In a previous post, I laid out the definition of a microsite. But what is the difference between a landing page and a microsite?

In its simplest terms, a landing page is quite similar to a microsite: It’s the destination for a variety of highly targeted inbound links, whether driven by social media, emails, SEO links, ads or marketing campaigns. Landing pages are also similar in intent: lead generation or other transactions, although there are some that are purely informational.

Beyond that, however, there are two significant differences:

• Where they reside. A landing page is generally associated with the corporate website, with a dedicated link (i.e., Acme.com/landingpagename). Microsites can also have their own dedicated URL.
• Quantity of pages. By definition a landing page is just a single page, whereas a microsite can have one or several, with a navigational structure just as a corporate website does. Although, a general rule-of-thumb would be 1-10 pages.

Because of that, landing pages and microsites are vastly different tools. A minimalistic landing page is most useful when you just have a single transactional goal; in contrast, a microsite is like a Swiss Army knife that you can outfit with different capabilities depending on the circumstance — and has major advantages when it comes to:

• Acting as a hub of information. In this excellent video, Kim Albee, President of Genoo, and Ardath Albee, author of “eMarketing Strategies for the Complex Sale,” discuss some of the ways that a microsite handles “problem to solution” scenarios better than corporate sites. By virtue of its brevity, a landing page can’t as effectively serve as a one-stop-shop hub.
• SEO links and targeting. As I discussed in Lead Generation Made Easy With Microsites, keyword-rich text and dedicated domain names mean microsites offer advantages when it comes to climbing the search engine rankings.

There are, of course, times when a landing page will fit the bill. But when it comes to a broader or more complex pitch, microsites will generally be a superior solution. Stayed tuned for an upcoming post in which I describe what landing pages and microsites have in common.

In the comments: What are the criteria you use to decide whether a landing page or a microsite is the correct solution for your business?