One page v/s multi-page website ~ which one should I choose for my business?

Picture this: you are sitting in a bakery, cradling your favorite Harry Potter book and quite literally smelling the coffee. You see the baker restock the glass panel with a fresh batch of flakey buttery croissants, and you can’t help but revisit that feeling that you should have been a baker, the guy or girl with their hands covered in dough and the sweet smell of vanilla essence.

Sounds heavenly! Well, it surely is!

So, when a business idea strikes, you almost always think about the kind of website that will do complete justice to your product or service offering. 

However, multiple questions and concerns might crop up.

• Will a single-page or multiple-page website serve my business goals?
• Which businesses should go for a single-page website?
• If I go for a one-page website, what should it include?

We at Mavlers have helped 600+ agencies build and execute profitable web development projects and white-label solutions over the past 12+ years. We are committed to sharing our insights and professional understanding with our clients. 

The following blog will attempt to offer honest and unbiased answers to the following concerns.

• What is a one-page website? What should it include?
• What are the pros and cons of single and multi-page websites?
• What factors help you determine if a single-page website is the right fit for your business?/ How do you make the right website choice for your business?

Let’s get started!

What is a one-page website? What should it include? 

True to its name, single-page or one-page websites give an overview of your business on one HTML page.

Everything that your target audience needs to know about your business is on this one page in a neat, clutter-free package.

From your brand story, product/service offerings, contact details, and pricing, to mention a few, find a place on this page. 

Also referred to as “parallax” or “one-page scrolling” websites, the browser takes the reader to specific sections instead of a navigation menu that takes visitors to other pages when clicked.

What are the pros and cons of single and multi-page websites?

While a multi-page website might have been the no-brain choice a decade ago, things have changed quite a bit as we move into the third decade of the twenty-first century. 

Where one-page websites may have been the exception rather than the norm, they do have their set of pros and cons. 

Pros of one-page websites

1. Simple navigation experience

Let’s face it: we have an attention span of even less than that of a goldfish.

This means that people need everything they need to know about your business in one place, arranged clutter-free, to make an informed buying decision. 

Users can scroll up and down or re-read specific portions on a one-page website. They can click on a menu option (such as contact details) to reach that page section. 

This ensures minimal distractions and no loops to jump in order to reach specific business information. 

And people love that!

2. Seamless mobile experience

You are probably consuming this piece of content on your mobile device, and as your thumbs scroll away, you wonder if you can offer a similarly seamless experience to your customers as well!

With one-page websites, your target audience is more likely to experience a seamless scrolling experience with little to no interlinking (to other pages.)

You can also deploy the power of Lazy Loading on your one-page business website to offer a delightful experience. 

This will ensure quick loading speeds and limited bandwidth usage. 

Are you wondering what Lazy Loading is and what it can do for you? Well, it enables quicker and more seamless UX by loading only the current content on your page while the extra content loads as the user scrolls through the page. 

This renders the following benefits.

• Since only a specific portion of the content needs to be downloaded as the user views your website, it ensures quicker connection speeds. This appeals to almost everyone because no one will wait for your site to load more than three seconds.

• Also, since only particular images or pieces of code need to be loaded at one time, the user’s device saves on memory, and there are fewer chances of potential crashes. 

At this point, it is important to note that Lazy Loading can also be set up on multi–page websites. But it holds much more value for businesses considering a single-page website as all their visitors will only visit one page. 

3. Business overview at a glance/Easy to digest content

This works wonders for brands trying to tell a story with a marked beginning, body, and end. 

You can take your viewers on a guided journey through your brand story, product/service description, costs, benefits, and how to contact you seamlessly. 

The viewers can glide from top to bottom and find everything they need to know at their fingertips (quite literally!) without getting redirected to other pages. 

4. Gain higher page authority quicker!

Even though SEO is the chink in the armor of one-page websites, you can build greater Page Authority (PA) and Domain Authority (DA) as any good quality backlinks that you get are linked to only one page URL and not multiple pages! 

Source

5. Enhanced conversion rates

When you eliminate distractions and focus only on the content that truly brings value to your end consumers, you will achieve better leads, subscribers, and conversions.

This is one of the major reasons they make a good choice for landing pages, too!

6. Low maintenance

Since you share limited content on your single-page website and there are zero links to other pages, there is a marked reduction in the need to update fresh content now and then and check for broken links, etc. 

While you will still have to carry out regular maintenance activities such as SSL renewals and WordPress updates, these are quite low maintenance per se. 

Cons of one-page websites

1. Not so great from the SEO standpoint

You will not be able to rank for multiple relevant keywords simply because you cannot create and publish relevant content around it on your one-page website. 

For instance, if you can target only “bakery in New York,” you might not be able to rank for “sweet shops near me” or “croissants in Manhattan,” etc.  

2. Only one URL to share/work with

While this may seem paradoxical, you have only one entry point for visitors to look you up. While this may be great for businesses that thrive on word-of-mouth advertisement, you might be unable to attract target audiences from other entry points, such as social media platforms. 

3. Scalability might become an issue

If you plan to expand your business or product/service offerings in the near future, you might want to re-think your one-page website idea as a single-page website can be difficult to scale. This can only be a short-term solution and not a long-term one if you plan to grow your business. 

Pros of multi-page websites

1. SEO 

When you choose to go with multi-page websites, you can create pillar content that focuses on targeting multiple relevant keywords through well-written content positioned on different pages of your website. 

For instance, in the above bakery example, you can also rank for “birthday cakes one-day delivery” or “cakes for wife/cakes for fiance in Manhattan,” etc. 

2. Easier to scale

With multi-page website templates, you can add or remove as many product/collection pages as you like, which is a great way to grow your e-commerce business, for instance!

3. Enhanced marketing potential

You can link different pages in your blogs or on your social media platforms to garner the interest of different audience segments.

For example, you can share the link for the page displaying heart-shaped cakes for your Valentine’s Day Instagram story!

Cons of multi-page websites

1. Calls for constant maintenance

The more the number of pages, the proportionally greater the effort required to stay on top of the game!

In addition to the regular website and security checks, you will need to update the following quite regularly;

• SEO
• Content
• Plugins & Integrations
• Broken links
• Redirects
• Clean code
• Optimized images
• Updated individual product and collection pages

2. Ensure mobile friendliness

With multi-page websites, you must ensure high quality and responsive loading across different screen sizes to offer a seamless viewer experience. 

3. User distractions and potentially high bounce rates

The bounce rates may increase when you keep redirecting the consumers to different website pages. Some reasons behind this could be;

• Slow page loading speeds
• Lesser time spent on specific pages (indicates lesser content relevance)
• Broken links
• Poor UI/UX
• Poorly optimized content or images

Now that we are familiar with the pros and cons of single and multi-page websites let’s look into the factors you should consider before you choose your website.

How do you make the right website choice for your business?

So we have done our research and asked our web experts, Harshvardhan Sharma, Pratik Bhatt, and Ravi Hingu, about the factors a business owner should consider before deciding the number of pages on their website. 

1. Budget

The first and foremost factor a business owner should consider is the budget they can allocate to their business website. 

Pratik says, “At Mavlers, the standard cost of building a website varies between $350-$500 based on the number of pages, interactivity, and any software integration you may choose to add.”

While a single-page website will be cheaper to build and maintain, you need to factor in other elements, such as your business goals, nature, and product offerings, before you zero in on a particular kind of website. 

2. Type of business

If you are a freelancer looking to build a portfolio website, a startup owner looking to launch a product or events page, or even a wedding photographer, a single-page website might be sufficient to display your business offerings to your target audience. 

However, those with multiple products/service offerings, such as e-commerce businesses or B2B service agencies, will benefit more from multi-page websites as this will allow them to showcase their products/services and create content relevant to them. 

Suppose you are starting your entrepreneurial journey and don’t have many products/services or testimonials to share. In that case, a single-page website might make the cut for you, while those with more varied and nuanced requirements should go for multi-page websites. 

3. Content

Another important consideration is the level of education and information regarding your business offerings that your consumers might need. 

Will the information on a single-page website give them enough information to make a buying decision, or will they need to read more relevant blogs or product descriptions to decide? 

You need to gain clarity about this. If you feel your consumers will need multiple pieces of varied information to make a buying decision and you can’t seem to fit all that in a single page, that’s your cue to go for a multi-page website.

4. Marketing

Where is your target audience coming from? If yours is a word-of-mouth business or you gain leads from social media and search engine rankings don’t matter to you, then a one-page website can do the trick.

However, if you want to deploy the power of SEO and advertising, you might want to focus on multiple relevant keywords that you can target through different pages.

So cool! What now?

You are better equipped to decide whether a one-page website is right for your business. As you consider the multiple factors mentioned above, you might feel overwhelmed with the task of creating a new website. 

If you’d like to outsource your web design and development needs, here is a checklist of the factors you should consider before partnering with an offshore digital marketing agency.