Over the last couple of years, single page websites have become more and more common. These sites are great in having a singular focus and in telling a coherent story. They typically communicate information in a friendly and approachable way. (Head over to One Page Love to see some examples). Traditional businesses that offer multiple products or have content-rich sites have not been able to implement these sites. However, multi-page sites can realize many of the same benefits as single page sites by essentially turning one page of the site into a single page experience, which can link to other pages on the site.
The best way to leverage this single page experience is to pick the homepage, or a section overview page, and make use of the following single page principles:
Tell A Story
We know that storytelling is an effective tool for delivering messages: It’s a more persuasive tool than standard “marketing content.” It’s engaging and personable. Implementing the single page experience on the homepage will constrain a business to communicate its message as a coherent story. The benefit is that customers will not have to wade through disparate value propositions intended for various audience types to find what they need. The story starts as one consolidated narrative and guides them to content intended for them.
Choose Your Own Adventure
Multi-page websites usually have more than one audience or product, so while the story starts in a unified fashion, it can fork into different sections based on product or audience. There likely should be some high-level content about each audience and/or product to support the story, and the user should be able to dive into the sections of the site that are tailored to their needs. (These could lead into the existing content pages of the site.)
Visually Engage
A key strength in the single page experience is the thoughtful use of interactive components, imagery, and white space to tell the story. Copy should be used thoughtfully and sparsely, and it should be intermingled with other elements to tell a complete story. Supplement text with videos, animated GIFs, and screenshots.
Another benefit is that replacing the existing homepage or section overview pages with the single page experience can serve as a cost-effective measure to improve the site’s current conversion metrics without having to redesign the site in its entirety.
Businesses with multi-page websites can reap many of the benefits of single page websites by telling a visually-engaging, coherent story on their homepage or appropriate overview pages. If you would like to understand how this could work for your business, please contact us.