Increasing conversion
Fast indexing
Improving behavioral factors
Key to website success
Website structure development
Website structure development should be carried out before programmers start working on the website, and it is part of SEO at the website development stage. A proper website structure affects search engine indexing, search traffic, user satisfaction with the website’s usability, conversions, and sales. Website structure is the hierarchy of pages shown in the navigation system. It is its architecture, the connection between sections and pages within the website.
What is the role of website structure?
A well-thought-out website structure will increase your business profitability because it affects:
- behavioral factors. It is very important for the structure to be simple, since a website with a confusing page hierarchy, an unfamiliar menu, and unclear design will be difficult to perceive. Most likely, a potential client will simply leave your website without completing the target action;
- conversion — the number of target actions performed on your website;
- link equity. A well-designed website structure helps distribute it by priority among pages;
- speed. A clear website structure makes it easier not only for users to navigate the website, but also for search robots to crawl it, and it also contributes to fast indexing.
Creating a website structure: stages
High-quality design is the key to the success of the future website, so it must be approached with full responsibility. Let’s look at the stages of website structure development:
I. Niche and competitor analysis
Not all clients clearly understand what they want their website to look like, what structure it should have, or what its goals and objectives should be. Therefore, the first step is a preparatory stage: we analyze why the website is needed and what goals and objectives it has. After that, the target audience is defined. It is the target audience that dictates the rules for design, functionality, content, and much more. Then a marketing analysis of the market is carried out, potential competitors are identified and analyzed, the features of the product or service being sold are formed, and its competitiveness is assessed.
II. Creating the semantic core
One of the main principles of modern marketing is customer focus. Therefore, when creating a website, it is necessary to determine what queries, phrases, and keywords users enter into the search engine. The result of logically building the semantic core is a list of queries distributed among the website pages.
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III. Formation of the website structure
In order to properly develop the website structure, it is necessary to accurately determine its type: online store, business card website, or commercial website. The main requirements for website structure are as follows:
- “three clicks.” Any information should be accessible in no more than three transitions. According to this method, the website structure is built as follows: the homepage is the first level, and two nested pages are the second and third levels respectively;
- pages have navigation buttons and/or links;
- it is easy to return to the homepage from any page;
- availability of filters for convenient search and their optimization: creating rules for forming URLs for filters and their intersections, as well as meta tags;
- if you have clients from other countries, the website should be multilingual.
IV. Visualization of the website structure
This is an equally important stage in website structure development. We carry it out using XMind. It is a simple and convenient service for creating a structure in the form of a mind map. It also has several other features:
- applying styles to a group of elements;
- changing the appearance of diagrams;
- using labels to specify new URLs for pages;
- defining filters.
What will you receive as a result of website structure development?
- Analysis of the niche and competitors’ website structures with recommendations.
- A collected and grouped semantic core.
- A website structure in XMind that is as convenient as possible to use.
- Recommendations on structure formation for developers, including recommendations for filter pages, naming of categories, subcategories, products and services, etc.
Frequently asked questions
Website structure is the hierarchical distribution of all its pages and materials. It is necessary for convenient navigation by users and optimization of search engine work. The structure provides easy navigation, helps search engines index the website, and improves user experience.
A semantic core is a list of keywords and phrases that users enter into search engines when looking for products or services similar to yours. Creating a semantic core helps determine which pages and sections should be on the website to satisfy user queries and ensure high website visibility in search engines.
A properly developed website structure contributes to better indexing by search engines, which affects the website’s positions in search results.
Specialized services and programs such as sitemaps, structure visualizers, and SEO analyzers can be used to develop a website structure.
