Traffic on public-domain platforms is getting more and more expensive—a feeling shared by many businesses. As advertising costs rise and conversion becomes harder, companies are turning their attention back to channels they can control themselves. Official websites and mini-programs are the two most frequently mentioned vehicles, and their roles are not the same; they need to be looked at separately.
Official Website: A Self-Owned Base Where Information Can Accumulate
The biggest characteristic of an official website is that the business owns and controls it itself. The browsing and inquiry records users leave here all belong to the business, can be reused repeatedly, and there is no need to worry about the impact of changes in platform rules. An official website is also better suited to carrying content that needs to be explained clearly—product descriptions, solutions, frequently asked questions—and such content can be continuously searched and play a role over the long term. Its drawback is that it requires the business to actively bring people in, unlike on a platform where traffic is readily available.
Mini-Program: A Service Entrance with a Lower Barrier to Use
The advantage of a mini-program lies in its lightness. Users do not need to download it and leave as soon as they are done, making it well suited to carrying specific service actions: appointments, placing orders, inquiries, claiming coupons. It relies on an ecosystem people already use in their daily lives, making reach more natural. But the carrier of a mini-program is also in the hands of the platform, the rules are set by the other party, and data and user relationships are subject to certain restrictions. It is suitable for undertaking services, but not really suitable as the sole place for accumulating all information.
How the Two Work Together
Putting the characteristics of the two together, the division of labor becomes clear: the mini-program handles convenient service and conversion, while the official website handles the accumulation of information and the building of trust, and there must be a clear, smooth round-trip path between the two. After users complete a service in the mini-program, they can be guided to the official website to learn more complete content; users who become interested on the official website can also conveniently enter the mini-program to complete an order. The key to channel coordination is to let users, no matter which end they enter from, move smoothly to the other end, rather than each speaking only for itself.
A Reminder About "Private Domain"
The so-called private domain is essentially a collection of channels through which a business can independently and continuously reach users. It has value, but it also has a prerequisite: the business must truly be able to continuously provide content or services that users are willing to receive; otherwise, no matter how many channels there are, it is just changing the place to run ads. The significance of self-owned channels is not in fencing users in, but in having a communication path that does not depend on others and can be operated over the long term.