Site Architecture

At the very least it is important to ensure that your pages are found, however, site architecture as it relates to SEO encompasses much more than that. It is important to make sure that search engine spiders will not get lost and then abandon your website as well. All SEO Inc. clients receive a complete evaluation of all website architecture elements evaluated including:

• URL Structure and URL rewrite (not always needed)
• Navigation and sub-navigation
• Canonical issues
• Ensure proper URL redirects are being used
• Look for "spider traps"
• XML Sitemaps
• Web accessibility considerations

In addition, link structure from within the website can provide more impact on rankings when properly optimized. This should not be confused with or considered as a substitute for external link building.

Have you ever wanted a quick way to determine the architecture or navigation scheme for a site you're working on? Here's how, in three easy steps.

1. Top Level

Start with the top level of the site, which is usually several pages, including the home page. (You do want to include a home page, right? most sites do, because it's so reassuring to the site visitor.)

Next, consider the main menu or main navigation scheme or main site index or whatever you want to call it. Usually implemented as a "nav bar" across the top or down the left.

Think about all the nav bars you've seen on the web, and ask yourself this: was "home" grayed out when you were on the home page? (Here "grayed out" means inoperative, recognizably so: grayed out text, no underline, washed out image, different coloured font, whatever.) As you clicked around the site using the links in the nav bar, was the link for whichever page you were on grayed out? If so, why do you think it was done that way? Consistency? If not, why do you think it was not done that way? Was it a conscious decision on the part of the designer ("Why have a grayed out link that can't take you to the page you're actually on?") or was it done to avoid having to find a way to code the nav bar to gray out or disable that part of itself that it's currently on?

Okay, so that's the main challenge for the top level: before thinking about which pages belong at the top level, decide whether the top level navigation scheme should include grayed out links, and also whether to have a "home" page. Again, most people do include a home page, but once you understand that the home page is actually just another page among several pages at the top level, then it's easy to design the top level navigation.

2. Second Level

At the second level in a site architecture are the pages you navigate to by going "down from" the top level pages.

For example, a top level page called "facilities" would have second level pages which go into more detail about each of the facilities, a top level page called "accommodation" would have second level pages for different accommodation choices, and so on.

Here's the neat part: if your site is only two levels deep, every page on the site is no more than three clicks away:

1. go up one level if necessary
2. choose top level page to see what's in it if necessary
3. click on link to desired second level page if necessary

Each of those "if necessary" clicks can be sidestepped. The idea is, any page should be accessible in no more than three clicks and fewer if possible.

Anyhow, when you want to get to another page in the same second level you're already in, it should only be one click away. This assumes there is a second level navigation scheme; if there isn't, then you'd have to go up one level to see it, right?

For instance, if you are anywhere inside the accommodation second level, you should be able to see links to all the other accommodation pages.

Having a second level navigation scheme is crucial so that you don't have to go up to the top level just to see the other choices in the same second level you're in.