One page websites are generally still used under certain circumstances, such as landing pages for paid ad campaigns. But, is a one page website bad for ranking well organically in Google and other search engines? The short answer is yes.
What is a One Page Website?
As the name implies, a one page website is literally a website that only consists of a one page. Thus, there are no menu links to other pages.
That said, one page websites usually have “jump” links.
What is a Jump Link?
A jump link is one that, when clicked, brings you to a particular section further down on that web page (although jump links can be used to direct you to different parts of other pages when used in a multi-page website as well).
3 Reasons Why a One Page Website is Bad for SEO
So, if you are wondering why a one page or single page website is bad for SEO, here are three reasons to consider.
Limited Scope of Content
With a one page website, since all of your different products or services are described within a single web page, typically, that content cannot be particularly detailed, otherwise that one page website would require a lot of vertical scrolling and/or need to jump links and possibly slow down page speed (which can hurt SEO). This in turn, would lead to a poor user experience and likely hurt user engagement and conversions.
A multi-page website, on the other hand, gives you the ability to create individual pages of unique, keyword targeted content for each product or service you offer. In this way, you can provide much more specificity about each product or service. This in turn, can help your website pages to rank better in Google (and other search engines). Why? That is because Google, generally considers a website with multiple pages of unique, keyword relevant to be more “authoritative” than a one page or single page website.
Limited Keyword Targeting
One page websites can also limit the range of keywords you might want to target. Let’s face it, Google is the dominant search engine. As such, many of us would like to rank well in Google search results. It is for this reason that many business owners would like their websites to be SEO friendly. And SEO friendly for Google means creating a multi-page website so that you are not at a disadvantage relative to your competitors.
If you are not concerned about ranking in the SERPs (search engine results pages), because you are creating landing pages for paid ads (Google Ads), then a single page website should generally be fine for that purpose.
Lack of External and Internal Links
Google discovers web pages by crawling (following) “internal” links (interlinks) within a website’s pages that connect one web page to another.
Google also considers “external” links (also known as backlinks or inbound links) from one website to another, an important indicator that the web page linked to (from a different website), must have valuable content.
Thus, if your goal is to rank better in Google, it is a good idea to have a multi-page website if your goal is to acquire more backlinks. Why? With a multi-page website, you have the opportunity to receive “backlinks” that link to many different pages (not just your home page). This creates a more authoritative profile of your website as a whole. With a one page website, only one page gets backlinks because there are no other pages, which limits your website’s authority.
So there you have it. For the vast majority of business owners who are looking to have their website rank organically in Google or any other search engine, a one page website is a bad idea.
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