How to Create an SEO-Friendly Site Structure

In this post, we'll take a closer look at website structure and why it's important for Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). We'll guide you through how to create an SEO-friendly website structure that helps you rank higher in search engines.

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It may seem like stating the obvious, but it is extremely important to make sure that the content on each of your web pages is organised in a logical manner. This not only makes it simpler for users to navigate your website, but it also assists search engines in their indexing and retrieval of your content. In a nutshell, the arrangement of the pages on your website can help you achieve a higher ranking in the results pages of search engines and attract more visitors to your website.

Fortunately, organising (or reorganising) the architecture of your website does not necessarily have to be a laborious process. In this article, we are going to take a more in-depth look at website structure and explain why it is important for search engine optimisation (SEO). After that, we will walk you through the process of constructing a website structure that is friendly to search engines. Let's get this party rolling, shall we?

About Site Architecture

The architecture of your website, also referred to as the structure of your website, refers to the way in which your content is organised and connected to one another. The structure of your website and the way your pages are organised are the primary focuses of this.

The pages of the vast majority of websites, for instance, are typically organised according to the subject or topic. 

These headings almost always lead to further subdivisions that are more specific. 

Users will be able to navigate your website more easily and will be directed in the direction that you want them to go if it is well-structured. In addition to this, it helps search engines understand your website better and differentiate between the different pages on your site.

Why is the Structure of a Website So Important to SEO?

When it comes to search engine optimisation (SEO), having a well-structured website is essential because it makes it easier for search engines to find and index your pages. Pages that are located several clicks away from your homepage are more difficult for search engines to access than pages that are closer to your homepage.

Not only that, but it also makes it much simpler for users to navigate the different sections of your content. 

This can encourage users to spend more time on your site, thereby lowering your site's bounce rate. This will be interpreted by Google as a sign that your website offers something of value, which can increase the visibility of your site in the search results.

Cannibalism is avoided as a further benefit of websites that are well-structured. When you take the time to organise your website, the content you publish will have clear objectives and topics that search engines will have no trouble locating. Because of this, even if you cover comparable subject matter across multiple pages, the structure of your website will prevent those pages from ranking well for the same keywords.

How to Organise Your Website so That Search Engines Can Find It

Now that you understand the significance of web structure, let's take a look at some specific ways to create a structure for your website that is friendly to search engine optimisation (SEO).

Establish a Straightforward Hierarchy

Having a website that contains multiple categories and can be navigated through a hierarchy of subpages would be beneficial. This makes it easier for users (and search engines) to navigate the content on your website. In addition to this, it enables them to interact with your most essential pages first (which are often your most important ones).

When the structure of the site is complicated, it is difficult for users to find the information they require. Think about designing your website so that visitors can easily find what they are looking for no matter where they land on your site. This is an important consideration.

The creation of a straightforward hierarchy is another essential component of SEO. Crawlers will have an easier time discovering your content if you have clear categories and internal links.

It is important to categorise the subpages into appropriate groups

As was mentioned earlier, categories lend your pages an additional layer of organisation and structure. If they were removed, your site's content might be more difficult to navigate.

To make things even better, categories do not necessarily need to be rigid. You might, for instance, add a new page to a category that already exists on the website. Alternatively, if you create new pages that do not correspond to any of your existing categories, you can easily make new categories to accommodate these pages.

If you manage an online store, using product categories is something you should give some thought to.

On a poorly organised website that does not have defined places for the various kinds of content, the potential for keyword overlap exists. If this is the case, you are more likely to run into problems with duplicate content and keyword cannibalisation.

Make the Most of Your Internal Links

Your navigation menu is extremely important due to the fact that the way in which your pages are organised has a significant impact on the structure of your website. With this, you can help users navigate to your primary content, as well as any subcategories you have.

You are, however, free to include internal links within your posts in order to guide visitors to other articles that may be of interest to them. 

By linking several pieces of content that cover different aspects of the same topic, you can help search engines recognise your site as an industry expert and give it a higher ranking. If your pages are dispersed in a haphazard manner and don't appear to have any obvious connection to one another, achieving this authority may be difficult.

Include Only Keywords That Are Suitable For This Purpose

When choosing keywords for your content, you should keep the number of searches, as well as the potential traffic, in mind. It is possible to find relevant keywords and determine how easy or difficult it will be to rank for those keywords with the help of some excellent tools, such as the Google Keyword Planner, Semrush, and Ahrefs.

It is absolutely necessary to take into consideration how competitive the keywords are. Your chances of outranking established websites are extremely remote. As a consequence of this, you ought to think about utilising long-tail keywords. They have a lower search volume, but they are much simpler to rank for due to the fact that they are more specific.

These search terms could also be incorporated into the content that you create. However, you should steer clear of keyword stuffing because it can give the impression that your content is not natural.

Make "Pillar" Pages

You should consider pillar pages to be extremely all-encompassing and significant pieces of content on your website. You have the ability to create pillar pages that cover a wider variety of subject areas. After that, you'll be able to use these pages to link to content that is more detailed and specific. 

This enables you to draw attention to the content that is most important to you while simultaneously positioning your pillar pages to rank for keywords with a high search volume. This way, users who are looking for content that is more specific can easily avoid pillar pages and get what they require. In the meantime, the visitors to your hub pages can be provided with general information.

Improve URL Structure

The content of your page is analysed by search engines based on the URL of your page. In fact, they take into consideration a wide range of factors, which can include both on-page and off-page components.

This is what we are referring to when we discuss straightforward hierarchies and organising content using the categories earlier in this article! The structure of URLs is the primary method that we use to organise content.

The most effective use of permalinks suggests keeping URLs short and making use of the keywords you want to rank for. Think about writing in lowercase letters and joining words with hyphens rather than capital letters.

When a website structure is well-executed, it will typically include URLs that are friendly to search engine optimisation (SEO) and that display subpages organised and nested within logical parent "categories", also known as subfolders.

This gives you the opportunity to explain the relationship between your subtopics and your main pages. Additionally, it displays the location of the visitor within the site.

Accelerate the Loading Time of Your Website

The amount of time it takes for a website to load completely is a significant indicator of how user-friendly it is. In point of fact, the bounce rate increases by 32% whenever the time it takes for a page to load goes from 1 to 3 seconds. 

The rate at which search engines can read your website is also affected by site speed. Your chances of ranking will decrease proportionately to the amount of time it takes them to crawl through your pages. Google is able to crawl multiple pages at once on websites that load quickly. 

Your website's performance can be affected by a variety of factors, such as the location of the user, the type of browser they use, and the hosting server.

There are additional ways in which the speed of your website can be improved. You could, for instance, optimise your images and reduce the sizes of both the images and the text. You can also reduce the number of resources used, such as JavaScript and CSS, and get rid of any plugins that are obsolete or unused.

Offer a User Experience That Is Easy to Navigate

Your navigation menu's design should be straightforward and easy to understand in order to assist users in locating the content they seek. Keeping this in mind, you are able to make your top-level items accessible from any page of your website.

Typically, these items will expand into dropdown menus when clicked on. You should, however, refrain from loading dropdown menus with an excessive number of pages. Instead, you should make your menus scannable so that users can quickly navigate your site. This will save you time.

Consequently, you will have the capacity to render all of your pages viewable and accessible from a centralised location. Your user engagement and User Experience (UX) can both benefit from this change.

Clarity and organisation are of the utmost importance because search engines utilise your navigation menu to assist them in comprehending and ranking the content of your website.

Delete Outdated Pages

If you have older pages on your website that are no longer relevant, Google will still index them, wasting what is known as your "crawl budget". This may appear to be counterintuitive at first, but there’s more to it than meets the eye.

The maximum number of pages that a search engine is able to index is referred to as the crawl budget. This number is impacted by a number of different factors, one of which is site speed. Cleaning up your website can make it easier for search engines to crawl it. You can, for instance, revise the content that is already present or get rid of pages that are no longer applicable.

As long as you focus on low-traffic pages, this should not have any impact on the position that you hold in the search engine rankings. You are also in a position where you can afford to lose pages that have duplicate content or poor link equity. In addition, you should check to see that there are no backlinks on your website that direct visitors to pages that you have removed, as this will cause a 404 error.

Make Sure Your Website Has a Structure That Is Optimised for Search Engines

As the owner of a website, one of your primary objectives should be to increase the number of visitors to your site. Increasing your site's position in the search results is a great way to accomplish this goal. Nevertheless, there is a lot of other competition, so it might be difficult.

You are in luck because you can boost the visibility of your web pages by developing a website structure that is friendly to search engine optimisation. You could, for instance, construct a straightforward hierarchy consisting of pillar pages and subcategories. In addition, you could implement a strategy for internal linking, remove content that is no longer relevant, and optimise your URLs.