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Pros & Cons to Having a One-Page Website

Understanding What a One-Page Website Is

To simply put it, a one-page or single-page website is just that: one page. There are some pros and cons to having a one-page website that we will be going over. With these types of sites, there are no additional pages like Contact, Products/Services, etc. All of the content for the website resides on only one page. Traditionally, one-page sites are long-scrolling and if they do have a navigation menu, they will be anchor links. Anchor links will scroll the user down to that specified section. This feature in a way makes it easier to get to that particular section, but it can confuse some users at first. One-page sites can also utilize popups to add additional content if needed. For the most part, one-page websites are cost-effective for smaller businesses, however, as the business grows, so should their website.

Pros of Having a One-Page Site

As stated earlier, having a one-page website allows all the content on the site to be on a single page. In certain cases, this is a great way to present content to a user all at once, without them needing to go to other pages. It pushes for the site's design to be comprehensible and clean, making it easier for users to take in.Since the user doesn't need to navigate to any other pages, they take a simple journey down a page which should tell a story. This should be easy to interpret for a user, telling them about the business, product, or service from beginning, to middle, to end. It provides a straightforward message to the end-user and highlights all the key selling points your product or service has.Believe it or not, but having a simple one-page site makes it easier for a user to turn into a conversion. There are studies that show having a one-page website helps users take action sooner since they are not distracted by other pages.Another benefit is that single-page website designs, work well with mobile devices. Since there are small pieces of content for each section on a one-page site, they adapt nicely on a mobile screen for users to view and interact with. Think of it as the same effect with social media sites and apps. It is easier for a mobile user to scroll and not worry about clicking on the navigation to go from page to page.

Cons of Having a One-Page Site

Having a single or one-page website is great to some degree, but there are quite a few drawbacks to having one.One of the biggest cons of having a one-page website is its impact on SEO (Search Engine Optimization). A business that wants to start ranking on search engines such as Google, should steer away from having a one-page site. Since a one-page website only has one page, it is difficult to use Google Analytics and compare other pages, because there aren't other pages. This also ties into keyword targeting. It poses a challenge with implementing keywords other than the ones on your only page. When you have additional pages throughout the site, it has more of an opportunity to add a number of keywords to the site.A single-page site can also take longer to load, depending on the amount of content on the page. The site is trying to load everything on that one page and if there is an overwhelming amount of text, images, videos, etc, it will slow down the loading of the page. As a result, it could lead to a higher bounce rate (i.e. users leaving your site within a few seconds) and a low score on Google PageSpeed Insights. Typically though, high bounce rates do not directly affect a page's ranking, but it should still be something to improve on. Users may also be annoyed if they have to scroll more than usual with there being a lot of content thrown onto the page. When a one-page website has too much content to place onto it, that's when you should consider just having a multi-page website. The cost may be more for the build of it, but it will be beneficial in the long run.

Should I Still Consider Having a One-Page Website?

To tell whether or not your business should use a one-page site vs. a multi-page site depends on really the brand, the amount of content the site has, and who the target audience is. What type of online presence do you want to have for your users as a whole? Also, consider the budget your business has. Most startups and small businesses have smaller budgets and having a one-page website might be more to the price range. For a more established, larger business, it's wiser to get a full website created. At the end of the day though, having a larger, multi-page website will be more beneficial for any type of business. It can greatly help in terms of search engine optimization, user experience, and much more. However, if your business has unanswered questions or is undecided about getting a one-page website, consider calling a professional web agency such as 702 Pros. They have the resources and the knowledgeable team to help your business get online and in the right way.