Ever-increasing Paradigm of Microsites

The traditional concept of microsites is elegantly straightforward: build highly specialized small websites to target niche audiences for lead generation, sales, and brand visibility. Mainly utilized by companies, particularly for marketing (esp. engineering as marketing).

These microsites are usually free tools, tailored to solve specific user needs. They can be calculators, simulators, templates, courses, trackers, builders, quizzes, technical tools, API, games, etc.

Some of the most noticeable microsites are

• Hubspot's website grader
• Ahrefs's free SEO tools
• Shopify's business name generator
• Adobe’s my creative type
• Bitly’s qr code generator
• Front’s Compensation and Equity

However, a recent trend observed on social media platforms like Twitter reveals a notable shift: More and more microsites aren't being made by businesses but by indie makers.

These makers are building microsites not for marketing but instead to create a direct source of income. Maybe the next Wordle with a better business plan other than selling it to a giant or showing ads.