As you browse through the Internet you will undoubtedly come across a number of one page websites for various businesses and that in itself brings up a rather interesting question, do they actually work?

From a design perspective, it is easy for the designer to create this kind of website as everything is on the one page and it is certainly a lot simpler for the site to be put together. However, we are not talking about it from the angle of the designer and instead it is more to do with how it is perceived not only by site visitors, but also Google and whether or not it can put the correct message across for your business.

What Do We Mean By A One Page Website?

First, we should explain what we mean by a one page website. With a website of this nature everything is on the one page, but there can still be a navigation bar that acts in the exact same way as a menu bar for a multi-page website. However, when you click on those menu buttons it does mean that you will jump to different sections, but they will still be on the same page. You will also find that the menu will often hover at the top of your page making it easier for you to move around.

This structure does allow the owner of the website to still break it up into different sections. This means there can be an ‘about us’ section, product page, gallery, and so much more. In other words, a one page website does not have to be as boring or as plain as you think.

How A One Page Website Affects SEO.

We really do need to discuss the impact of a single page website with SEO because obviously we want to make sure that this style of website does not impact on how your site can rank on Google.

The good news is that Google have personally stated that they will treat single page websites exactly the same as multi-page websites and that should certainly come as a bit of a relief to you.

However, there is clearly going to be one area of SEO that cannot work with this type of website and that area is the way in which the spiders sent by Google index various pages as it weaves its way through your site. Now, of course they cannot do this as there is only the one page, so it does mean that you are only going to have that single page appearing on the results pages as opposed to those sites that have multiple pages appearing.

That is just one slightly unfortunate difference, but overall a one page website still works pretty well when it comes to SEO.

The reason for this is that you can still have your keywords, you can still have meta tags and your meta description, you can still have H1, H2, and H3 tags, and various other aspects of SEO on that one page. Google will still index it and pick up on those points and backlinks will still work as they do not exactly care how many pages you have on your website.

So, when it comes to SEO, you are only missing out on one section and that is not too bad and is certainly not something that should put you off trying it out for your own business.

How About Content?

We should also mention content because people think that they are going to be limited by what can be put on a single page website. Now, it is true that some people use this model simply because they want nothing more than a landing page for their business as if they are just announcing to the world that they actually are on the Internet. However, you need to remember one important thing.

This one single page can be as long as you want.

Yes, just because it is one page does not mean that it has to be a short single page and that is why modern takes on this style includes buttons that help you to jump around to various points of your website. You have to remember that you can add whatever you want to those points, so you can have slideshows, videos playing, really anything that you can think of and the size of those sections are also going to be completely fluid in nature.

So, do one page websites work?

The answer to this is absolutely and even though they might mainly be a design phase that then passes, they will always have a role to play with websites. They are rather cool, they are quite effective for viewing in smartphones and tablets, and you have less restrictions with them than you perhaps imagine.

The best thing to do is to sit down and talk to your designer and get some feedback on what their thoughts are regarding this approach. If you are both in agreement that it will work for your business, then go for it because at least then you will absolutely love the end result and, hopefully, so will those  all important visitors.

As a business it is essential that there is some form of continuity when it comes to your branding. What we mean by this is that the actual designs themselves, which means graphics and even the colors, all come together as one no matter if you are taking about a business card, leaflet, online advert, or your website. Why is this so important? Well, let’s look at the reasons.

Things Look Organized.

First, it is important that your branding gives off a feeling of being organized because people look at these parts of your marketing, and do not forget that branding does fall into that area, and instantly create some kind of an idea about your business. If it all looks rather disjointed, then the impression that they will form is that your business is exactly the same and it hardly inspires confidence in you does it?

You Look More Professional.

There is also no doubt that the continuity makes you appear far more professional and that is one thing that every business should search for no matter the market that you operate in. Professionalism is one thing that will always draw in new customers as it does help to begin to build a feeling of trust and expectation in a company and those are two very attractive traits.

It Looks Cheap If Things Are Different.

There is also the simple fact that if you do not have the correct flow between all of your branding, then people feel that you have just gone for the cheap option and that is hardly going to inspire them to buy from you. Do you want your business to look cheap? You do realize that even if you do operate at the lower end of your chosen market that looking cheap is still bad? Get that continuity and the impression that people will have of your business will change in an instant.

Those are several reasons as to why you need to make sure that your branding is the same, but our heading for this blog post spoke about online, so we have to look at what is important here so that you do not short change your business.

The Areas Of Online Branding.

When it comes to online branding there are a number of areas that you need to focus on. Of course your website is the main area, so you have to sit down with your designer to check that your branding appears on there with your logo, content, and even images. Some will also try to make sure that they include certain colors although this does depend on how they fit in with the design and how attractive they are on the eye.

However, aside from your website you also have to think about areas such as social media accounts and even directory submissions. Look at Twitter accounts for example. You have a header banner that you can use as your branding as well as a profile picture and it is rather useful if they match headers and logos on your website. The same goes for a Facebook profile or even LinkedIn, so ideally you should talk to your designer and have them produce the same banner in various sizes.

You also need to think about where else you can have banners or your logo appearing and make sure that they also fit in with your overall branding. Perhaps you appear on forums or you do some online advertising for your business? If so, it has to fit in with everything else for the reasons we mentioned above.

Surely People Are Less Worried About Things Matching Online?

So, we have briefly mentioned the areas of online branding that you need to focus on, but we also have to address this question. You see, one problem with people that deal mainly with the Internet is that they feel that this continuity is not as important. Indeed, some see the Internet as having more of a free spirit about it, but instead you need to look at it this way.

The Internet is the biggest marketplace to have ever existed. There is more competition out there than you are aware of and people use the Internet to come to a decision as to who they will buy from. Online is now perhaps even more important than offline branding, so you do need to make sure that you have the same logos, banners, colors, and content across every from of media no matter what it is.

Your Way Forward.

Hopefully we have managed to stress the importance of this branding, so what do you do next? Well, the best thing that you can do now is to look at your current branding and see what differences there are between the different things. You then need to do yourself a real favor and sit down with a graphic designer and your web designer to get advice on how it can all be pulled together so that it is coherant and professional.

Your branding will play a major role in people deciding to use your services or buy your products. Do not short sell yourself and make life harder by being disjointed as it is only going to be your profits that suffer and which business wants that to happen?

As with any industry there are a number of terms connected to web design that can often just pass people by. Of course designers themselves are aware of what they mean and how important they are, but it can often be the case that the individual that is having the website built is left in the dark.

However, as you are paying money to have the website built it makes sense to have a basic understanding of some of the key phrases that may crop up during your discussions with your web designer. By doing so, you will have a better idea of how your website is going to operate and perhaps even what it will look like and surely that is something that everybody should want?

The truth of the matter is this. The terms may sound complex, but they are a lot easier to understand than you think.

Responsive

This certainly became a buzz word in the last few years as responsive design is now something that is not just a flight of fancy, but is an actual necessity. What it means is that your website is able to respond to whichever device has been used to access it. In other words, your website works, and is user-friendly, no matter if you use a desktop, laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

It used to be the case that websites were only built to be viewed from a desktop or laptop, but of course the number of people using portable devices to access the Internet has been on the increase. At first the websites would be disjointed and pretty much unusable and this would then reflect badly on the website owner. However, with a responsive design that is no longer the case, so this is certainly something that should apply to your website.

Infinite Scrolling

Infinite scrolling is a relatively new term and it refers to a website that is basically one long page rather than having a number of shorter pages as seen in a more traditional design. This design is often seen as being better for tablet and smartphone users as they tend to use touchscreens so it allows them to move through your content without having to find tabs for individual pages. It is certainly something that you may wish to discuss with your designer depending on how many pages or how much content you plan on having.

Usability

The entire idea of a website is for you to be able to get a user to stay on there long enough for them to get whatever it is they need to get from your website. In other words, your website has to be attractive enough, easy to use, and able to provide that key information without them working too hard to find it. This is what usability means as it is the ease with which a visitor can use your website which, in turn, encourages them to spend more time on there and perhaps keep coming back for more.

CSS

CSS refers to a specific type of coding that forms the basis of how your website looks and feels. It does not deal with the content that appears on your website, but it does really form the backbone of the layout including colors, framework, and also even the font that is used on certain aspects of your website.

Bounce Rate

Bounce rate is a term that a designer may use when talking about the usability of your website. It refers to the number of people that simply visit your website, view one single page in a short period of time, and then leave again. Ideally you want them to stay as long as possible and explore a lot of your website, so reducing the bounce rate is directly related to the design of your site and how easy it is to move around.

HTML

HTML stands for Hyper-Text MarkUp Language and it is a type of coding that has formed the backbone for millions of websites over the years. However, it is important to point out that this is not the only type of language that is used to create websites so you should perhaps ask your designer how they plan on building it.

Keywords

Keywords refer to the phrases that you expect people to type into a search engine in order to find your website. They should refer to things you sell, services you offer, or what your website focuses on. These keywords then need to be included in various aspects of the design including image tags to help make you more visible to the search engines as this forms the basis of search engine optimization, which every website needs.

There are of course a number of other terms and phrases related to web design, but what we have tried to do here is to pick those that are perhaps going to be most relevant to you. Obviously any designer should be willing to explain anything that you are unsure of because, after all, you are the one spending the money and you need to know what you are buying. Understanding web design is a lot easier than you think, but if you are still confused, then you can always contact us and we will be happy to explain.