Pageless/Single Page Design and Migration Questions

[sphcs]

Hello,

We are starting a content audit and migration to a new CMS. We would like to take content and present more on a pageless/Single Page type design instead of having visitors drill down so many levels to find the content.

What should we be aware of from an SEO perspective.

Here is Example of current pages and structure: http://www.saintpetershcs.com/GraduateMedicalEducation/PediatricResidency/
Subpages include: Overview, Curriculum, Faculty, Residents, Benefits, How to APply

Here is example of what we would like to do: 
http://themeforest.net/item/medicalpress-health-and-medical-wordpress-theme/full_screen_preview/7789703

As you scroll information is populated:  Duke Medicine also has something similar.

https://www.dukemedicine.org/treatments/cancer

What are your thoughts?

[sergeystefoglo]

Hi there,

There is definitely a lot that goes into a site migration/redesign, and re-thinking the way your content is presented to the user is definitely one of them. So, before anything else, kudos for spotting that.

In terms of your questions, there is a general rule for UX and IA in terms of organizing content and hierarchy on your site. That rule tends to be to make every important page on your site reachable by a user within three clicks. This is referred to as the "three-click rule". In other words, can a user who lands on the homepage get to the "contact" page within three clicks? How about the "how to apply" page?

I tend to extend this rule to four clicks for specific verticals, and I think it would be appropriate to say that if you can get your user to any page within four clicks of the homepage on your specific site you are doing a great job. Also, Rand did a great Whiteboard Friday on this topic that you might want to check out.

Here are some other thoughts to consider in terms of SEO:

1. Having a long homepage with parallax might look good to some, but the more important thing to ask is "will users be able to find this content efficiently and quickly on all devices?"

2. Site migration can break an entire sites SEO work very quickly. I would do a thorough read of this wonderful guide on migrating sites and make sure you are set on that front.

Hope that is helpful!