How many websites does your organization have? Of course there is the main site. Then there is the “old” site that includes all of the archival content. Then there are specialized microsites for various products, events, and advertising campaigns. And finally, there are  all of the landing pages that support all of the search engine pay-per-click ads. It doesn’t take more than a few years to grow a mess that is both hard to understand and difficult to manage.

Here are some guidelines that can help unwind and rationalize a web “site” strategy:

Main domain: This is your organization’s main website, (www.RandallCraig.com is an example), and doesn’t need much more explanation.   All content should be attached to this domain, to improve discoverability – and so that all search engine optimization advantages accrue to this one domain.

Landing Pages: These are designed to provide direct access to a purpose-driven page, usually to improve conversion from an advertisement, but also as shorthand to get users to a specific content page. The advantage of a Landing Page is that it contains only relevant content (and navigation, and call-to-action) – no distracting debris. A downside is that over the years, the pages begin to multiply and collect dust. They often contain no-longer-valid offers, and can be confusing if a user finds their way to one.  Recommendation: When you create landing pages use relevant – but not easily guessable names. Users may try guessing Landing Page names, thereby potentially exposing offers that they are not authorized to receive. Each year while you still remember their purpose, delete (or “un-publish”) any that are no longer valid.

Microsites: Microsites are usually smaller, special purpose websites that support a specific product, event, or marketing campaign. There are four approaches to creating a microsite:

• Type I: A completely new URL that links to a completely independent site. This alternative is appropriate if you are looking to distance the microsite’s objectives from the sponsoring organization, or aim at a completely different audience. Advocacy sites are an example of this, as are marketing/promotional campaigns.  As a result, the URLs typically don’t stay around too long.  (Interestingly, this highlights one of the risks, and speaks to the necessity to “clean up” the microsite after its usefulness has passed.  Here’s an example: The Neighbourhood Pharmacy Association of Canada has a website aimed at its members:  www.neighbourhoodpharmacies.ca.  Their special-purpose advocacy site, www.9000PointsOfCare.ca, really should have been replaced with a redirect, but instead, they added an ugly password requirement.)
• Type II: A unique URL, but redirects to an internal section of an existing website.  The user interface and branding might be completely different – the site wold be built to achieve specific objectives, no different than a Type I microsite.  An advantage of this is that the URL is far easier to remember, and far easier to promote than a URL shortener such as budurl or tinyurl. A separate advantage: all of the content helps increase the main site’s search engine ranking.
• Type III: A subdomain (http://support.google.com) to host all of the content. This alternative is most appropriate for a permanent site that is devoted to a specific purpose or audience: the login for an intranet, a portal for external service personnel, or perhaps a customer support site. “Transient” users often get confused when the subdomain is anything except www, so using a non-“www” subdomain for a heavily-marketed site should generally be avoided.
• Type IV: This alternative is not a traditional microsite, but rather a decision to host the microsite content on a social media site like Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Randallmcraig. The advantage to this approach is that the organization can develop a permanent relationship with the user, if the page is “Liked”. The downside is that Facebook now also owns the relationship.

No matter which approach is taken, a key question is the microsite’s lifespan. Whether it is finite or forever, just asking this question opens issues of ongoing microsite marketing, content updates, and support.

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