eHealth Articles & White Papers

Are Microsites Right for Your Organization?

Ben Dillon - Vice President & eHealth Evangelist

If you watched the Super Bowl this year, you know that microsites are growing dramatically in popularity. At least half-a-dozen advertisers used microsites as a call-to-action from their advertisements (including my personal favorite - MyTalkingStain.com).

Healthcare is jumping on the bandwagon and I'm being asked many questions from both clients and prospects about the philosophy behind this approach. Questions like:

"I'm worried about all of our microsites - they seem to be getting a little out of control, and I'm concerned about what that means for our main site and for our brand. What should I do?"

Complicating matters, it's often difficult to determine if the issue at hand is really one of microsites or if it relates the overall approach that your organization is taking when determining how to split up its websites. It can be difficult to determine when to use a single site or multi-site strategy and how the use of microsites fits into the approach you select.

To make an effective decision about microsites, you must consider the purpose of the site and the goals you wish to achieve within the context of your overall strategy.

What are Microsites?

A microsite is a small website focused on one topic. Microsites have navigation that is separate from your primary site (they "live outside" of your primary site) and typically begin with a main landing page with its own URL. They also have a distinct appearance and brand differing from your primary site and a very specific call-to-action. Microsites are excellent for focusing the attention of visitors and are therefore ideal for single-issue initiatives. As such, they are typically a call-to-action for your marketing campaigns.

Because of their size and focus, microsites are relatively inexpensive to create, compared to a full website, and are excellent tools to provide greater depth of information or track the efficiency of other marketing efforts. Sites that many organizations consider to be microsites are often not focused enough to be true microsites. Rather, they are more like additional websites for the organization. They may still contain separate navigation and a distinct appearance, but they are continually maintained and have longer life spans.

Choosing Between Single Site and Multi-Site Strategies

Healthcare systems are complex entities with many different service lines, facilities and, in some cases, businesses in which they participate. There is no right answer for determining when to maintain a single site for the entire enterprise and when to use a multi-site strategy. Some items to consider when deciding:

• Brand - Organizations with a strong health system brand tend to push toward a more centralized solution. While this single-site approach includes featured content for individual facilities or businesses, the majority of site functionality is shared globally. Organizations with a facility brand that is stronger than its health system brand tend to opt for a multi-site solution to capitalize on the recognition. If your facility brand is stronger and you choose to maintain a single-site, be sure to have good vanity URLs pointing to appropriate places in your site.
• Proximity - If your facilities are two time zones apart, do you need to show the classes available at both? A multi-site approach allows searches to remain more relevant to individual visitors. A regional approach may work best for diverse organizations so that all information for particular markets is organized together.
• Prominence - Does your facility or service have sufficient brand recognition to attract traffic as a separate site? If so, a multi-site strategy works for you. If your facility or service lacks awareness today and you desire a multi-site strategy, be sure to create a marketing campaign to generate interest. Also, make sure the site has enough information and activity to make it interesting.
• Funding - There are times when outside funding, such as grants or donations, require a significant Web presence dedicated to the recipient of the funds. If you think this could be an issue, review these covenants carefully as they may or may not require it to be a separate site.
• Resources - Resources should be considered when determining your multi-site strategy. More sites take more work and over time site proliferation can grow your workload dramatically. If you create lots of sites, then be prepared to follow through and maintain them (microsites are the exception here as they typically have a short lifespan).

Tips for Building Effective Microsites

When building a microsite, keep these tips in mind.

• Make the site immediately engaging
  - Match messaging and visuals on the microsite to the related campaign
  - Keep the messaging narrowly centered on the topic
  - Consider interactive elements such as video, audio, animation or informational quizzes
• Deliver the promise of the marketing message that led them to the site
• Use analytics to track how visitors are arriving on the microsite and what they do once they get there
• The low cost of microsites allows you to create multiple versions to test variations on your messaging or to target messaging to different audiences
• Tweak site design or messaging during the campaign if you're not receiving the results you were expecting
• Keep your microsites tied to your core brand. Perhaps the biggest risk in using microsites is the potential to dilute or confuse your brand message in the marketplace.

Your overall site strategy is an important decision that needs to fit your organization. Regardless of the direction that you select, microsites and multiple sites are effective ways to interconnect your online and offline marketing initiatives and, as such, deserve a place within your online strategy.