A well-organized site structure is essential for a successful website because it makes it easier to understand and navigate your website. Since websites often have multiple pages, it’s vital that the content is organized in a way that makes sense. If your site structure is confusing, then it’ll hinder your
SEO (search engine optimization) and frustrate users.
Learn about the importance of site structure for SEO and ways to improve your website’s organization for higher search rankings and a better user experience.
Why Site Structure Matters
How your website’s
content is organized is a crucial consideration for an effective SEO strategy. Without a proper site structure, your search rankings will stagnate — or worse, drop. Site structure is essential for SEO for the following reasons:
Crawlability
Site structure is like a guide for search engines. It helps them find essential content and understand what your website is about. Having a clear site structure makes it easier for search engines to crawl your website and determine the relationship between different pages.
Rankings
If your site structure is a mess, then your pages will end up competing against each other in search results. One of the most popular
site structure types is hierarchical. It’s like a pyramid, where the home page is on top then followed by categories and individual pages. Site structure allows you to ‘tell’ search engines which pages are the most important, helping those pages rank higher.
User Experience
In addition to SEO, site structure is also beneficial for enhancing user experience. Helping users navigate your website is crucial for keeping them on your website for longer and driving more conversions (e.g. purchase,
sign-up form submission).
Tips to Improve Your Site Structure
Now that you understand why site structure plays an important role in SEO, next let’s take a look at ways you can improve your website’s organization.
Make your structure logical
It’s imperative that your site structure is logical to make navigation easy. Set up a new website or update your current website with a site structure that will help search engines crawl your website and visitors find information quickly.
Remove old content
Clean up your website by removing old, outdated content. Make sure to redirect the URLs of deleted pages so visitors don’t arrive at a dead-end, which increases the likelihood that they’ll bounce from your website.
Evaluate categories
A bloated category with many pages should be broken into separate categories so visitors aren’t overwhelmed by a long list of pages. On the other hand, consider merging small categories that have few pages into broader categories.
Don’t bury important pages
Burying important pages deep within your website hurts usability and crawlability. Strive to have a ‘shallow’ website where any page can be reached in three or fewer clicks.
Simplify your URL structure
Your URL structure should follow your site structure’s hierarchy for simplicity. Take for example Sales & Marketing Technologies’ URL structure, which is organized by home page, category, and page (
smtusa.com/digital-marketing/seo-services.html).
Have comprehensive internal linking
Internal linking is important for site structure because it allows users to navigate your website and helps search engines understand which pages are important and how to get there.
Enhance Your Website Structure for Higher Rankings
A logical site structure is vital for boosting search rankings and elevating user experience. When developing an SEO strategy, make sure to evaluate how your website’s content is organized to ensure that your pages aren’t competing against each other and the most important content ranks in search results. Plus, visitors will appreciate the easy navigation and
stay on your website longer!