Are Microsites Good for SEO?

Before you consider a microsite, understand there are pros and cons to using them as part of your marketing strategy.

What is a Microsite?

According to HubSpot, a microsite is an individual web page or small cluster of web pages that act as a separate entity for a brand. A microsite typically lives on its own domain, but some exist as a subdomain.

Microsites can be used to help brands achieve a number of things. For example, some companies have used them to highlight a specific campaign or target specific buyer personas. Others have used them to tell a short story, or to inspire a specific call-to-action.

Why Launch Microsites?

Whether or not your practice should launch a microsite will really depend on its purpose. There are some instances where a microsite is a good idea, such as when a site is created to support a brand that is an extension of a parent company or when a company is running a special event or promotion.

If there’s enough content available to make the microsite worthwhile, launching a separate microsite can be a great direction. However, if there isn’t enough content, this can hurt your goals rather than help them.

The SEO Microsite Game

Some website owners think you can create a microsite, link back to the main website, get some traffic, and increase conversions. Seems like an easy direction…when in actuality it’s not. A microsite should be created if, and only if,the microsite actually serves a unique purpose.

Google has determined sites created for the sole purpose directing back to website with back links, or to boost certain keywords, is actually a black hat SEO tactic and looks spammy. Not only that, but Google considers sites like this to be extremely low quality. And remember, Google penalizes sites they deem to be low quality. To avoid a penalty, it’s best to avoid setting up microsites unless it’s for branding purposes.

Why Say No to Microsites?

The reasons are many.

1. It takes time and effort to create and optimize the content for microsites. Basically the same steps you took to set up your main site still applies, and they can take just as long. Imagine going through that for more than one site.
2. Search engines rank sites that have lots of good, quality content. If you’re creating microsites your practice’s content will be spread out. Your content is better off gaining traction on your main website.
3. While microsites can serve legitimate purposes, it’s not recommended to use them solely for SEO. For SEO, focus on getting your main website rank high by producing quality, well optimized content and building relevant links.