{"id":22861,"date":"2025-08-28T20:51:49","date_gmt":"2025-08-28T20:51:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bloomreach.com\/library\/what-are-single-page-applications-and-why-do-people-like-them-so-much"},"modified":"2026-02-26T14:02:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T14:02:07","slug":"what-is-a-single-page-application","status":"publish","type":"library","link":"https:\/\/www.bloomreach.com\/en\/blog\/what-is-a-single-page-application","title":{"rendered":"What Are Single Page Applications and Why Do People Like Them So Much?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Single page applications (SPAs) are everywhere. Even if you’re not exactly sure what they are, you most likely use them regularly and they’re built to deliver engaging, dynamic experiences for website users.<\/span><\/p>\n

A single page application is a website or web application that dynamically rewrites a current web page with new data from the web server, instead of the default method of a web browser loading entire new pages.<\/span><\/p>\n

You’ll easily recognize some popular examples of single page applications like Gmail, Google Maps, Airbnb, Netflix, Pinterest, PayPal, and many more. Companies all over the internet are using SPAs to build a fluid, scalable experience.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, in the past, SPAs have left marketers in the dark when it comes to managing content. Working with a single page application has historically been a code-heavy undertaking that doesn’t cater to a marketer’s wants or needs. Luckily, it’s now possible to pair your SPA with <\/span>modern content management systems<\/span><\/a> to give both developers and marketers the level of control they are looking for.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ready to learn all about SPAs and what they can do for your e-commerce business? Here’s everything you need to know.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Key Takeaways<\/span><\/div>\n
Learn more about how a single page application (SPA) can help you even further succeed with your content management system.<\/div>\n
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  1. Learn more about how a single page application (SPA) can help you even further succeed with your content management system.<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. An SPA is a website or web application that dynamically rewrites a current web page with new data from the web server, instead of the default method of a web browser loading entire new pages.<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. SPAs offer a fluid and dynamic user experience by loading all required resources during the initial page load. As users interact with the application, the content is updated dynamically, eliminating the need for page reloads and reducing server requests.<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. Improved application performance, consistency, reduced development time, and lower infrastructure costs are all key advantages of SPAs.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n

    <\/p>\n

    What Is Single Page Application Architecture? How Does It Work?<\/b><\/h2>\n

    A single page application is a single page (hence the name) where a lot of information stays the same and only a few pieces need to be updated at a time.<\/span><\/p>\n

    For example, when you browse through your email, you’ll notice that not much changes during navigation: the sidebar and header remain untouched as you go through your inbox.<\/span><\/p>\n

    The SPA only sends what you need with each click, and your browser renders that information. This is different from a traditional page load where the server rerenders a full page with every click you make and sends it to your browser.<\/span><\/p>\n

    This piece-by-piece, client-side method makes load times much faster for users. It also lessens the amount of information a server has to send and makes the whole process a lot more cost-efficient, a net benefit for users and businesses alike.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Utilizing a web application or website that interacts with the user by dynamically rewriting the current page, rather than loading entire new pages from the server, provides a much better user experience. It avoids interruptions in a user’s journey, which is vital for websites, especially in <\/span>digital commerce platforms<\/span><\/a>. By cutting down on lag time between successive pages, it makes the site behave more like a desktop application, providing a more fluid and comfortable experience.<\/span><\/p>\n

    And this can make a huge impact. Because on most websites, there is a lot of repeating content.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Some of it stays the same no matter where the user goes (headers, footers, logos, and the navigation bar), while some of it is constant in just a certain section (filter bars and banners). And there are many repeating layouts and templates (blogs, self-service pages, or the aforementioned Gmail setup).<\/span><\/p>\n

    Single page applications take advantage of this repetition.<\/b><\/p>\n

    Let’s say you visit a website and view a painting of a house and a tree. Traditional multi-page websites paint the entire picture for you on the server and send it over to your browser.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \"An<\/p>\n

    An SPA gives you the paint-by-numbers guide for the site, including the repeating guides you\u2019ll likely be using, and then pipes in the right paint (data and content) to fill out the template.<\/p>\n

    \"An<\/p>\n

    Either way, you see the same tree. But the speed of single page applications comes in when you request new content \u2014 like clicking on “next,” filtering results, opening an email, or in our case, asking to see a different tree.<\/span><\/p>\n

    On a traditional website, your request for a new tree would cause the server to repaint the entire picture and send it back.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \"A<\/p>\n

    With a single page application, the server says, “Hey, I’ve got a new tree for you, but you’ve already got the house so just leave that the same.” Then, it sends the page updated instructions for a new tree and the paint to make it.<\/span><\/p>\n

    By transferring the painting work (or page rendering) from the server to the client (you), the page can be dynamically rewritten instead of going through an entire reload. <\/span>This makes things a whole lot faster.<\/b><\/p>\n

    \"A<\/p>\n

    4 Key Advantages of Single Page Applications<\/b><\/h2>\n

    There are many benefits to SPA solutions on both the <\/span>customer experience<\/span><\/a> side and the back-end design side of the equation. Improved application performance, consistency, reduced development time, and lower infrastructure costs not only help you offer a more pleasant experience to your users, they also help development teams operate more effectively.<\/span><\/p>\n

    By separating the presentation from the content and data, development teams can work at different speeds while still remaining integrated and working towards the overall solution. SPAs are also good for making responsive designs for mobile, desktop, and tablet.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Advantage #1: Single-time File Load for HTML, CSS, and JS<\/b><\/h3>\n

    With a single page application, after the initial page load, the server doesn’t send any more HTML to you. You download it all right at the beginning. The server sends you a shell page and your browser renders the user interface (UI).<\/span><\/p>\n

    Then, as you click around, the SPA sends back requests for data and markup. The server shoots back the raw materials needed, and your browser takes it and renders an updated UI, interchanging pieces without ever needing to refresh the full page. This quick interchangeability makes SPAs useful on pages that are highly navigated and use repeating templates.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Because the server doesn’t need to spend time and energy doing multiple renderings, SPAs lower the impact on your servers overall, meaning you can save money by using fewer servers for the same amount of traffic.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Advantage #2: No Extra Queries to the Server<\/b><\/h3>\n

    Real-world SPA examples demonstrate this clearly. Netflix users can browse thousands of titles, filter by genre, and view detailed information without experiencing page reloads. Gmail allows users to compose emails, search through messages, and organize their inbox seamlessly. Spotify lets you browse, search, and play music on a single page without switching between views.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Advantage #3: Fast and Responsive Front-End Building<\/b><\/h3>\n

    Along with quicker performance, SPAs also let developers build the front end of sites faster. This is due to the decoupled architecture of SPAs, which cleanly separates back-end services from front-end display.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Many business-critical functionalities don’t change all that much on the back end. How your customers log in, register, purchase, and track orders may change its “look” or presentation from time to time, but the logic and data orchestration behind it is pretty constant, and you don’t want to risk messing that up.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Similarly, your raw content and data might stay the same, but the way you want to display it may differ. By decoupling that back-end logic and data from how it’s presented, you turn it into a “service,” and developers can build many different front-end ways to show and use that service.<\/span><\/p>\n

    With a <\/span>composable architecture<\/span><\/a>, developers can build, deploy, and experiment with the front end completely independent from the underlying back-end technology. They design how they want the user experience to look and feel, and then pull in the content, data, and functionality through those services.<\/span><\/p>\n

    This is done using APIs, which are a standard set of rules between applications on how they will structure, exchange, and reassemble data.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \"Illustrating<\/p>\n

    This API setup lets developers work quickly on the UI with no risk to business-critical back-end technologies.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Read this next:<\/b> How headless CMS architecture powers modern SPAs<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

    As more and more functionalities are built as modular services (a microservice architecture) that can be updated independently, it becomes easier to experiment with how they are displayed and used.<\/span><\/p>\n

    SPA frameworks and personalization tools<\/span><\/a> are great for trialing these services to create engaging, dynamic, and even animated user experiences.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Plus, many people simply prefer developing in a certain programming language (many SPA frameworks use JavaScript) and thanks to APIs, the SPAs you build in one language can work seamlessly with back-end services developed in different languages.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Advantage #4: Enhanced User Experiences<\/b><\/h3>\n

    The streamlined user experience of SPAs translates directly to business benefits. By eliminating page reloads and reducing loading times, SPAs can significantly improve conversion rates and reduce bounce rates. Users enjoy a more app-like experience that feels responsive and modern.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Single Page Applications vs Multi-Page Applications<\/b><\/h2>\n

    Architecture Differences<\/b><\/h3>\n

    The fundamental difference between SPAs and Multi-Page Applications (MPAs) lies in how they handle content delivery and user interactions. SPAs load a single HTML page and dynamically update content using JavaScript, while MPAs serve separate HTML pages for each route or section.<\/span><\/p>\n

    In an MPA setup, each user action that requires new content triggers a full page reload, with the server generating and sending complete HTML documents. This traditional approach means the server handles most of the rendering work, while SPAs shift this responsibility to the client’s browser.<\/span><\/p>\n

    The architectural distinction affects everything from initial load times to SEO capabilities, making the choice between SPA and MPA important for your project’s success.<\/span><\/p>\n

    When to Choose SPAs vs MPAs<\/b><\/h3>\n

    Choose SPAs when:<\/b><\/p>\n