Single Page Application

01/05/2021

Single Page Applications: The newest rage in app development

What would you say if I said that there is a way to increase your web traffic by just optimising your website? Yes. There is in fact a way to double-up your simple website as a lead generation tool. More than enough has been said and written about creating websites that attract and engage with customers and increase web-traffic and conversion.

Instead of spending huge amounts of revenue on marketing strategies, the first step towards diverting traffic to your website is to design and develop an online profile that not just aligns with your business goals and objectives, but also attracts, engages and retains potential customers visiting your website.

The COVID -19 pandemic has already ensured that only businesses with a viable online presence can and will survive in this competitive world.

One of the major concerns, enterprises are facing currently is that with almost all businesses moving online, the ways in which you can entice, attract and retain customers online have to be novel, interesting, provoking and impactful, to say the least.

Another aspect that comes into play here, is the attention span of the website visitors. Today, websites need to be dynamic, responsive and should cater to this reduced attention span.

Single Page Applications (SPA) is the answer to these requirements. In simple terms, SPA can be said to be a combination of an app and a browser – the best of both worlds.

Single Page Applications:

SPAs as opposed to MPAs (Multi-Page Application) are applications that run on a browser. It comprises of a single page that dynamically and continuously writes and then re-writes itself instead of displaying a new page every time data is exchanged with the server.

Some examples of SPAs that you may have unknowingly encountered are Google, Facebook, and Twitter.

SPAs page architecture v/s MPAs page architecture:

So how is a Single Page App different from a Multi-Page App?
In a traditional or MPA web page architecture, the user sends the initial request to the server via the browser, and the server sends back an HTML file.
But with SPAs, this return of the HTML file happens only for the first time after the initial request to the browser. For every subsequent request, the browser sends back a JSON file.

What does this mean?

What the above explanation essentially means is that when you try to load a webpage in a Single Page App, the page only has to load once and then it keeps writing and re-writing on the current page to give the users a seamless and fluid experience similar to that of native desktop or mobile apps.
Whereas in a Multi-Page App, every time the user requests new data, it loads on a new page. This takes time because of the data transferred to and fro and it takes time to load the high amount of content and the complex UIs on every page.

Benefits of spas:

SPAs have numerous benefits like:

Drastically Reduced Load Times: As SPAs require to load just once, the webpages need quite less time to load. This in turn reduces visitor bounce rate and increases visitor time on page. This leads to better Google rankings and SEO. Google aims for a page load time of under half a second. Customers turn to apps specifically to lessen their wait time and SPAs are the best choice with respect to this making it customer-centric

Reduced Use of Bandwidth: Since SPAs need to load just once, the bandwidth required is less. This is really helpful in areas with slow internet and so, convenient for everyone.

Building Feature-Rich Apps: It is much easier and quicker to add advanced features to a SPA as compared to a MPA as with a MPA, adding any feature requires a total page reload.

Easy Debugging: SPAs can be easily debugged as network operations can be monitored, and page elements and the data can be conveniently scrutinized.

Enhanced User Experience: SPAs create a seamless user experience as users do not have to wait for the webpage to load and this gives the user a fulfilling, native desktop experience.

In addition to these, SPAs also have the following advantages:

  • Better performance with no time lags or reloads or buffering issues.
  • Highly responsive.
  • Same backend code can be used for web apps and native mobile apps.
  • Effective caching.
  • Easier and streamlined development.
  • Higher SEO
  • Optimised battery consumption.

As with all the other applications, SPAs also have some minor disadvantages that have to be considered:

  • These work well for mid and small sized apps. But for enterprise-sized app SPAs are not apt because of the sheer volume of content that has to be continuously streamed.
  • SEO is possible but more difficult compared to MPAs.
  • SPAs are less secure compared to the traditional MPAs.
  • SPAs need numerous browser resources which needs the latest browsers and some modern features.
  • Memory leaks can reduce the performance of the app.
  • Difficult to maintain.

SPA FRAMEWORKS The following are most used SPA frameworks and libraries:

  • Angular.js
  • Meteor
  • React.js
  • Vue.js
  • Backbone.js
  • Ember.js
  • Polymer.js
  • Knockout.js

MULTI-PAGE APPS: MPAs, as the name suggests, have multiple pages. Large enterprises have MPAs because having so much data makes it almost impossible if not impractical to use SPAs for webpages. The vast amount of content to be loaded onto every webpage for large enterprises requires it to have many levels of UI. And for these purposes Multi-Page Apps work the best.

The benefits of MPAs include:

  • Easy SEO and maintenance.
  • High scalability.
  • Allows Google Analytics to provide insights about how your webpage performing.

Disadvantages of MPAs are:

  • Expensive development and maintenance.
  • Slower performance.
  • Lesser code reusability.
  • Lesser flexibility.

SO, SPA OR MPA? What works best for you?

SPA or MPA? The answer to this depends on your company goals and objectives. For instance, if you need an app for e-commerce purposes, then you would need multiple categories and easy scalability. In this case, MPA is a better choice. Again, if you like SPA but it is not completely practical to use this for your business goals, then you can opt for a HYBRID SITE, which is an amalgamation of the benefits of a SPA and a MPA and tries to reduce the disadvantages. So, it is in fact, the best of both worlds.

CONCLUSION:

While the pros of Single Page Apps are numerous and what is best for you and your business is a decision that has to be made after considering many factors like the UX/UI, the scalability required, the kind of business and more. This is all the more true for the newer developments like Progressive Web Apps.

If yours is a start-up or a mid-level organisation, and better SEO, increased market visibility, a more responsive and interactive website with increased customer engagement and a comparative increase in ROI is your goal, then looking into SPA options is a good idea.

If you are looking to create a webpage and have any questions or doubts regarding this, do contact our skilled and experienced team of architects, developers, writers and analysts at Nexalyst Technologies, for a one-stop solution for all your Web Development and Digital Marketing concerns, to make an informed decision.

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