What to Expect from a One Page Website

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A very common question that comes from new small businesses is just how much do I need to put into my first website? Many startups often don’t have many resources to put into an online marketing strategy, so how can you go about creating a web presence that will have a positive impact and not break the bank?

A good way to think about a website is to think of it as a second physical location. You have your storefront and your online front, both of which need resources in order for the brand to survive. They both need to be staffed for one, and they both need to reflect the values and culture of the company. Every small interaction that a person has with your brand is going to shape their image of your business, so you want to make sure every experience is as positive as possible.

So what are you hoping to get out of your website? Do you want it to:

Attract new visitors
Convert leads
Generate more sales?
Do you want it to be a resource for educating people?
All of the above?

In order to achieve those types of goals you’re going to need to put some resources toward developing them. For the budget startup, sometimes it’s just not possible. That’s where the one or two page website usually comes in, just so people know you exist.

Feels good to be legit.

Set Realistic Expectations

Remember that a one page website with basic information and a contact method is best used as a temporary solution until you can get a more defined strategy up there. Search engine traffic will be at a minimum. Chances are your page will be mostly static, meaning that you’ll put up the content once and that’s it. Your temporary site will have a tough time gaining search engine brownie points if there’s nothing being done with it and it remains stagnant. It will function similar to a really simple landing page where people will be directed via business cards and your own direct efforts for further contact. The site itself essentially becomes a glorified Yellow Pages ad.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Everything is on One Page
You can do some nice CSS scroll effects
The SEO win of all incoming links go to one place
No Page Refresh when you click menu items
Makes you focus on Quality content as it can’t be very long.

Cons

Hard to rank on more than one keyword phrase
Extremely hard to create content for your different sales personas without using high end marketing tools.
Page load times are not as easily managed with a one page design
Hard to tell what content visitors came for and why they left
On Page offers are limited

If you’re not all that keen on promoting a website that is rather underwhelming, especially when you’ve got bigger plans down the road – then you may want to consider revising your marketing budget in order to plan for a more comprehensive online marketing strategy.

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