as creating an account, subscribing to a newsletter, or providing an email address to get access to a download. Because the purpose of a landing page is to drive to this action, it is usually relatively free of distractions like links to other pages. It's all about getting your audience to that big shiny “submit” button.
Generally speaking, a landing page is just that: a single page that's light on content. A thank you popup or secondary page may be triggered once the user takes the desired action. The landing page is quick and easy to put up, and most landing pages exist within a company's primary website domain: e.g., yourcompany.com/landing page or yourcompany.com/subscribe. That's another reason why they're so useful for lead gen: Sending users to a custom URL means you can track how effective your marketing efforts are. It's also common to do A/B testing and tweak relatively simple elements (e.g., the URL, the offer, or even the color and shape of the submit button) to see what performs best.
A Microsite Offers Users an Entirely Distinct Experience
The name “microsite” is a misnomer: it's the focus that's small, not the site or the experience. A microsite focuses on one thing, such as a new product line, launch or experience. Unlike a stripped-down landing page, microsites should have all the bells and whistles—they should be “sticky,” immersive and promote user engagement.
Another significant benefit of microsites is they are content-rich. That means they’re SEO-rich, so in addition to serving your current audience, a microsite can help you reach even more people. You can also develop a microsite to provide a deeper experience to a specific segment of your audience.
Because the goal of microsites is to create something distinct that lives independently of the main company website, they generally have unique URLs that are not subdomains of the company's primary URL. One of the most famous examples of a microsite is Office Max's Elf Yourself site. It goes live every holiday season, and besides spreading cheer, the microsite helps build customer loyalty and stimulates new business with coupons and offers at key points of the experience. Microsites often have their own unique look but should still have branding and visual elements that tie back to your company.
Need Help Determining Which to Use?
Choosing one or the other depends entirely on your marketing goals, and we realize ROI factors into that, too. Let's talk. We can help you select the right option for your needs and create stunning marketing tactics to help it work even harder. Contact us to learn more.