What makes a good 1 page website?

Not all websites have to be voluminous and contain multiple pages or hundreds of blog posts about something or other. There are many kinds of one-page websites, from squeeze pages, portfolios to sales pages for Acai berries or eBooks.

A single page doesn’t have to follow the rules a standard website does, but should have the same qualities if they are to be a success. One of those qualities is good navigation. While it isn’t going to be as important on a single page site as say a large corporate one, it is still important especially for a landing page.

Navigation can be used to display different content on the single page to allow it to work more like a standard website. In that way a one page site can hold as much information as a normal website. For example, a Flash based website can have content appear once a navigation option is clicked. These are quite popular as a lot of information can be held, but in such a way that doesn’t clutter the page.

Vertical navigation with a strong visual indicator is another way to use a single page as a website. For example Bullet PR uses a single pages, with a wavy line which you can follow to get to the content. There is also a static navigation option if you don’t notice the line. This is a great example of a single page site.

This concept can be flipped 90 degrees and used horizontally too to great effect. With a single page, the content within the screen rule can be ignored if it’s done well enough.

Alternatively you can have a page with no navigation like graphic designer James Lai. This is an excellent example of think around navigation and using page elements to their best advantage. There is everything you need on that one page, including a scrolling portfolio section accessed by thumbnails. This design subtly focuses all your attention on his work rather than the site itself.

No site can do without content, which is another essential ingredient of all websites, let alone a single page. The page has to have a purpose, a reason for being, and content is it.

With a single page site the content has to be short, sharp and to the point. You have to get your message across with a lot less space and in a lot less words. The clever use of graphics can also illustrate a point without lots of words if done right like with this app site for the iPhone.

There is much more to web design that the standard multi-page hierarchy and navigation buttons. With the application of a little imagination, and a little skill with web design tools you can create amazing pages that look much larger than they actually are.