Single page websites have become popular among minimalist entrepreneurs, product announcers, and newcomers to the world of websites. The idea is a single page website is easier to maintain while the entrepreneur is doing their work.
Some of these people are often offering services that are a little more in-depth than something that you can drop into an online shopping cart. Some are your consultants or life coaches and they just don’t have the time or resources to devote to a blog or maintaining a website with fresh content on a regular basis. Or perhaps the purpose of the site is to garner some early excitement about a future product, in conjunction with a Kickstarter or other crowdfunding campaign.
In the past, many folks have claimed that single page websites don’t work well and SEO is too difficult for these sorts of websites. This is often true; however, we are going to show you today that it can work and with ingenuity, work well.
Why Single Page?
Let’s face facts, our society has become so inundated with information that when they visit a website, you have only a matter of seconds to truly capture their attention. Many of them don’t stick around and really look through the site unless something catches their attention immediately. Single page websites, don’t have to worry near as much as those of us who maintain multiple page sites.
Yes, you still have those few seconds to capture their attention, but they should provide enough information to convert their traffic into clientele when they contact for more information about the service. The wonderful thing about single page sites is they load much faster than a multi-page site and they are fantastic for the mobile user.
Our websites often tell a story, even on a business level. We are telling a story in which we invite the reader to become a part of our world through product and service. Single page sites truly are devoted to telling the story of how we came into existence, what we offer, and who partakes in our story. When we connect on a personal level with our community, we can improve our business standing.
Updating the sites become easier. With a multi-page site, it can take longer to make sure products and services, blogs, and testimonials are updated. Often, multi-page sites rely on a webmaster to take care of that sort of thing. With a single page, your updates can happen on your schedule and quickly.
Doesn’t It Counter SEO?
The short answer is maybe. If you are relying on a wide range of keywords, your single page site will work against you. Single page sites are focused on one concept and that means you are limited in your ranking opportunities.With a multi-page site, your keyword range can widen due to the keyword ranking on a page by page basis. So, before you make a big switch, check in with your marketing team on how effective your range of keywords are working for you.
Let’s say you are a local yoga instructor. Your keywords will be limited to your profession within your town. Unless you are the only yoga instructor, your competitors, with multi-page websites, will gain a higher ranking naturally. If you are venturing into the world of websites for the first time, look at how your competition looks online and how keywords play into that. This could very well be the reason why you opt for or against a single page site.
While single page websites sound easier to maintain due to lack of pages, the lack of information can be counter-productive to your business. Many people will not even consider converting to a business relationship if there isn’t plenty information that engages them and makes them feel like you are a personality. Because people do businesses with people, not companies. Overall, some people may feel that only providing a small portrait of what you do is a lack of motivation to take your business seriously. Not always a fair assumption, but it does happen.
On the upside, as we have mentioned before, single page transfer easier to mobile devices. More searches are occurring on smartphone and tablets. While multi-page sites can transfer to mobile devices, they take longer to upload and if they are not optimized for mobile devices, they can be harder to navigate. You don’t have to take any extra steps with your single page site to make it easier for your target market to find you.
Advanced techniques, such as siloing, do not work on a single page site. Siloing involves a very specific structure to your website to maximize your authority and presence online. Each page is given a category and/or a subcategory to specifically improve SEO ranking. With a single page, it’s simply impossible to silo.
So How Do I Make It Work?
If you have decided that you simply prefer the idea of a single page site over a multi-page site, there are ways to master SEO and maximize your online presence. It will require some intuition and ingenuity to make your site the best it can be. The important thing to remember is to go with the flow. Grow your site in the direction it needs to so that it can nurture your business. So, let’s talk about some strategy to help you find the recipe that will help you find your way!
Keep Your Site Fresh
There is this idea that with single page sites, you can just set it and then move on. Not true! For a high Google ranking, you need to update it regularly. The best solution to keeping your site fresh is to routinely change what information you share. If you have testimonials posted, change them out so that you are showing off the most recent. If you are in a lull with obtaining testimonials, rotate your favorites so that you give the appearance of a fresh face.
How regularly you update the site is solely up to you. Many successful sites update anywhere from daily to weekly. Be realistic with your time and energy so that you are updating often but not detracting from your other work. If weekly seems too often for your workload, consider hiring a social media manager and allow them to take over the updates. At the very least, begin with weekly updates and increase if you see an uptick in visits and conversions. If it’s working for you, keep the momentum going.
Define Your Sections
Many SEO experts suggest adding a page to your single page site. The problem is, that’s not really a solution but rather a nudge to change to a multi-page site. Instead, you can create sections on your page to be sure you get all the necessary information on the page, while still allowing spiders to search the page easier. You can choose sections like About Us, Contact, Product/Service Information, Testimonials, and even a Blog. The last three are the sections that you want to keep fresh and update routinely. About Us should change only if your business structure, mission statements, or ownership changes regarding the business. Contact info should include all methods of communication and include any social media networks you are using to engage with prospects and clientele. That only changes if you add or remove a platform.
If you find that you must grow your site due to increased traffic and increased products or services offered, do make the change to a multi-page site. It is frustrating for your business flow if you continue to not allow the site to grow in the way that it needs to. It’s also a fantastic sign that your business is gaining the notoriety it deserves and should be nurtured!
Make It Readable
No matter what SEO tricks you use, it should not interfere with the readability and flow of your website. If a site is too cluttered or it’s a wall of text without any breaks, you will lose the interest of your target market. Most everyone scans a site to see if it piques their interest before really reading anything. If you are unsure of how well your flow is, ask your site visitors. Ask if they’ve looked at your website and if so, what did they think of it? Getting feedback from your users can let you know what works for them and what doesn’t.
For a multipage site, using navigation links are great for traveling between pages that you need to find. It saves people from getting frustrated when they travel from page to page and can’t find the information they want. You can do the same thing on your single page site between sections. It is only beneficial if you have a long page that requires a lot of scrolling through to information. It saves that same frustration people can experience with a multipage site.
Add Anchor Links
If you think you can’t add anchor links to your single page site, think again! You can do it through your CSS ID names. Using keywords as your anchor links act like a lighthouse on a foggy night. Because of this, search engines will lock onto your page and your SEO has just shot through the roof! Do make sure that they keyword match the overall tone of your page. If it’s out of place or just doesn’t match, you will frustrate your target market and increase your bounce rate.
Credibility Through Links
Your ability to be shared is a big boon to your online presence. Adding social media buttons to your page allows people to connect with you in a variety of ways and lends credibility to your sharable nature. Link building can be a huge help. Backlinks to guest blogs where you are interviewed or offer some expert advice is incredibly helpful. Reviews of your products and services, that include a link, allow search engines to find you more often and raise your ranking. Another wonderful thing about link building is the networking aspect. You will be working closely with others, developing fantastic business relationships, and it can turn into major sales in the future.
Add Header Tags
Multiple header tags (or H1 tags) are not the most popular amongst SEO experts, but in the case of a single page site, they are a blessing in disguise. The trick is to use an H1 tag per section of your page. Most notably, use them in the header of each section since the tags are designed for headers of pages. These tags truly increase your SEO ranking overall because the spiders are looking to see what is so important on that page. Having multiple on your single page increases the likelihood that the spider will find you efficiently and raise that rank.
One Page Websites are Effective
While many may tell you SEO is difficult for a single page website, there are ways to make things work for you. Many experts will also suggest that single page websites should be limited to new sites and new businesses, but you should do what works best for you. Innovators have been told for centuries that things are impossible and then break the mold. Entrepreneurs with single page websites get to find innovative ways of breaking the mold and teaching us all new tricks. Beyond that, I encourage you to take on that multi-page website if you should outgrow your single page site.
Do you use a single page website? Do you find them helpful or harmful when you see them online? Tell me in the comments below.
