One-Page or Multi-Page Website: How to Decide

A single scrolling page can do everything a small local business needs. It can also leave out the services and suburbs people are searching for. Here's how the two compare for visitors, for Google and for your budget, with examples of both from sites we've built.

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The short answer

A one-page site suits a business with one main service, or a few closely related ones, a clear service area, and one thing it wants visitors to do, usually call or send a quote request. Everything sits on a single long page, and the menu jumps down to each section.

A multi-page site suits a business whose customers arrive with different questions. A builder doing kitchens, extensions and new homes, a clinic offering several treatments, or a cleaner covering a dozen suburbs will usually do better with a page for each, because each of those is a separate search and a separate decision.

Neither is the 'proper' website. The right one is whichever matches the number of distinct things your customers come looking for.

How visitors use each one

On a one-page site, the visitor scrolls. On a phone that's natural, and nobody has to find a menu or wait for another page to load. The catch is that the order of the page does all the work. An eye-tracking study Nielsen Norman Group published in 2018 found that 57% of page-viewing time went to the first screenful and 74% to the first two. In its 2010 study, 80% of viewing time had gone to the first screenful, so people now scroll more than they did. The 2018 study used large desktop screens, so a phone shows far less per screen, but the lesson carries over: the top of the page has to say what you do, where, and how to get in touch.

On a multi-page site, the visitor picks a path. Someone after a bathroom renovation goes straight to that page and never scrolls past your roofing work. That's better for them, provided the menu is short and the page names are the words customers use. It also gives each page a single job, so the call to action can be specific: 'Request a bathroom quote' rather than 'Contact us'.

What changes in search

Google shows individual pages in its results, each with its own title and description. Its SEO Starter Guide says a good title is unique to the page, clear and concise, and accurately describes what's on it. A one-page site has one of those, so it has to cover the business name, the main service and the area in one line.

That's often enough. Someone searching for your business by name, or for your single main service in your town, can find a one-page site without trouble. It gets harder when people search for different things. 'Stump grinding' and 'tree removal' are different searches; so are 'end of lease cleaning' and 'NDIS cleaning'. A page written about each one matches each search more closely than a paragraph halfway down a long page.

More pages aren't automatically better, though. Google's guide says plainly that the length of content alone doesn't matter for ranking. Thin pages that repeat the same text with a suburb swapped in don't help anyone. A separate page earns its place when you have something different to say on it. Nobody can promise a ranking either way.

Side by side

One-page and multi-page websites compared
Question	One page	Multi-page
Price with us	$399	$899 for up to 3 pages, $1,499 for up to 8
Words and photos you supply	A short section per service, a handful of photos	Enough for a useful page on each service or area
How visitors move around	Scrolling, with a menu that jumps to sections	A menu of separate pages
Search	One title and description for the whole site	A title and description for each page and topic
Calls to action	One main action, repeated down the page	A specific action on each page
Adding more later	New sections or pages, quoted first	New pages slot into the menu, quoted first
Best for	Sole traders, single-service trades, creatives with a portfolio	Several services, several areas, or customers who need explaining to

No GST is added to our prices. Hosting is $30 a month either way, and it covers text and image changes on your existing pages.

One-page sites we've built

A single page goes further than people expect when the business is focused:

Fiona Dixon Voiceover Artist in NSW has four playable demo reels, about and studio sections, and a contact form with project-type options. For a voiceover artist, the reels are the site.
M.J. Debney Plumbing & Gas in Queensland fits a six-service overview, a 13-photo project gallery that swipes on mobile, testimonials and a contact form onto one page.
Tomi's Bobcat and Excavation in the Bega Valley uses a swipeable 42-photo gallery to show the work, alongside three service sections and testimonials.
Cape Fishing Charters at Cape Jervis takes booking requests and gift voucher requests, with a catch gallery, an FAQ and a map.

Western Sydney Stump Grinding is a single page with two quote forms, and it has landed at least 62 jobs, about $46,500 of work. The case study shows how that was tracked. It's one business's result, not a forecast for anyone else.

Multi-page sites we've built

Separate pages earn their keep when there's more to explain:

Golden Years Aged Care Support in Northern Adelaide has six pages, with nine services explained on one of them, a founder page and an enquiry form with a referral option for aged care providers.
Club One (SA) needed seven pages, including a four-part online grant application and a page explaining gaming machine entitlements, which wouldn't sit sensibly in one scroll.
Queensland Dance & Performing Arts has 12 pages, one for each program and the diploma, plus a class timetable and an online enrolment form, so a parent looking for junior ballet doesn't wade through the diploma.
Bright Building & Renovations runs to 30 pages, with seven service pages and seven service-area pages, which is the multi-page approach taken a long way.

The pattern is the same in each: different visitors with different questions, each given a page that answers theirs.

When one page is the better choice

You do one main thing, or a few things customers think of as one service.
Most work comes from referrals, a Google Business Profile or word of mouth, and the site's job is to reassure people before they ring.
You're new, and you have a few photos and a short description rather than a page's worth on each service.
Your work is best shown as a portfolio: photos, audio or video that people browse in one go.
Your budget is tight and you'd rather start now than wait until you can afford more.

For a new sole trader, one well-ordered page that's live this month is usually worth more than eight pages that are still waiting on words in three months' time.

When separate pages are the better choice

You offer services that customers search for separately and that need their own explanation, photos or prices.
You cover several towns or regions and have something specific to say about each.
Customers need detail before they commit: process, eligibility, what's included, FAQs.
You need a longer form, such as an enrolment, intake or grant application, that deserves a page of its own.
Different people come to the site for different reasons, such as clients and referrers, or parents and adult students.

A three-page site is a common middle ground: a home page, a services page and a contact or about page. It keeps the one-page simplicity on the home page while giving services room to breathe.

Starting small and growing

Choosing one page now doesn't lock you in. If we plan the sections well, a section that grows can later become a page of its own, and the rest of the site stays as it is. On our hosting, changing text and images on your existing pages is included; new pages are quoted before we start, so you know the cost first.

A simple way to decide: write down every service you'd want a customer to find you for, and every area you cover. If the list fits comfortably on one screen of your phone and you'd describe each item in a couple of sentences, start with one page. If several items need a few paragraphs, photos and their own FAQ, those are your pages. Our guides to what a home page needs and what to include on a tradie website help with the list.

Our prices by number of pages

One page

$399

Everything on a single scrolling page: what you do, where, photos, reviews and an enquiry form, with a menu that jumps to each section.

A common middle ground

Up to 3 pages

$899

A home page plus two more, typically services and contact, so each service has room without a long scroll.

Up to 8 pages

$1,499

A page for each main service or area you have something specific to say about, with a call to action matched to each.

Payment. No deposit. We build your draft first, you ask for as many changes as you like, and you pay once you approve it. If you don't go ahead, you owe nothing.
GST. WebCraft Studio isn't registered for GST, so no GST is added.
Timing. Most sites are live within 5–10 days of us getting your words and photos; bigger sites (up to 8 pages) take 2–3 weeks.
Hosting. After launch, hosting is $30 a month: hosting, security monitoring, backups, email support and unlimited text and image changes on your existing pages. New pages or features are quoted first. No contract, cancel anytime.
Domain and email. We register your domain in your name (about $20 a year), connect it to your site and set up your business email.

See full pricing and what each package includes

One-page and multi-page sites: common questions

Can a one-page website rank on Google?

Yes, for searches it matches well, such as your business name or your main service in your area. It has a harder time with several different searches, because the whole site shares one title and description. Nobody can promise a ranking with either kind of site.

How long should a one-page website be?

Long enough to answer what you do, where, why people should trust you, and how to get in touch, and no longer. Put those near the top. Google's guide says length alone doesn't affect ranking, so extra sections should only be there if visitors need them.

Can a one-page site be turned into a multi-page site later?

Yes. Sections can be moved onto their own pages as the business grows, and the rest stays as it is. With us, new pages are quoted before we start, so you know the cost first.

How many pages does a small business website need?

As many as there are distinct things customers come looking for, and no more. For many local businesses that's one to three. A business with several services or areas, each with something specific to say, may need up to eight or beyond.

Is a one-page site cheaper to run than a multi-page site?

Not with us. Hosting is $30 a month whichever you choose, with text and image changes on existing pages included. The difference is the build price: $399 for one page, $899 for up to three, $1,499 for up to eight.

Not sure how many pages you need?

Send us your list of services and areas. We'll suggest one page, three or eight, send a fixed quote, and build the draft before you pay anything.