Microsite

A microsite is a small, focused website built around a single campaign, product launch, audience, or topic, separate from the brand's main ecommerce site. Where a landing page is typically a single URL designed for conversion, a microsite has multiple pages and richer content. The format peaked in the late 2000s and 2010s when separate campaign sites were common; modern best practice has shifted, and most brands now use enriched landing pages or sections of the main site rather than standalone microsites.

What a classic microsite includes

• Distinct visual identity. Often a different design language than the main brand site, tailored to the campaign or audience.
• Multiple pages. A homepage plus 2–6 supporting pages (about, product detail, content, conversion).
• Often a separate domain or subdomain. "campaign.brand.com" or a campaign-specific domain altogether.
• Specific call to action. Lead capture, product purchase, or campaign signup as the primary conversion goal.
• Richer content. Articles, videos, interactive elements, lookbooks — content depth that doesn't fit on a single landing page.

Why microsites have largely fallen out of favour

• SEO fragmentation. A microsite on a separate domain doesn't benefit from the main brand site's domain authority and creates a competing property to rank, often less effectively.
• Tracking and attribution complexity. Customer data, analytics, and attribution split across two sites instead of one. Reconciling becomes operational overhead.
• Tech stack duplication. Email capture, payment, analytics, customer accounts often need to be set up twice or hacked together across two sites.
• Cost. Building and maintaining a microsite is significantly more work than adding a section or rich landing page to the main site.
• Modern landing pages do most of the job. Tools like Replo, Shogun, PageFly, and Online Store 2.0 sections allow rich, custom landing pages within the main Shopify site that handle most use cases microsites historically addressed.

Where microsites still make sense

• Major brand activations or partnerships. Co-branded campaigns where neither partner's main site is appropriate.
• Distinctly different audiences. A B2B segment, a wholesale portal, or a region-specific brand expression that warrants its own infrastructure.
• Long-form content hubs. Brand journals, magazines, or community-driven content properties that operate as their own brand-adjacent destination.
• Pre-launch teaser sites. "Coming soon" sites for major launches before the actual product or platform is ready.
• Sub-brands. When a brand operates multiple distinct product lines under separate identities.

Microsite vs. landing page vs. main site section

• Landing page: single URL, single conversion goal, lives within main site.
• Main site section: multiple pages organised under a category or campaign, lives within main site.
• Microsite: multiple pages, often separate infrastructure, separate domain or subdomain, frequently separate visual identity.

For most ecommerce campaign needs, a landing page or main-site section delivers what a microsite would have delivered with less operational overhead, better tracking, and the SEO benefit of consolidated domain authority.