Nearly all Search engine marketing methods contain launching a number of pages on a web site. In most situations, that is undoubtedly the way in which to go, however are you able to run a profitable Search engine marketing marketing campaign with only a single-page web site?
On this article, we’ll outline what a single-page web site is, overview whether or not it’s good or dangerous for Search engine marketing, and run by means of some prime Search engine marketing ideas for single-page web sites.
A single-page web site accommodates all the web site’s content material on just one touchdown web page. Not like multi-page web sites, the person is unable to navigate to content material on separate URLs by way of inside linking.
A single-page web site is just about what it says on the tin. It shouldn’t, nevertheless, be confused with a single-page software (SPA).
A SPA is a web site that masses all information by way of an online doc when the person first visits the web site. The remainder of the content material is then loaded dynamically as and when the person interacts with the web site.
Inside a SPA, the person can nonetheless technically go to completely different pages. These are usually rendered “client-side” by way of JavaScript to dynamically serve the brand new content material.
In most situations, you’ll need to launch your web site with multiple web page. Single-page web sites restrict your potential to develop natural visitors.
Listed here are my prime the reason why single-page web sites aren’t good for Search engine marketing.
Lack of content material compromises key phrase focusing on
One of many largest points with a single-page web site is that you’re restricted to focusing on a small group of key phrases.
Whereas it’s attainable to focus on completely different key phrases by way of a single touchdown web page, in Search engine marketing, it’s usually more practical to separate key phrase focusing on out by way of separate pages with a devoted focus.
This course of is also known as “key phrase mapping,” the place key phrases are mapped to devoted touchdown pages primarily based on Google’s perceived search intent behind the key phrase.
One of the best ways to grasp the search intent behind a key phrase is to easily search the phrases manually and see what outcomes Google serves up. If Google ranks single-page web sites within the prime positions to your focused question, then chances are high you may rank within the prime positions with a single web page too.
In my expertise, nevertheless, Google prefers to rank content material that’s tremendous related to the search time period. Even if you happen to have been to focus on key phrases of various focuses by means of separate passages of content material on a single web page, you’ll be diluting the general relevancy of that web page. Splitting this content material out into hyper-focused touchdown pages is a much more optimum content material technique.
Constructing out a robust breadth of content material related to your area of interest additionally helps construct authority and topical relevance to your business within the eyes of Google.
Let’s say, for instance, you need to buy contact lenses. Retailer A gives a single product touchdown web page to buy the lenses.
Then again, Retailer B has the product web page, a “contact us” web page, and a number of other related and informative weblog posts answering widespread queries to do with contact lens eye care.
After all, there’s way more at play right here. However typically, as a possible buyer, you’ll be extra more likely to belief Retailer B. Equally, within the eyes of Google, a wider breadth of reliable content material is a sign of experience and builds topical relevance and affiliation to your area of interest.
Lack of construction and group results in poor person expertise
Single-page web sites usually lack clear construction and group. With all content material thrown right into a single web page, it’s widespread for customers to have a complicated and irritating expertise.
It is because the one manner for a person to navigate a single-page web site is to scroll the web page and click on on anchor hyperlinks (if out there). The extra content material you squeeze onto a single web page, the extra irritating this expertise can change into for the person, because it takes extra effort to search out the specified content material.
Multi-page web sites usually have a transparent hierarchy of content material outlined by a header navigation menu and breadcrumbs. Customers are conversant in navigating these setups. When configured accurately, these additionally present a seamless expertise for customers to hop between pages at their leisure.
Content material is usually truncated to assist customers extra simply navigate a single-page web site. Nevertheless, this method does include its drawbacks. By streamlining your content material, you might be failing to incorporate data that your person is on the lookout for and stripping out content material with Search engine marketing worth.
Restricted potential to accumulate backlinks
Single-page web sites are sometimes transactional and conversion-focused. They usually embody minimal content material of an informational nature, equivalent to weblog posts, research, or campaign-style pages.
In my first Ahrefs weblog put up titled “Right here’s Why You Ought to Prioritize Inner Linking,” I discussed how site owners usually hyperlink to content material of an informational nature versus a transactional one.
So by going for a single-page web site, you might be more likely to be compromising your potential to construct high quality backlinks.
Hyperlink constructing is among the three key pillars of Search engine marketing. By rolling out a web site construction that’s removed from optimum for constructing hyperlinks, you’ll be limiting your rating potential.
Having a multi-page web site provides you extra flexibility to roll out extra of the content material that naturally attracts hyperlinks.
At this stage, chances are you’ll be questioning why anybody would run a single-page web site. Regardless that I’ve outlined loads of causes to not, a single-page web site may be the best match for you at this second in time.
Many site owners could decide to run a single-page web site for the quick time period, with a view to broaden and scale up their web site in the long run. On this occasion, a single-page web site makes for a pleasant placeholder or MVP model of a web site.
They’re additionally comparatively low-cost and straightforward to arrange. You solely want the useful resource to design, create, and host a single web page versus a number of pages.
These are some apparent non-Search engine marketing causes as to why single-page web sites often is the proper match for you. There are additionally some Search engine marketing advantages too.
They supply a terrific place to begin for model launches
If you’re within the strategy of launching a brand new model, you’ll doubtless be working relentlessly behind the scenes to make sure your full-scale web site is prepared for launch.
A single-page web site usually makes the right placeholder web site previous to a model’s launch (the place you’ll doubtless swap to the complete web site upon launch). Having the single-page web site in place ensures Google has, on the very least, crawled and listed your web site in time for the model’s launch.
This helps to keep away from a state of affairs the place your model (and web site) launches with out being listed on Google. This could possibly be catastrophic, together with your web site doubtlessly lacking out on beneficial clicks on the massive day of your model’s launch.
Having no less than a single-page web site in place lets you be listed and construct up essential rankings for key branded phrases forward of a launch.
PageRank is targeted on a single web page
I discussed earlier that it’s typically harder to construct backlinks towards a single-page web site. That is definitely the case. Nevertheless, one benefit to having a single-page web site is that you’re much less more likely to endure from PageRank dilution.
All backlinks which might be constructed to your web site will level towards a single URL. Which means that all PageRank constructed towards your web site is related to a single web page, versus being diluted as authority is handed on by means of inside hyperlinks.
When PageRank is handed on by means of inside hyperlinks on multi-page web sites, barely much less and fewer of the general worth of that backlink is handed on. That is referred to as the “PageRank Damping Issue,” the place the worth handed on diminished with every “hop.”
Let’s say, for instance, now we have Retailer A and Retailer B that promote the identical product, besides Retailer A is a single-page web site and Retailer B is a multi-page web site. They each obtain a backlink of the identical PageRank worth, focusing on the foundation area of the respective web sites.
As a result of Retailer A’s product sits on the homepage (root area) as a single-page web site, this product receives the utmost worth from the backlink.
However Retailer B has to make use of an inside hyperlink to cross on the PageRank from the homepage to the devoted product web page. As a result of the worth dampens by means of every inside hyperlink “hop,” Retailer B’s product doesn’t obtain as a lot of a PageRank enhance as Retailer A’s.
Having stated that, most often, I’d nonetheless go along with a multi-page web site because of its pure potential to accumulate extra backlinks as compared.
They naturally supply a great expertise to cellular customers
One other profit to single-page web sites is that they’re usually fairly optimum for cellular customers in nature. In reality, they’re usually constructed with cellular customers in thoughts.
Navigating by way of anchor hyperlinks usually lands effectively with cellular customers, and the extra succinct and snappy nature of the copy is effectively aligned with cellular optimization finest practices.
Guaranteeing your customers have good expertise by way of cellular gadgets is extra necessary than ever. Based on Statista, a majority of all worldwide web site visits come from customers on cellular gadgets.
Google can even predominantly crawl the cellular model of your web site and consider mobile-friendliness as a part of its rating indicators. It’s by no means been extra necessary to optimize for cellular.
So we’ve been by means of the benefits and downsides (referring to Search engine marketing) of operating a single-page web site.
If a single-page web site is presently the best possibility for you, listed here are my prime Search engine marketing ideas for creating and operating one.
Use a transparent hierarchy
As we highlighted earlier on, single-page web sites usually lack a transparent structure instilled by navigation menus and breadcrumbs.
With that in thoughts, you’ll need to set a transparent on-page hierarchy to your content material. Utilizing a logical heading construction consisting of a single H1 for the primary heading and H2s and H3s for the subheadings makes a terrific place to begin.
Utilizing these heading tags in a logical order to interrupt up your content material makes it simpler for customers to scan and navigate the web page. Having a messy heading construction forces your person to grasp the web page construction when navigating the web page.
That is much more important for customers who’re visually impaired and could also be utilizing a display screen reader, so make certain to not skip out any heading ranges (e.g., nesting an H4 immediately beneath an H2).
Don’t overlook picture optimization
Picture optimization is usually ignored in Search engine marketing. Given how single-page web sites usually pack in a lot of imagery, picture Search engine marketing shouldn’t be skipped.
There aren’t any additional guidelines to comply with in the case of single-page web sites, so be sure you comply with finest practices such as:
- Utilizing descriptive alt textual content and file names.
- Compressing picture file sizes and utilizing next-gen file varieties.
- Loading photos by way of a CDN (content material supply community).
Following these finest practices is not going to solely assist potential rankings by way of picture search but additionally improve web page pace efficiency.
Don’t neglect web page pace
This leads me properly to my subsequent tip; don’t neglect web page pace. Because it’s the one web page your customers will load, be sure you make it quick and responsive.
Certain, out of the tons of of rating indicators at play, web page pace isn’t on the prime of the record in the case of Search engine marketing priorities. Nevertheless, it’s arduous to disregard that having a quick and responsive web site helps not solely natural rankings but additionally person expertise.
Discussing Core Net Vitals on Reddit, John Mueller described Core Net Vitals as being “greater than a tie breaker” sign.
Suppose with Google states that 53% of visits are deserted if a cellular web site takes longer than three seconds to load.
Couple these factors collectively, and now we have a reasonably good case for guaranteeing web page pace stays a related consideration.
Lazy-loading below-the-fold content material must be a key consideration for single-page web sites. It is because you’ll doubtless be packing in additional content material than normal into the one web page, weighing down web page load occasions.
Which means that any sources that require the person to scroll with the intention to be seen will probably be delayed within the preliminary web page load. As an alternative, these sources will load because the person scrolls.
Double down on hyperlink constructing
As we talked about earlier within the article, single-page web sites endure in the case of naturally pulling in backlinks. With this in thoughts, you’ll doubtless should dedicate much more time to hyperlink constructing than normal.
You’ll must double down on methods that don’t require the creation of recent pages.
It is because you might be unable to roll out pages devoted to attracting hyperlinks, for instance, utilizing methods equivalent to hyperlink baiting.
Offering skilled feedback/quotes for third-party web sites is a good way to construct hyperlinks with out the necessity to launch new pages.
The method is fairly easy:
- A journalist shares a request for an skilled remark.
- You pitch to offer a remark.
- If profitable, the journalist consists of your remark of their piece.
There’s no assure the journalist will truly embody a backlink alongside the remark. That stated, there’s a sturdy likelihood the journalist will embody a hyperlink to credit score the contributor. When you begin to construct up the skilled feedback, the backlinks will begin to construct up too.
With regards to discovering journalist requests for skilled feedback, Twitter makes a terrific place to begin. Journalists will usually embody #journorequest, making it simple to search out related requests with a customized search.
There are additionally loads of third-party platforms that journalists will use to submit such requests, equivalent to HARO.
Discovering unlinked model mentions is one other nice technique for constructing backlinks the place you do not want to create any new content material.
An unlinked model point out is an internet point out (quotation) of your model identify or perhaps a key spokesperson out of your firm the place the writer doesn’t embody a backlink.
General, the method is comparatively easy:
- Uncover model mentions by way of Ahrefs’ Content material Explorer
- Crawl the mentions with a customized search to filter out pages that already present a hyperlink
- Carry out outreach to the publishers that don’t hyperlink, requesting that they add a hyperlink
Ahrefs’ Joshua Hardwick has offered an in depth information on changing unlinked model mentions into backlinks. It’s effectively price a learn for extra particulars on the above steps.
These are simply two examples of hyperlink constructing methods that don’t require content material. Try “9 Straightforward Hyperlink Constructing Methods (That Anybody Can Use)” for eight extra legitimate methods that I haven’t talked about right here.
Observe on-page finest practices
My final tip is a reasonably easy one, however it’s most likely one of the essential ideas. Following on-page Search engine marketing finest practices is a should.
You’ll be restricted by the constraints of getting only a single web page, so that you’ll should forgo inside linking, for instance.
That stated, it stays important to optimize key on-page parts, from meta titles and descriptions to key phrase focusing on.
Last ideas
Single-page web sites aren’t for everyone. Generally, I personally will go for a multi-page setup as an alternative.
That stated, there are some situations the place a single-page web site is sensible, notably as a short-term answer or MVP model of a web site.
Key takeaways:
- Key phrase focusing on is compromised because of a scarcity of content material.
- Single-page web sites battle to construct and present experience.
- You’ll must double down on hyperlink constructing, as single-page web sites naturally purchase fewer backlinks.
Have any questions? Ping me on Twitter and let me know.
