Single-page applications provide dynamic updates and it enables interacting with the page without the need to refresh it. Originally published at https://www.proweaver.com/pros-and-cons-of-using-single-page-applications-for-your-business

1. What You Need to Know About
Single-Page Applications
for Your Business!

2. Introduction
For a long period of time, people were only aware of the
idea of multi-page applications (MPAs) that processed
different requests among clients and the server. This was
until Ajax technology was introduced. The technology
allowed updates of the web page without reloading it,
which gave developers a concept of what a single page
app must look like. The SPA we know is the outcome of a
long journey from the release of jQuery and Knockout.js
to Backbone.js and other frameworks to Angular’s
release.

3. A single-page app, or SPA, is a web application that takes a
single HTML page. Since a SPA provides dynamic updates,
it enables interacting with the page without the need to
refresh it. Using a single-page app means you can
considerably lower the server load and increase loading
speed for improved user experience. This is achievable
since it only boots data on demand while the whole page
has been loaded earlier.
Since it is faster than the regular multi-page application
websites, a single-page application may be the ideal
solution for your business.

4. The Features of Single-
Page Applications
• Templating and routing on the client’s side.
• No server roundtrip.
• The ability to work offline.
• Cross-platform functionality.
• A lowered throughput.
The features above and others not mentioned greatly affect
single-page application performance; therefore, making it more
appealing for startups as well as other online projects. The
architecture of single-page apps is great for social media,
dynamic apps, Software as a Service (SaaS) platforms, and so
much more.

5. While there may not be many SPAs, you may have already
come across the most popular ones on a day-to-day basis,
such as scrolling through your Facebook newsfeed, going
through your emails on Gmail, and even using Google
Docs. Yes, you heard that right. Google Drive applications
are single-page applications.
Some Examples of the
Single-Page Application Model

6. Other examples of SPA include Trello, Flickr, WhatsApp
Web, as well as other Google web services like
Spreadsheet, Maps, and the like.
Now that you have an idea of what a SPA is and what its
features are, let us now have a more in-depth look into the
advantages and disadvantages of this model.

7. Speed
- SPAs are much faster since they are capable of loading
new information into one page upon request.
Caching Performance
- SPA only has to ask data from the server once, during
the first download. After this, the site can be visited even
if the user is not online or if they have a poor Wi-Fi
connection.
Adaptable Layout
- SPAs are simple to adapt to mobile device browsers
and mobile app design.
The Pros of Single-Page Apps

8. User Interface
- SPAs also offer an enhanced overall user experience.
Ease in Developing Feature-Rich Applications
- SPA is simpler to create a content editing web
application that offers real-time analysis.

9. Website Statistics
- You will not be able to identify which content or page is
most popular since your site only has one page.
Search Engine Optimization
- Having only one page harms your SEO since it relies on
HTML content - the fewer pages a site has with unique
keywords, headings, and URLs, the lower it will rank in
search engines.
Uses Plenty of Browser Resources
A single-page application will need a lot of resources
from the browser because the browser does the majority
of the tasks for the SPA.
The Cons of Single-Page Applications

10. Challenges in the Development Process
- It requires a lot of effort and significant knowledge to
troubleshoot.
There Is No Way Back
- Users would be completely out of the app when clicking
the back button, which will make them annoyed.

11. Conclusion
Any kind of website architecture has its own
set of advantages and disadvantages. When
you choose one, you should base it on the
type of project or business objective you
have. You may want to consider the following:
• The aim and purpose of your site
• The amount of information you are going to
share with your users and the kind of information
it will be
• The appearance of your site and what its primary
elements will be
• The kind of advantages your content will offer to
your target market

12. While using single-page applications has some
disadvantages, they are unquestionably a leap in
the right direction for web application development
in the years to come. If your start-up business
would like to create a product with the main goal of
better user engagement, higher visibility, or
increased productivity for finishing tasks or
interactively going through data, then the solution
is to use a single-page application to its fullest
potential.