26 Feb Do Single-Page Websites Work? 

In today’s world, every business needs a website in order to be successful. The amount of content you want to provide will help determine how many pages your website will have, but how many pages is too many? Or is a single page enough to help bring you success?

Before deciding on how many pages you want your website to have, it’s important to understand some critical features about web design so that you can make an informed decision. To do this, let’s walk through the pros of a single-page website, website content requirements, and the pros of a multi-page website.

Pros of a Single-page Website

If you want to lean towards simplicity for your website, consider the pros of a single-page website:

• Increased Engagement and Conversions — Naturally, single-page websites see higher engagement and conversion rates because CTAs are able to instantly be presented to visitors. All of the necessary content — such as contact information, social media links, etc. — are all in one easily accessible space. In this way, site visitors are more likely to stick around to read and interact with your content instead of bouncing at the sight of too many tabs.

• Simple Navigation — As mentioned in the previous point, simple navigation holds the attention of users much easier. Users no longer risk getting lost on your website, confused, or frustrated when you opt for a single page. Make navigation even easier with menu buttons at the top of your single-page website.

• Responsive Design (aka Mobile Friendly) — Every website needs to be responsive to mobile devices, both for user experience and for your SEO efforts. A single-page website is very easy to make responsive so that it adjusts appropriately to all devices, whether on desktop or mobile.

• Easy Image Integration — Integrating images and photos onto a single-page website is easy to do, which can help improve your website’s effectiveness and overall visual appeal. Tagging your images with appropriate alt-tags can also help your SEO strategy, as well.

• Affordability — A single-page website is a very affordable option due to its limited development needs and smaller development timeframe. Starting with a single-page website is a great way to get your content online, and you can always add more pages later on. Maintenance of a single-page website is also much more manageable and easier to fix if problems occur.

Lack of Content

While there are many benefits to having a single-page website, one of the greatest downsides is a lack of specific content. The age-old saying holds true: content is king. Single-page websites typically don’t have enough space to provide more in-depth information about services or products. This can leave website visitors feeling unsatisfied when they can’t find the information they are looking for, which can actually lead to an increase in bounce rates and a decrease in conversions if your content is lacking enough substance. All of this can ultimately hurt your SEO efforts.

Another SEO element related to content that single-page websites miss out on is sufficient metadata, such as title tags. Single-page websites only have one title tag and description, which can be very limiting when it comes to SEO. Search engines won’t have as much metadata to crawl and index compared to multi-page websites, often resulting in lower search engine results page rankings for single-page websites. Ranking lower means fewer visitors are likely to come to your website and make conversions.

Pros of a Multi-page Website

So, then, what about websites with more than one page? Consider some of the pros of a multi-page website:

• Scalability — A multi-page website design gives you infinite scalability options. You can create as many pages as you want to meet your needs and the needs of your site visitors. Each page can function differently depending on its content and purpose, and there is greater flexibility for design. This customization can keep your users more engaged and help you improve your conversions.

• Custom Navigation — The content of your pages isn’t all that you can customize with a multi-page website. You can also enjoy the benefit of creating customized navigation options to help users know what your website contains and how the content is organized. Creating clear navigation options with your menu or search bar makes your user experience a breeze.
  
• Improved SEO — As we previously discussed about content, the more you have will help your SEO in many ways. Multi-page websites allow you to add relevant and specific content pages to your website for both the benefit of your visitors and your overall search engine ranking. However, more content doesn’t always equal better SEO. You will need a specific content marketing strategy to fully take advantage of SEO, but it all starts with having a multi-page website.

Website Development to Meet Your Needs

Whether you want a single-page website or are looking for a multi-page website, Virtual Stacks Systems UK has the experience to meet your needs. Our web development and web design specialists will work with you every step of the way to ensure your website meets today’s website standards and the standards of your industry, while our content and SEO specialists can help your website improve its organic reach. Learn more about our websites design services, and contact us today to discuss your vision!