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Website Architecture

Article Publish Date: 13 September 2011

Author: Jon Harrison

The website architecture is important for two reasons;

1. The user - to enable them to find your information, easily move from page to page and be able to re-find information
2. The search engines - to enable them to find your information and allocate it the level of importance it requires

The basic website structure is:

This is a base to start with and every websites architecture is different. The further away from the home page (in clicks) a content page is the less important it is seen. So it is good practice to have your main keyword content pages linked directly from your home page. Product and item pages can then be broken down into categories and sub categories.

It is important to make sure you do not put to many links in your on any of your pages, for example if you have 5000 products it is not good practice to list them all on one page with links to each product. The ideal solution is to have a category page with no more than 150 links (ideal maximum is 50) and these link to subcategory pages that then link to the product / item pages.

The navigation needs to be clear for the search engines to read and this means do not put it in JavaScript. Links are best in HTML. If this is not the case on your website speak with an SEO consultant to see if it is compliant with search engine optimisation or not.

Every page should link back to your home page, the easies and most common method uses your logo in the top right hand corner of your website.

Website Architecture check list;

1. Can a user easy find every page on your site?
2. Can the search engine find every page on your website?
3. Does every page on your website link back to your home page?
4. Is your navigation clear and in HTML?
5. Do you have more than 150 links on any of your pages?
6. Does your home page link to your most important pages?
7. Do you have any hidden links?
8. Do all your links work (do they all point to a working/live page)?

The bigger your website the more complex the architecture becomes and it is important to adapt your websites structure as your site grows. A lot of companies start with a few pages and end up with 1000's of pages, the key is to plan for this. If you can foresee you website becoming large then change your architecture early to accommodate for this. Always remember the number one rule - is it user friendly? And then when you are happy with this remember the number two rule - can the search engines read and follow it?