How To Improve SEO Through Your Site Structure?

In this article, we will discuss how to improve SEO in an era where there is so much information available just one click away Today, the process of finding the right information can become overwhelming. So, when creating a website, it is important to bear that in mind and thus try to make the information appear in a way that is convenient and that can be easily absorbed by users.

Although having a website in today’s digital world is crucial, just having one is not enough. You need to continuously improve your website through SEO so that it can reach its full potential.

So, let’s get into the details you’re looking for!

 

What is SEO?

SEO means Search Engine Optimization and consists of optimizing your website so that it ranks higher on the search engine results page (SERP) therefore increasing the chance of more people accessing it. There are many variables when it comes to SEO but if this your first time reading about it do not worry.

 

 

You can use various SEO tools to make your life easier but, in this article, we will focus on how we can use site structure to improve site ranking.

 

How to improve SEO ranking through the site structure?

If you have a good site structure it will make people want to stay on your website and engage with the content because you are providing them with good user experience. If people can easily find and access the information you provide on your website because you structured it in an intuitive way, that will lead to higher CTRs and lower bounce rates. These are key factors when it comes to how Google algorithm ranks your website on the SERP, so you need to be mindful of your site structure.

Having a well-built site structure will have effects on user experience but it will also have effects on whether you get sitelinks or not. That is simply because when you have a strong site structure Google algorithm awards you sitelinks. And why are sitelinks important? They increase your chances of getting more targeted traffic and higher conversions because they allow people to click on more specific aspects of your website such as pricing for example, without having to go to your site and actually find the pricing category.

 

 

To top it off if you have a strong site structure that will translate into better crawling for web crawlers. This means it will be easier for them to access, crawl, index, and return your website pages in search results. So be careful not to have any broken links or dead ends on your website as it increases the difficulty for crawlers to do their job.

It makes sense, doesn’t it? If you make your users’ and crawlers’ lives easier the Search Engine will make yours too by giving your website a higher ranking.

 

How to create a good site structure?

Whether you use a website builder such as WordPress or develop your own website, you need to have a strong site structure. And, now that you understand the influence it can have on SEO results, we will give you some tips on how to create a good site structure to improve your ranking.

As you have probably gathered, the most important aspect when it comes to optimizing your website is the user experience provided through your site’s navigation and its crawlability.

So here are some steps you can take and build a great structure for even greater user experience.

 

1. Plan a logical navigation hierarchy beforehand

Planning is key when creating your site structure, so make sure to plan your navigation hierarchy in advance and make it simple. For example, your blog categories should feel intuitive and logical. Too many categories will likely confuse users so try to keep the number below seven. Also, try to even out the distribution of subcategories within each category to create balance.

Follow the same principle when it comes to your navigation menu and provides your users with only the options they need. Too many pages within the menu and you will confuse your users, which in turn will scare them away.

 

2. Match URL structure to navigation hierarchy

When you create a logical hierarchy, it becomes easier to match your URL structure or slug to it. You just need to make sure to use words instead of characters. For example, if you have a category called contacts your URL structure should look something like www.sitesname.com/contacts.

And under no circumstances should you use underscores. If you have two or more words in your slug – in this example /contacts – use a dash. Let’s say you have an About Us page, then your URL should either be www.sitesname.com/about or www.sitesname.com/about-us.

 

3. Code your navigation in HTML or CSS

The reason for this is if you can keep your coding simple you will maximize your website’s “crawlability”. This is because sometimes crawlers cannot access parts of your JavaScript code for example. So it is better to minimize potential crawlability errors by keeping the navigation in your HTML or CSS code.

Simply put, this will ensure that crawlers will always be able to read your website structure and navigate around, so you avoid the risk of non-indexed pages.

 

4. Shallow depth navigation structure

It doesn’t matter if you run a small business or a big enterprise, simplicity is key to your users regardless. So, create a site where it does not take too many clicks to get to the important pages. There is an unofficial rule in the web design community where it is believed that it should only take users 3 clicks to find information.

This is only a guideline but remember accessibility is king when it comes to improving user experience and crawler’s abilities.

 

5. Build Internal links

Internal linking means you create a structure where you link your pages to each other without creating dead ends. This will contribute to a better user experience since the user needs fewer clicks to go from one page to another.

 

 

Not only that but as we have previously seen, it also helps crawlers access and index your pages. Basically, whenever you add a new post or page to your site or update an existing one, crawlers use these internal links to find the new information and index it. If there are no internal links, the bots have to crawl the entire site until they get to that page. In other words, internal links work like a big red sign saying “New content, please crawl”, and without them, you have to wait and hope crawlers will find and index your content.

 

Conclusion

When developing a website in today’s competitive and digital world, you need to maximize its potential because your competitors are already doing the same. Continuous improvement and analysis play a crucial role in truly transforming your website into a great asset it can be. Do not be afraid to test and experiment with new ways of improving the user experience.

If you do not experiment you will never reach the state-of-the-art user experience people look for. And if you do not give your users the best experience possible, they are going to look for it elsewhere. So, remember to add these SEO tips and more to your notes and create your optimized site structured for great results.

But also, remember that SEO is an ongoing task you always have to work on. Analyze, find the weak links, optimize, and repeat. This should be a constant process for both your on-page as well as off-page SEO.

We hope this guide helps you unlock the full potential of your website, and keep an eye out for more like it in our Search section.