Single-Page vs Multi-Page Website: What To Choose?
Ladies and gents, welcome to the battle! In today’s match, we’ve got two mighty players: single page vs multi-page website. If you’re unsure which one will claim victory, well, bring your popcorn! Sit cosily, relax and allow us to introduce today’s competitors.
On one side of the battle ring, we have a single-page website. From its name, we can assume it is a bit simpler in characteristics than its opponent! On the other side, there’s a multi-page website that sounds a bit more layered. Yet, that information isn’t enough for us to announce a winner! Or is there a definite superior choice?
Well, the fact is, everyone who wishes to create their website will face a dilemma: single-page vs multi-page website. The correct option will vary depending on your needs. That’s why we’ll help you choose your own winner!
Right Before We Start: Important Considerations
Before we dive deeper into each website option and dwell on the single-page vs multi-page website, it’s wise to answer some questions first. Some of them will be pretty easy, yet the others will require some thinking through. Nevertheless, the responses will provide us with some valuable insights that will closely define our future website. Try writing down your own answers to these questions:
- What is the size of the content you would like to offer?
- Are you planning to update your website frequently (daily, weekly)?
- What are the unavoidable elements you would like your website to have?
- How will you provide an easy experience to the user?
- How will it be informative/enjoyable?
With these answers accompanied by our analysis below, deciding on a single page vs multi-page website will be a no-brainer!
Single-Page Website
We’ll start with defining a single-page website in the simplest terms. This is a website that contains only one HTML page. These types of websites are usually used for landing pages businesses and organisations create for different campaigns, events and more.
Forget about redirects to other pages – everything is kept at the main one. What does this mean for the users? Well, the visitors to your website will remain in one, comfortable space. As the website itself is built by content in blocks on the same page, all they need to do is – scroll!
Well, you might think: my visitors’ fingers will get tired from all the scrolling! In that case, you might help them a little by incorporating navigation links. When users click on those links, they will automatically transfer them to a different section on the same page. This is a very handy tool for single page websites.
Single Page Website Advantages
- Straightforward experience – Easier to tell a story
Easy linear flow with all of the content will provide a logical introduction, middle and end. These designs can be more effective in drawing audiences. When the content is carefully split into smaller chunks, it’s clean and simple to follow. The visitors need just one click to arrive at the complete website’s content. It means that they can process everything sooner, with nowhere to get distracted by another offer.
- Higher conversion rates
In cases when a business sells only one product or service, all it really takes is just one page! This way, the organisational scheme is more focused – and it can highlight the main aspects. Making it easier to communicate the message of the website results in faster actions of your clients. They can see the product, read all about it and then make a purchase. All with minimum clicks!
- Great for mobile users
Websites created with a single page design are recognised to be very responsive on mobile devices. With the limited amount of content, it’s easy to adapt those websites to smaller screens. Mobile phone visitors also prefer scrolling more than constant clicking, which is perfect in this case.
- Easier to implement and maintain
Finally, let’s do the math with single-page vs multi-page websites. Well, the first one is definitely cheaper and faster to build! Not only that – updates and maintenance of a single-page website are easier than on multi-page websites. Pretty convenient, right?
Single Page Website Disadvantages
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Weakness
Achieving good ranks with Google is a bit difficult with single-page websites. All the target keywords we usually incorporate in order to enhance SEO often get neglected. Either way, there is less room to play around with keywords! If you’re unfamiliar with SEO, here’s a little helping hand.
- Restricted length and narrow focus
There isn’t a distinct rule on the length of a website. Yet, we can’t think of many users who would agree to scroll for 5 minutes straight! That’s why it’s better to remain concise and not go into too many details. This type of website is focused on one product or service dominantly. But what happens if the company expands its product range? One solution is to add more pages and become a multi-page website. The other is to accept the long, long scrolls!
- Only one URL to work with
Imagine you wish to share something with your social media community. Just anything related to your website will be on the same URL, which means you can’t make a distinction or send segments of the page. Tracking a link in Google Analytics is just an impossible mission!
Multi-page Websites
In the whole website universe, multi-page websites make up the vast majority. Unlike single-page websites, they consist of many different pages and subpages. How are these pages connected? By simply clicking on links within the menu! As the possibilities are much larger with this choice, these types of websites are flexible and appealing to many. People, brands, institutions and companies could all build a multi-page website suiting their preferences.
In many cases, in the duel between single-page vs multi-page websites, the latter would win. Sometimes this choice is the only logical decision. Imagine banks, online shops or magazines having a single-page website. It’s almost impossible! Yet, with this option, you can have a landing homepage, a special page for the shop, one for your about page. Maybe one for the blog? Everything is possible!
Multi-Page Website Advantages
- Unrestricted scalability
This is especially important to growing businesses and the ones which keep adding items to their portfolio. As the business evolves, the website should keep up. You can add up as many pages as you wish! The navigation system can be expanded as well: it can be upgraded to a mega menu with a search bar. That way, visitors can find different topics with ease.
- Great SEO potential
Multiple-page websites are a logical choice for lots of (versatile) content in one place. Lots of content usually equals lots of SEO potential. By targeting different keywords on each page, the design allows users to rank for multiple key phrases. Yet, this is just the beginning of the story. For fulfilling the SEO potential, you just need one more thing – a good digital marketing strategy.
- The power of social media
Allowing visitors of your website to share specific pieces of your website is priceless. It promotes the brands and enlarges the audience. By increasing the visibility of your website, it will gain traffic from multiple social media sources. Hello, larger audience!
Multi-Page Website Disadvantages
- Caution: Bounce rates
Did it ever happen to open a website’s URL, and then wait to load for just too long? Long enough to decide to exit immediately? Well, with very content-heavy websites, it can sometimes happen! Having lots of information spread through multiple pages could be a bit confusing. Some visitors might just feel distracted and wishing to leave. That’s why high bounce rates should be prevented with intuitive website architecture.
- More difficult to adapt to mobile devices
More and more companies are deciding on a ‘mobiles first’ approach. They would make sure their websites adapt to mobile phones first and computers second. Either way, it is much more complicated to adapt multi-page websites to mobile devices, than it is for single-page websites.
- Higher maintenance
The higher number of components takes time to manage and optimize. It will require much more time and effort than single-page websites. This is a more costly option as well. Managing the regular updates to your site will require a person or a team devoted to it. Additionally, the content should be maintained by design and content teams.
The verdict: Single-Page vs Multi-Page Website
Ladies and gents, there’s no winner, really. It all depends on your needs, really. So tell us, what type of website do you need, and what do you intend to use it for?
Here’s where we leave you with our single-page vs multi-page website dilemma, but would love to hear you opinion!
