Domains and using microsites

Using cumberland.gov.uk

The primary source of information is about our council. If we are providing a service, then everything users need to know about it should be here.  Most of the content we need to publish can go on the main site. Occasionally there might be a need to develop a microsite.

Microsites

Microsites are usually not suitable because:

• people expect to find information from us on the main site
• there is already a large audience using the main site
• they can duplicate information already existing on the main site, making it difficult for customers to understand where to get authoritative, sound information
• they are difficult and costly to maintain, it takes time and resource to keep the information fresh and up to date
• they take time to rise up the rankings of search engines making them harder to find (cumberland.gov.uk ranks very highly for topics related to our services)
• you'll need publicity to promote your microsite
• they can be costly, they take time and resource to develop. Consider your budget and capacity first

You might consider a microsite when:

• the site can't be associated directly with the council
• the audience is unique and won't use cumberland.gov.uk
• you need to offer a service which can't be done on the main site

Examples of Cumberland authorised microsites include:

• HM Coroner Cumbria
• Cumbria Lord-Lieutenant

We can develop microsites for you, but you will need make sure you have people in place and long-term capacity to make sure that the site:

• is kept correct and up to date
• meets our content design and style patterns guidance
• meets the accessibility requirements for .gov.uk websites

Request a microsite

To request a microsite use our web content request form.

Your request will be reviewed by the web team. We will get in touch to let you know the next steps.