If you let the numbers speak, 55% of all users only spend 15 seconds looking through your websites before losing interest and leaving. If you have a cluttered website, customers will spend less and this means potential leads turning away from your business. This is why it’s important to build clean, clear, and organized websites.
And while there are a lot of ways web designers and developers can curate an organized website, more and more are trying the new trend – one-page websites.
What is a one-page website?
A one-page website is exactly how its name is. It’s a one-page website. It’s not a traditional website with different pages for different purposes. It sounds and looks easy, however, there are a lot of considerations to make for the cohesiveness of the whole page.
A one-page website is a website that uses one HTML page. Menu bars and navigations are still present, however, instead of directing you to different HTML pages, it simply drops down to an HTML anchor somewhere on the same single page. This can be achieved through JavaScript, CSS3, Ajax, and jQuery.
Some also use one-page websites as placeholders for previews, promotional purposes, or landing pages.
How to create a one-page website?
The good news about one-page websites is they aren’t very difficult to create. Technically, in terms of HTML coding, there might be a few complications here and there but because of its surging popularity, they are many one-page website builders or free template providers that allow you to create one with a simple drag and drop.
Pros and Cons
You must have heard some people prefer one-page websites while others detest them. They might have made a few valid points, enough to confuse you. We’ve rounded up the pros and cons of a one-page website to help you decide!
Pros: Simple and Straightforward
If you are aiming to deliver a clear and straightforward message and approach, then a one-page website might be the perfect website layout for you. This kind of website easily highlights selling points with easy-to-understand and read descriptions. It’s also user-friendly with little to no navigation needed.
Pros: Mobile-optimized
Others will argue that a one-page website is a layout that restrains a website’s potential. However, one prime benefit is mobile optimization. If you run a business with limited items, you don’t need a website with multiple pages. An optimized one-page website with unlimited scroll and anchor points might be enough!
This is also helpful if your customers purchase or predominantly buy your products from their phones. It’s a wonderful user experience that they’ll surely appreciate.
Pros: Increase Retention
It’s no secret that a potential customer or a lead only stays a few seconds on a website before losing interest and leaving. Unless you have what they exactly needed, there’s no miracle way.
However, a one-page website is believed to increase customer retention because of less loading time. The longer a user stays, the more they are likely to interact with your site, such as opting for that subscription or adding items to their carts.
Pros: Positively Limits Space
One of the reasons why this type of website is gaining traction is due to their limited space. Because of this, information has to be placed in a specific order, which makes navigation and searching easier. This is a joy for your users. Details they want to know if just a bit of scroll away and they don’t need to ferry through multiple pages just to get what they need.
Pros: Faster Loading
One-page websites have fewer elements to load, which makes them load faster than traditional websites. This is the prime reason why people stay longer on your website and that’s a win for your part because this means more user interaction, like subscribing to your newsletter and eventually sales.
Done with the pros! Let’s discuss the cons of one-page websites.
Cons: Less Content
If you are looking for lengthy texts or detailed information, there are not many of these with one-page websites. What you see instead is simple, direct, and substantial information.
Cons: SEO-challenging
What you put on your one-page website is carefully curated. This can lead to your SEO being suffering. It will be difficult to rank with just a few phrases or keywords. One way to work around this is to create a different page, area, or even a website for blogs but this would go against the idea of it.
Cons: Not recommended for commercial use
One-page websites are perfect if you are working with a single idea or for non-commercial use. However, it is not recommended to use it for eCommerce. This is to avoid overwhelming your potential customers on one page.
If you are to use to a one-page website for eCommerce, it’s good for campaigns, discount deals, or promotions. Aside from that, it’s better to stick to a traditional website.