Looking for microsite inspiration? We've gathered 12 examples — from corporate brand hubs to event microsites to impact reports — that show what's possible when you give a single story its own space online.
Microsites give campaigns, events, and reports their own focused destination — separate from the main website, designed around one goal. The best ones combine visual storytelling with clear navigation to guide visitors through a single narrative without distractions. Each example below includes a breakdown of what makes it effective, so you can apply the same principles to your own projects.
What is a microsite?
A microsite is a standalone web page or small collection of pages that exists outside an organisation's main website. It's built around a specific campaign, product, event, or report — and it lives on its own URL, often a subdomain or dedicated domain.
So what's the difference between a microsite vs a landing page, or a microsite vs a website? A landing page is a single page focused on conversion — sign up, download, buy. A microsite can have multiple pages and a richer narrative structure; it's about telling a complete story, not just driving one action. And unlike a section of your main website, a microsite lives on its own URL with its own look, feel, and navigation — without competing with corporate content.
Organisations use microsites for product launches, annual reports, recruitment campaigns, sustainability initiatives, event promotion, and brand storytelling. The format works because it removes distractions and gives one message room to breathe.
What makes a great microsite?
Three things separate forgettable microsites from ones people actually explore:
Focused purpose. Great microsites do one thing well. They serve one audience with one goal — whether that's explaining a product, celebrating an anniversary, or recruiting new hires. When a microsite tries to be everything, it becomes nothing.
Visual-first design. The best microsite design earns attention through imagery, layout, and interaction — not walls of text. The design does the heavy lifting, guiding visitors through the story without requiring them to read every word. This is visual storytelling in action.
Self-contained narrative. The best microsites tell a complete story without needing the main website. Visitors should understand the message, feel the brand, and know what to do next — all within the microsite itself.
Let's see how these principles play out in practice. The examples below are organised by purpose: campaign microsites, event and corporate microsites, and report microsites.
A note on format: microsites thrive when they use scroll-based, single-path navigation. Unlike a main website with multiple entry points, a microsite can guide every visitor through the same story in the same order. That's why you'll see many of these examples use scrollytelling techniques — the format matches the goal.
Campaign and product microsites
These microsites exist to promote a specific initiative — a product launch, a brand campaign, or a creative concept. They give marketing teams space to tell a story that wouldn't fit on the main website.
1. JBT Marel — JBT Marel United
JBT Marel, a global leader in food processing equipment, used this microsite to announce its merger. The piece walks stakeholders through the vision, values, and combined capabilities of the new organisation.
What makes it work: The microsite turns what could be a dry corporate announcement into a brand moment. Scroll-based reveals and clean visual hierarchy make complex information digestible, while consistent photography creates a sense of scale and ambition. It's proof that even B2B industrial companies can tell compelling visual stories.
2. Dentsu — Cannes Lions 2023
Global advertising network Dentsu built this event microsite using Maglr's multi-page navigation to showcase their presence at Cannes Lions 2023. The piece combines event information, thought leadership content, and brand positioning into a single destination.
What makes it work: The navigation structure. Rather than cramming everything onto one page, Dentsu created distinct sections for different content types — making it easy for visitors to find what they need. The visual design matches the energy of Cannes without feeling chaotic.
3. Dropbox — Brand Guidelines
Dropbox's brand guidelines live on their own subdomain, separate from the product website. The microsite covers visual identity, voice and tone, photography, and motion — everything a partner or designer needs to use the Dropbox brand correctly.
What makes it work: Hosting guidelines on a separate subdomain keeps them findable and focused — partners and designers get what they need without navigating the product site. Colour palettes expand on hover, assets download directly from the page, and real examples show each element in context. The flat, scannable navigation means visitors find what they need fast.
4. Spotify — Found
Spotify's "Found" microsite is a standalone experience exploring how music helps people discover themselves. The piece uses immersive audio, personal stories, and scroll-triggered visuals to create something closer to a short film than a marketing page.
What makes it work: Full commitment to the format. The microsite uses ambient audio that shifts as you scroll, video backgrounds that respond to navigation, and pacing that lets each story breathe. It doesn't feel like a marketing page with creative elements bolted on — the design choices serve the emotional arc of each narrative.
5. NASA / Google Cloud / Intel — Frontier Development Lab
This cinematic microsite celebrates the breakthroughs of NASA's Frontier Development Lab and the AI technologies that have made them possible — with support from Google Cloud and Intel. The piece covers satellite imagery analysis, asteroid detection, and climate modelling.
What makes it work: Video backgrounds and data visualisations do the heavy lifting, making complex research feel tangible without oversimplifying. The scroll-based structure moves between high-level narrative and technical detail, letting different audiences engage at their own depth. Three logos, one coherent story.
Event microsites and corporate microsites
These microsites serve specific business functions — event promotion, recruitment, or corporate communications. Event microsites in particular give organisations a dedicated space for conferences, product launches, or seasonal campaigns.
6. Westgold — The Westgold Journey
Australian gold mining company Westgold created this microsite to tell the story of their corporate evolution — from explorer to mid-tier producer. The piece combines company history, operational highlights, and future vision into a single narrative experience.
What makes it work: The timeline format gives structure to decades of history without overwhelming readers. Maglr's scroll-triggered animations pace the information, and consistent visual hierarchy makes it easy to skim or dive deep. The photography breaks from generic stock imagery, giving personality to an industry that often defaults to corporate sameness.
7. Jeudan — The Ultimate Office Guide
Danish property company Jeudan built this microsite as a resource for businesses looking for office space in Copenhagen. The piece covers location guides, building features, and workplace trends — positioning Jeudan as a knowledgeable partner rather than just a landlord.
What makes it work: The structure mirrors how people actually research office space — by location, by need, by trend. Interactive maps and filterable content let visitors self-select their path through the material. The design positions the content as a resource, not a pitch, which builds trust before any sales conversation.
8. Bibendum — Ireland Microsite
Wine supplier Bibendum created this microsite to introduce their Irish wine collection. The piece profiles producers, explains the selection philosophy, and helps hospitality buyers understand what makes each wine special.
What makes it work: The photography carries the story. Full-bleed vineyard imagery and producer portraits create atmosphere before you read a word. The layout uses generous whitespace and restrained typography, letting the visuals set the quality tone. Each wine profile follows a consistent template, making comparison easy.
9. Miles & More — Lufthansa Status Explained
Lufthansa's Miles & More loyalty programme built this microsite to explain their status tiers — Frequent Traveller, Senator, and HON Circle. The single-page design walks visitors through benefits, qualification requirements, and tier comparisons.
What makes it work: Progressive disclosure. The single-page format shows the overview first, then reveals detail as you scroll — tier benefits, qualification paths, comparisons. Clear visual hierarchy and iconography make dense information scannable. Available in multiple languages without cluttering the interface.
Report microsites
Annual report microsites and impact report microsites increasingly live outside the main corporate website — giving organisations space to tell richer stories with better design. For more on this format, see our guide to bringing annual reports to life.
10. Armed Angels — Impact Report 2024
Cologne-based sustainable fashion brand Armed Angels published their 2024 impact report as a standalone microsite. The piece covers supply chain transparency, material sourcing, and circularity goals — presented in a way that feels unmistakably on-brand. (We also featured this example in our impact report examples roundup.)
What makes it work: The standalone domain means the report doesn't compete with product pages or blog posts for attention. Typography, colour palette, and photography match the main site — so the microsite feels like an extension, not a detour. Scroll-triggered animations pace the dense sustainability data, and the single-path structure ensures every visitor sees the full story.
11. IKEA — Life at Home
IKEA's annual "Life at Home" report has become one of the largest studies on how people live. The 2024 edition explores enjoyment at home — what brings joy, what gets in the way, and how design can help. The microsite presents research findings alongside photography and data visualisations.
What makes it work: The report connects data to action. Research findings are visualised with scroll-triggered charts, and each insight links to relevant product categories or design principles. Photography and illustration break up dense statistics, and the navigation lets readers jump to sections that matter to them.
12. Adobe — My Creative Type
Adobe's "My Creative Type" is an interactive personality test that helps visitors discover their creative style. The microsite uses playful animations, video metaphors, and a sophisticated visual language to turn self-discovery into a shareable experience.
What makes it work: The quiz format turns passive browsing into active participation. Each question triggers a playful animation, and the result page is designed for sharing — downloadable graphics, social buttons, type descriptions. The visual language is sophisticated without being corporate, and the pacing keeps you clicking through all 15 questions.
What these examples teach us
Focus beats breadth. The strongest microsites do one thing exceptionally well. A dedicated URL means you can optimise everything — design, copy, navigation — for a single audience and goal. When you try to serve everyone, you end up with a confusing experience that serves no one.
Self-contained storytelling wins. The best microsites don't require visitors to click through to the main website to understand the message. Everything they need — context, narrative, call to action — lives within the microsite itself. That completeness is what separates a microsite from a landing page.
Scroll-based design fits the format. Microsites work best when they guide visitors through a single narrative path. Scroll-triggered animations, progressive disclosure, and linear navigation all reinforce the "one story, one goal" structure. For more on this approach, see our scrollytelling examples. Platforms like Maglr make this kind of interactive design accessible without custom development.
Microsites are measurable. A dedicated URL means cleaner analytics. You can track exactly how visitors engage — time on page, scroll depth, interaction rates — without the noise of your main website. That clarity makes it easier to prove ROI and iterate on future campaigns.
Start building
Ready to create a microsite that people actually want to explore? Browse more examples in our inspiration gallery or request a demo to see how Maglr can help you build interactive microsites, campaign pages, and reports without code.
