The structure of the pages is one of the most important factors when it comes to building a website because it’ll heavily impact how effective the website will be in generating results for your business. In this post we’ll explore the pros and cons of single page and multi-page websites, so you can decide which one works best for you.
Single Page Websites
As you can tell by the name, its just a website with one page. Single page websites have got more popular in the recent years, because they let the user focus on one particular page without the distraction of other pages. One page websites are usually used as sales pages to sell a particular product or service or as websites for businesses that don’t have a lot of content to show.
Pros of single page websites
- Higher conversion rate: Single page websites, if done right, will have higher conversion rates because users have all the information on one page and don’t have to visit other pages just to get distracted along the way, as a result, users will just go through a linear flow of digesting the content and keeping them focused on the goal of the page. A case study has shown that a single page website converts 37.5% more than a multi page website.
- Costs less: A single page website will be faster to build and easier to update/maintain down the road, which reduces the cost of the website.
Cons of single page websites:
- Limited information: Since we can’t have a page that is super long, we have to choose wisely which type of content will appear on the page, and this could be challenging because you might have a lot of information that is important for the user, so you might run into a situation where users aren’t scrolling all the way to learn more.
- Limited SEO potential: One of the best practises for SEO is to have a page that is targeting one main keyword and some variations of the main keyword. You’ll be very limited with a single page because you won’t be able to target multiple different keywords (both in page content & URL) that people search for, so you’ll be highly disadvantaged over multi-page websites, especially if you’re offering multiple products or services.
- Might appear less credible: Well-known brands might be able to get by with single page websites, but if you’re a new business that no one knows about, its not the best idea to have a single page, because people are likely going to visit multiple pages to learn more about your company so that they can trust doing business with you.
What are single page websites are best suited for?
- Portfolio sites
- Sales pages for a single product or service
Multi-page websites
Multi-page websites are the classic and industry standard of websites that everyone is familiar with and will continue to do so. Lets explore the pros and cons of websites that have more than one page:
Pros of multi page websites:
- SEO benefits: the biggest advantage of multi page websites is being able to rank higher on Google. When you have multiple pages, you’re able to diversify and target the different keywords that people search for. For example, if you offer multiple services, each service page will target specific keywords when people look for a particular service.
- Scalable: Companies that have a lot of information to display can break down their content into separate pages, so that the users can pick what type of information they would like to learn more about instead of being presented with everything on a single page, that way the website will be a lot of more organized compared to putting everything on a single page.
- More credible: Multi page websites have existed and still do for a long time, so people have some kind of expectation of what a website should look like, otherwise, it might appear strange since single page websites aren’t as common.
Cons of multi page websites:
- More expensive: multi page websites have a much higher cost because they have more pages that need to be built, updated, and maintained regularly. The website will likely grow over time with more pages and add more functionalities, which will increase the cost even further down the road.
What are multi page websites best suited for?
Multi page websites are very versatile, so they can be used almost for any type of website, whether you’re a startup, local business, large corporation, etc.
Conclusion
Chances are you’re likely best suited with a multi page website since it can be customized for any type of business, whereas single page websites are best for showcasing a portfolio or act as a landing page for a particular product or service.
