3 Reasons Why One-Page Websites and Parallax Could be Bad for Business

Last month we shared with you guys about the beauty of one page websites that utilize parallax scrolling.  We also gave you examples of some of the most creative and beautiful websites making use of it today.  While having one page websites with parallax is great, there are some downsides that you should be aware of.

We’ll explain three reasons why one page parallax web designs may not be the right way to go for your business.

Get to the Point!

Frankly, parallax done wrong can kill the user experience.  Some users don’t want to sit through a long drawn out story that makes their browser lag (even crash sometimes depending on how heavy the site is).  In this fast paced world, people often want to skip the appetizers, and get straight to the main course of things.

It’s also good to keep in mind that using parallax scrolling and having a one page website just doesn’t work well in every instance.  For example, what would Facebook or Twitter be like using parallax?  I’m sure for some very small things it could be used, but with a focus on content distribution, things would quickly turn into a mess.  For social media rich websites like those, they also need to be optimized for performance and providing a great experience to the user.

While the special effects and graphics are cool, we must remember that websites should be designed with users in mind.  There needs to be a balance between being pleasing to the eyes, and having a website that functions properly.  If either one of those are thrown off balance, user experience will suffer, meaning so will your business.

Just a minute! (or two..)

There is nothing worse than clicking on a website one minute, then the page finally loads three to five minutes later.  With the rise in adoption of web technologies like CSS3 and HTML5, websites are eventually going to have to start posting system requirements just to browse them.

As a growing number of websites rely on JavaScript rich functionality to produce these amazing special effects, more and more websites are bloating their pages with extra code, and slowing down performance.  When websites take a long time to load, people eventually hit their back buttons, or browse on to other pages.  You’ll often find websites utilizing parallax scrolling to often come with brief loading screens because of the extra time it takes to load and process all the assets for their pages.

Oh No SEO

Unfortunately with every great thing, comes the inevitable not so great opposite.  One page websites are trendy, fresh, and are just plain fun, but while they have many pros, they aren’t without their cons as well.  One of the downsides to the greatness of parallax and one page web designs, is that it can be a major SEO killer.

With all the content centered and focused on one page, meta data struggles, and search engines have less pages to index from your website, making your website ranking take the blow.  Having only one page out there to promote your business, you’re drastically limiting your opportunities for SEO.

As previously mentioned having long and unbearable load times is a quick way to ensure loss of business, and new users.  No one likes to wait, but an equally important reason is that load times are a key component to Google’s website ranking algorithm.  So if your page is lagging, your ranking will follow.

Conclusion

It’s important to provide your users with a great browsing experience no matter what the topic of your website.  Just make sure to not get caught up in the gloss and glamour of new web design trends out there.  Trends come and go, but a classic design that complements functionality will never get old.  Chillybin has been building beautiful and robust websites long enough to know what works well for our clients, and when something shouldn’t be used.  Our expert knowledge in the field of web design and development allows us to guide our clients to success.  Perhaps you’re unsure about what your business needs on the web end of things, and would like a professional opinion?  Don’t hesitate to get in touch with us today!