Cheer or jeer? Did that slick new website help?

Question: What’s a great way to have your company’s web presence spiral out of control?

Answer: Launching one-off sites.

But everyone, from the rank-and-file to top executives, usually applaud one-offs. Why?

• They are relatively easy to create.
• They can be massaged exactly how you want them, without worrying about existing structures, negotiating, etc.

In other words, they can be created quickly and look great! They can even seem like a bright life boat against the backdrop of the huge ship that is the rest of your site.

So what’s not to like?

• They do nothing to improve existing, core (if they are boring) parts of your web presence.
• They usually aren’t maintained for high quality over time.
• They are more likely to break branding guidelines.
• They don’t help site visitors who are close to the page they really need that is elsewhere on your web presence.

Here are several questions to ask yourself when considering a one-off site:

• Will this site be deleted once it is no longer relevant? This is your get-out-of-jail-free card – if the answer is “yes” (and soon), then go ahead and create the site.
• Is there a business purpose to stand alone? Too often stand-alone sites are created just because it is expedient to do so. Aside from vanity reasons to create a separate site, does a separate site serve a business goal?
• Is it more important to create this stand-alone site than improve existing, core parts of the website? Are there existing issues that could be addressed to better serve business goals?
• How will the new site be maintained? If you’re going to just launch the site only to forget about it, don’t do it at all.
• Are linking back to appropriate core content? Of course, sometimes you may create microsites with the sole purpose of a specific conversion, in which case you may want to narrow the funnel. But in general, consider the case that a page on this stand alone site may be the first online encounter with your organization, in which case it may not be
  exactly what they are looking for. Instead of bouncing these users, make sure you are linking back to the core content appropriately.

Hopefully you can avoid creating sites that seem glossy and exciting on launch, only to be cast adrift and shabby in short order.