Minisites - Can its Simplicity be an Extreme Form of Effective Web Design?
Jul 22nd, 2008 | By Wallace Salvatore | Category: Design
What are minisites? In a nutshell, a minisite refers to a small website that consists of less than 10 pages (sometimes just one or two pages) and that targets a specific niche or more often than not, a tight sub-niche. Minisites allow the webmaster to tightly target a particular market without deviating into a broad range of topics. This specific targeting allows the marketing of very specific products and services to an audience who in more cases than not, will be highly interested in what is being offered.
So can minisites be an extreme form of web design or are they just too simple to incorporate any extreme aspects into their design? Well, there is no reason what so ever that a minisite can not be an extreme website. Just because a site is small in size, it need not be small in stature. You can incorporate technologies such as social marketing, email list building, blogging and RSS into a minisite.
Here is an example of a highly effective extreme mini site design plan:
1. Create a minisite design using static HTML pages, or another language of your choice. The idea is to keep it clean and simple with minimal navigational and other elements.
2. Install a blog in a sub-directory off the minisite, so you access it at www.yourdomain.com/blog - you may wish to call the subdirectory “news” or anything else that reflects the usage of the blog and fits your niche.
3. Create 5 pages on your minisite that target very specific long tail keywords. Each page may also promote one product or service. The idea is not to overwhelm your visitors with a myriad of choices.
4. Post regularly on the blog that is attached to the minisite.
What is the benefit of attaching a blog to a minisite? The answer is to do with search engine traffic. A minisite can become stagnant very quickly. Once the site is built you are unlikely to expand upon it, so it is up to the blog to bring in traffic. Your blog should include various news stories and updates that your visitors would be interested in. Each blog post should link back to a relevant page on your minisite as a call to action.
Minisites can be extreme in design and functionality if you think outside the square a little and embrace the free technology that is available to you.
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