Is Pageless Design the Future of the Web?
Like all technology website design is constantly evolving and changing, the trendiest design concept and layout becomes outdated when a new design layout becomes the latest advancement. Websites have changed quite a bit since their inception and now include many different features and changes. In terms of website layouts we can break them into four distinct groups which have evolved over time:
1)Fixed – Traditional websites which were fixed (or static) and had numerous pages. Websites had fixed widths and heights.
2)Adaptive – Developers started using percentages rather than pixels. This allowed websites to fit virtually any screen size.
3)Responsive – As mobile devices evolved and became able to access the internet and view websites, the layout of websites had to change to accommodate this. The introduction of media queries allowed developers to define styles tailored to the user’s screen size. Essentially you would load a different set of CSS rules depending on the user’s device.
4)Fluid – With responsive web design, a fluid layout which allowed the content to fit and flow to any screen size, by using media queries to create breakpoints, you could perfect readability across a wide and growing range of screen sizes. When utilising a fluid layout it is useful to think of the content like water and the device as a container.
The next advancement is believed to be pageless websites. The concept of a “pageless” website is not actually completely accurate and is better thought of as a website with a single long continuous page. Below are some of the reasons as to why this popular type of design is busy taking over the web.
One of the fundamental aspects of pageless design is creating a compelling story for your customers throughout your design. Web design has followed the status quo of imitating print design for many years. However, a shift towards pageless design is evident and is expected to be the future of web design. Rather than having a site sub-divided into multiple pages, the entire website is on one page that follows a story line.
Having a pageless design allows the user to scroll down one single responsive page which as they do so, they learn more and more about the important components of the business. This form of website is more appealing to customers as it is seamless, intuitive, easy to digest, and presents content in a stimulating way for all types of learners.
By default, the pageless design converts better and allows changes based on analytics and user feedback to be easier, faster and more effective. The reason that it is easier and faster is because you only have a single page that you have to update. Instead of having to change the user experience on multiple pages, you can tweak the specific details and interactions on your one concise and powerful one-page story.
In terms of a website, your conversion rate is the percentage of visitors who take a desired action. For example, measuring the number of visitors that sign up for your newsletter or how many users purchase something off your ecommerce site. In the context of building websites there is really one metric that matters most – conversion.
The primary objective of every website is that it should generate new leads, grow your online community, promote a person or product, drive more downloads and sell more goods and services. Pageless websites are best at this, as they combine straightforward design with a great story and visceral interactions to propel site visitors along a single path towards the final desired goal. The pageless approach is becoming more and more favoured as it is more focused than a standard website and more elegant than a mere landing page.
A bounce rate is the percentage of visitors to a particular website who navigate away from the site after viewing only one page. When considering a website that only has one page it is fairly obvious that the bounce rate will tend to be lower. Another contributing factor is that a well-designed pageless website will have very little to do or become confused about, making it more desirable for users to take a call to action. If the site’s story and flow are effective, the bounce rates are going to reflect that reality by enticing visitors to stay on the site longer.
Thanks to the fluid nature of the pageless design, almost all of the time websites will look great on any device with any screen size (provided the design was done correctly). This will not only ensure that your design adjusts in size to any device but that it feels right when viewed on any device. Users are already used to scrolling content, interactive elements and intuitive navigation from the evolution of mobile phones and mobile applications. Pageless design facilitates this scrolling that users are accustomed to by allowing the creation of a uniformity across platforms.
