Creating a One-Page-Website: Is It a Good Idea?

As a health and wellness coach, it’s critical to have a website. Creating a digital presence that represents you and your business can be an exciting and rewarding project. However, getting to a final version you’re happy with can also be costly and exhausting if you don’t have the experience.

Whether it’s your first site or a revision, it helps to decide on your approach upfront. In addition to branding and content, you must choose a layout for your site. Do you want a simple one-page website or a more traditional tab-driven one?

Each option has advantages and disadvantages. In this article, I’m looking at the concept of a one-page website. What is it, and will it work for your health coach business?

Where do you start? Should you go “traditional” or keep it simple?  

In my opinion, keeping things clean and simple is generally a good design philosophy. Nothing puts someone off a website faster than a jumbled mix-match of styles and squeezed-in text. It overwhelms the visitors and ultimately makes them click off. 

Which is perfect, because it’s also easier to start with something more simple and then add to it as your business grows. Of course, you can use your website’s layout and structure to make complex content or multiple services more accessible to viewers, but a one-page website is often your best bet to start with. 

What Is a One-Page-Website?

As the name suggests, all information is in a single-page layout! In a “traditional” site, you navigate to separate pages, but with a one-page website you use navigation links and anchors to ‘scroll’ up and down the page. (Or visitors can scroll through the page until they find what they’re looking for.) 

There are still plenty of opportunities to be creative and differentiate a business with a one-page site. We Shoot Bottles is a lovely example of a one-page website used to maximum effect. The company has a very niche market photographing bottles.

They use the simplicity of a one-page website to emphasise the simplicity of their business model. Plus, you’ll notice they’ve used a side slider for their page to make it one fluid motion and experience!

Pros of a One-Page Website

While there can be exceptions, generally the advantages of one-page sites are:

• Fast loading because their navigational links are to the same page. This is important because if you only have the user’s attention for 7 seconds, you don’t want to waste it with a slow-loading website.
• Simple to read and understand. Having only one page forces you to think about the essence of what you have to say and cut out everything that doesn’t matter.
• Are easier to work across multiple devices and operating systems.
• Are cheaper to develop, maintain, update, and host. 

Cons to a One-Page Website

To be honest, there are very few downsides to a one-page site and it normally boils down to two things: 

• Getting your message across effectively – especially if you have complex or in-depth services that might need to be explained. This is normally eased with the help of a decent copywriter, or you might have to expand to a few more pages. 
• SEO – The main disadvantage of a one-page website is when it comes to search engine optimisation (SEO). SEO is the process of fine-tuning a website so that it is ranked well by search engine algorithms. It then appears near the top of search results and stands a better chance of attracting visitors. With less content on the page and your site as a whole, it can be difficult to meet the necessary criteria to rank higher than other businesses. 

Improving SEO On One-Page Websites

Search engines use many factors to rank sites. You can find a list of 200 factors used by Google here. But with a one-page site, your options are limited. You’ll need to pay special attention to your title tag, meta description, and URL – because you only get one.

Ultimately though, the user experience should be pleasant and representative of their experience of dealing with your business.

SEO relies on content in the following ways:

• Search engine algorithms collate information from content based on the frequency and meaningful use of keywords and phrases. More content means more opportunity for the judicious use of keywords. But too many keywords on a single page indicate spam, and search engines won’t like it.

Top Tip: Make sure you understand exactly what your audience will be searching for and look at ranking for keywords that have a decent search volume but not a lot of competition!  

• Mixed media content like video can help with SEO, particularly if you have strong video branding! So make sure you mix up your content types by using images, text, and video. 
• Take advantage of alt text. This is the text that is used for screen readers, as well as being an element of SEO you can use on a single pager. Make sure your alt descriptions of images include relevant keywords. 
• Increasingly, search engines are looking for user engagement – e.g., responses to blog posts, downloads, and completion of forms. So make sure you include a sign-up form or links to an opt-in on your page to help boost this level of engagement.

Features of Successful One-Page Websites 

A good one-page website layout for a business should have the following: 

• Image-driven – users respond better to images than to text. A flow diagram of your services would be excellent here. 
• Supportive of multi-devices, especially mobile – mobile devices now account for half of all website traffic globally.
• Designed for ease-of-use – users must be able to find what they need easily and quickly, including being able to click on the content they want. 
• Contains focused content – don’t include irrelevant content or images that don’t add value.
• Aimed at lead conversion – the average user spends 15 seconds on a website before moving on. It’s critical to use that time effectively and know exactly how you want the visitor to respond! (e.g. a download, sign up form, opt-in, or social media following, or even a purchase/commitment)

When Should You Use a One-Page-Website?

One-page websites can be ideal, but they are not the perfect fit for everyone! For health coaches, here’s where a one pager can help you: 

• At the start of your business. This is when you might not have much to say yet but need a website put up quickly for the sake of credibility.
• If you have minimal website experience or budget. Single-page sites are much more affordable by a qualified web designer, and they can be maintained yourself so there is little to no long-term spend issues. Ideal if you’re not particularly techy. 
• The communication of a single product or service. Health coaches can use them as landing pages for events or promotions of single packages, services, or products. The absence of other distracting content will help improve conversion rates and enable you to run A/B tests much more efficiently.

Top Tip: With landing pages, you aren’t reliant on SEO because users are directed to the website via other methods. These can include links from your social media accounts, emailed newsletters, paid advertising like Google AdWords or Facebook Ads, and even old-fashioned printed marketing collateral like posters and brochures.

6 Single-Page Website Fails to Avoid! 

Having decided on your website layout, here are a few mistakes to avoid when proceeding further:

1. Not having a photo of yourself (or having an unprofessional selfie). Prospective clients want to see who they will be dealing with. Your image must match your brand, or they will spot the disconnect immediately.
2. Not having a call to action. For one-pagers in particular, a strong CTA is vital! To let people know how they can proceed. If you aren’t sure of your CTA or what you want them to do yet, wait before creating your website. 
3. Selling ‘services’ instead of solutions. What are the results your clients can expect? This is what they are buying, not the service itself, it’s how they will feel as a result. 
4. Non-relatable content. No one is interested in being coached by a paragon of virtue. Clients need to feel connected to their coach – to know the coach has faced adversity similar to their own and has successfully overcome it so that you can successfully help them too.
5. Broken links, and poorly maintained sites. Any indications that you are not paying regular attention to your website will be interpreted poorly. If you can’t look after your business, how can prospective clients trust you to look after their welfare? 
6. Irrelevant content. Don’t dilute your brand by using your website as a platform for sharing your political beliefs, hobbies, your children’s achievements, or your pet’s antics. At best, they’ll be a distraction or cause prospective clients to lose interest. At worst, they could elicit adverse reactions and unsolicited commentary.

Ready, Set, Go!

You now know the pros and cons of a one-page website and whether it’s the right choice for you and your coaching business. If you’d like to know more about website creation and design, as well as SEO and content creation, and any health coaching concerns, I’m always ready to help. Contact me or drop me a message to get started!