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Recently, we’ve seen an uptick in single-page websites among private practices. One-page designs have become “trendy” over the past couple of years, and, chances are, you may have already visited one of these sites a time or two before reading this article.
For those who may not have come across one yet, a single-page website includes the entire site’s worth of information on a single homepage. It often looks like one long page split into multiple sections (About, Services, Contact, etc.), all featured separately but on the same page to view everything in one place without redirecting to new pages. Basically, everything you need to know about that business is on that one single page – you just keep scrolling and scrolling until you find the section relevant to you.
While the idea of a single-page website might seem new and exciting, it is not doing your practice any favors when it comes to online visibility. It may even be working against all of your digital marketing efforts!
This article will cover the top reasons why SEO is essential and how single-page websites are lowering your SEO value.
What is SEO & Why is It Important?
SEO stands for search engine optimization. It is the practice of making small modifications to various parts of your website to help search engines better understand your practice, so they’ll include your site in their search results, sending you free business. Businesses, just like yours, optimize their websites by following a set of Webmaster Guidelines hoping to achieve a spot on the first page of Google.
When any user visits a search engine, whether it be Google, Bing, or Yahoo, they expect a plethora of relevant responses. These search engines are among the most trusted for one reason – they only include the most relevant web pages in their online search results. Users know that if they ask one of these search engines a question, it’s highly unlikely they won’t find the answer they’re looking for within the first results page.
Search engine bots are continually scouring the internet, looking for new content to add to its index. When they come across a new website (or a new page on an established website), they scan its content looking for specific triggers that will help them understand what it’s all about. They then rate your page and use that rating to compare your page to others in their index and assign it a ranking in their search results. The more relevant your web page content is to a user’s query, the higher it will rank.
At this point, you might be wondering, “How does the number of pages I have on my website affect my online visibility?”
Think of it this way: the homepage of a website is like the foyer of a house, and the various web pages users can enter from there are all the different rooms of the house. You may be able to get a general idea of what the rest of the house looks like based on its foyer, but it will be a very vague concept at best. Before deciding if the home as a whole is right for you, you would still want to do a full walk-through and visit each individual room.
The same concept can be applied to a private practice website. A private practice website that displays all the necessary information on one seemingly neverending page doesn’t only make it difficult for human visitors to follow. It also makes it very difficult for search engine bots to gain a full understanding of your website, resulting in a poor ranking.
Now that we have established the importance of SEO let’s dive into how a single-page website can keep you from achieving a high page ranking.
Reason #1: Limited Backlink Opportunities
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