SEO: Single page site (all content) vs multiple page site with lack of content

Marketing
1

I know the basics of SEO and I have a question regarding the best use of a new site design. I have a friend who has a website with minimal content and about 4 pages. He asked the question if it was easier or better to just put all the minimal content on a one page website or keep the site with multiple pages and not a lot of content.

I’m unsure what the best approach for this would be. All of his content could probably fit into one page and then we could work on optimizing the one page instead of multiple pages. Does it make a difference if a site has one good landing type page instead of multiple pages with less content?

I see the idea that more pages leaves search engines more content to look at, but if we can put all the content into one page with good SEO practices would this hinder the sites or pages rankings since it would be only on page?

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[FONT=Verdana]It would depend why you’ve got it in 4 pages to start with, and how different the content on those 4 is. If they’re all essentially addressing the same topic then it might be better to combine it into a single page – that way, as much as anything else, you don’t have to worry about duplication or people missing important information. But if they’re on quite different subjects then that might just be confusing and you would be better off keeping them separate.

Search engines rank pages, not sites. They’re unlikely to think any less of you for having a single large page instead of four small ones.[/FONT]

3

Stevie D. has a point.

I think it is better to combine them all. Four pages that are weak will not probably rank but one page has a higher possibility. You can combine them even they were about different topics. Just make sure to include a heading on each.

4

Depends on the content, just like what Stevie D said. If you can combine the content in just one page, then go for it. If there’s a big difference on each of the content that you can put on the pages, then go for the multiple page option. Since you mentioned that he has minimal content, I would suggest that he should expand the content for the other pages if ever the topics are really different from each other. Oh, by the way. If you’re planning to put everything in just one page, do take note of the “above the fold” factor. Make the people see most of the good stuff without having to scroll down that much.

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