How to Structure a Website to Improve Navigation & SEO

How to Structure a Website to Improve Navigation & SEO

A well-organized website isn’t just about aesthetics—it plays a huge role in user experience and search engine rankings. A clear structure helps visitors find what they need quickly while guiding search engines to your most important content. Without it, your site becomes a confusing mess of disconnected pages. This guide to website structure covers everything you need to know: why it matters, how to build it, and how to keep it optimized.

Why Website Structure Is Important

A well-structured website isn’t just a nice-to-have, it’s a must. Your goal is to attract visitors, keep them engaged, and guide them seamlessly through your content. That won’t happen if they get stuck or lost.

Whether you have a single-page or multi-page website, a clear structure makes it easy for users to browse and explore. An added plus is that you reduce frustration and keep users engaged longer. If all elements align, then that user will be more likely to convert on your website.

Benefits of Good Website Structure

A clear, logical structure is key to effective website management, and allows for a ton of benefits, such as:

Enhances User Experience

The faster visitors find relevant content, the more satisfied they’ll be and the longer they’ll stay.

A strong website structure with well-planned internal links keeps important pages just a few clicks away. This improves navigation, organizes content into clear categories, and sets your site apart from poorly structured ones.

Boosts SEO performance

Search engines like Google rely on structure to see your website. An optimized website structure acts as a map for search engine crawlers, helping them better understand and index your pages, which sets you up for better rankings.

And, internal linking (which is controlled by how you structure your website) is a key SEO tool. It connects pages, guides visitors, and helps crawlers discover content. It also distributes link equity across your site, boosting page authority.

Improves User Journey

Site structure directly impacts navigation and user experience, but it’s also key to a well-planned user journey. Good website structures create a natural flow, guiding visitors from entry points to conversions.

Users need to have an intuitive experience for them to make this journey with ease, so prioritizing your structure will not only enhance satisfaction, but also boost customer retention and profitability.

Simplifies Website Maintenance and Updates

As your website grows, a solid structure makes it easy to update, add, or remove content without breaking navigation or design. This ensures consistency and keeps your site user-friendly over time.

Key Elements of Website Structure

Knowing how to plan a website architecture requires knowing all of its essential elements.

1. Main page
2. Menus and navigation
3. Categories and subcategories
4. Contextual linking
5. Breadcrumb navigation
6. Cornerstone content
7. XML and HTML sitemap

Homepage

Your homepage is the central hub of your website, guiding visitors to key pages. It should clearly convey your site’s purpose, highlight essential features, and provide intuitive navigation. Ensure important category pages are linked for easy access.

Menus and Navigation

Your website menu serves as a roadmap, helping visitors navigate effortlessly. Whether a dropdown or a simple navigation bar, it should be clear and direct. Follow these best practices:

• Use clear, short labels for each menu item.
• Avoid cluttering with unnecessary links.
• Ensure all main category pages are represented.
• Make navigation instinctive—users shouldn’t have to think about where to go next.

Categories and Subcategories

Think of how things like books are organized in libraries, or how produce is displayed on grocery shelves. They’re all sectioned off by type, and then further arranged into subcategories so people can find what they’re looking for easily. Your website should be the same, and it does that with category and subcategory directories.

This means grouping related content and web pages together into a logical structure. This structure, known as silo architecture, helps users navigate efficiently.

Here are some examples of how this can be done:

• E-commerce: A “Women’s” category can include subcategories like “Clothes,” “Shoes,” and “Handbags.”
• Blogs: A “Marketing” category may have subcategories like “SEO,” “Social Media,” and “Email Marketing.”

A clear category structure prevents users from feeling lost and ensures content is easy to browse.

Contextual Linking

Links play a crucial role in guiding users and search engines through your site. Thoughtful contextual linking connects related pages, improving both user experience and SEO. Examples include:

• Blog posts linking to similar content for deeper exploration.
• E-commerce pages suggesting related products or frequently bought items.
• Calls to action (CTAs) like “Sign Up” or “Get Started” that lead users toward key goals.

Well-placed internal links keep visitors engaged and help search engines understand the relationships between pages.

Breadcrumb Navigation

Breadcrumbs are clickable links that show the path a user has taken on your site, typically displayed at the top of the page.

For example:

Home> Blog> SEO Tips> How to Optimize Your Website

Breadcrumb Navigation:

• Help users backtrack easily.
• Improve navigation, especially on complex websites.
• Enhance SEO by reinforcing your site’s hierarchy for search engines.

Breadcrumbs are especially useful for e-commerce sites, where users might browse through multiple categories and pages before making a purchase.

Cornerstone Content

Cornerstone content consists of comprehensive, high-value articles that serve as the foundation of your site’s authority on a topic. In SEO, these are typically your landing pages and long-form blog posts.

These pages:

• Are typically long (think 2,000+ words) and cover a subject in depth.
• Act as a go-to resource for both users and search engines.
• Are heavily linked throughout the site to strengthen internal linking and SEO.

For example, if you run a fitness site, your cornerstone content might be “The Ultimate Guide to Weight Loss.”

XML and HTML Sitemaps

Sitemaps help both search engines and users navigate your site efficiently:

• XML sitemaps: A behind-the-scenes file that helps search engines index all site pages, ensuring nothing important is overlooked.
• HTML sitemaps: A user-facing page, often found in the footer, that provides an organized list of key site links.

Both sitemaps contribute to better discoverability and improved search rankings.

How to Start Categorizing Your Web Pages

As you can guess, one of the first steps in creating a good website structure is knowing where each page on your website will go, and how users will access them.

To organize your content effectively, you need to decide how your pages will be grouped and how visitors will navigate through them.

There are two main approaches to structuring a website: top-down and bottom-up. The best choice depends on the specific needs of the website and its business goals.

Top-Down Approach

In a top-down structure, you start with broad categories and then break them down into more specific subcategories. This method follows a hierarchical model, making it easy to scale as more content is added.

Example: An e-commerce site may begin with main categories like “Men’s Clothing” and “Women’s Clothing,” then divide them further into subcategories such as “Shirts,” “Pants,” and “Shoes.”

Bottom-Up Approach

A bottom-up structure begins by grouping individual content pieces into the most specific categories first. These smaller categories are then grouped into broader ones. This approach works well when the content is highly specific and needs to be categorized before defining high-level sections.

Example: A blog site with many articles might first group posts by specific topics (e.g., “SEO Tips,” “Social Media Marketing”) before defining broader categories like “Digital Marketing.”

How to Start Building Your Website Structure

Once you’ve figured out which pages go under which categories, it’s time to think about how you’re going to lay them out on your website. There are several different layouts you can use, but the most common (and most SEO-friendly) are hierarchical, flat, matrix, and sequential designs. Each one has “ideal” use cases, but it basically comes down to what is the most efficient way to build your website so that it accomplishes the goals of your SEO and user journey, which are key to providing your target audience with a friendly-user experience.

For a deeper dive into each layout, including their pros and cons, check out my guide on different types of website structure. Be sure to check it out if you need more help in picking out the right one for your website.

How to Maintain and Improve your Website Structure

Creating a well-structured website isn’t a one-time task—it requires regular maintenance to stay user-friendly, optimized for search engines, and aligned with your business goals. Routine reviews and updates can help you spot gaps in your structure, outdated content, and opportunities for better internal linking.

Here’s how you can sustain and improve your website structure over time:

Regularly Review your Structure

Think of reviewing your website structure like a routine health check-up. It helps ensure your site remains organized and effective.

• If your business goals evolve or you introduce new products or services, update your structure to reflect these changes.
• For example, a new product launch might require a dedicated landing page linked from key sections of your site.
• Regular audits ensure your site continues to meet user expectations and remains easy to navigate.

Address Outdated Content

Outdated content can confuse visitors and negatively impact SEO.

• Regularly check for outdated blog posts, products, or pages and either update them or remove them.
• Redirect old URLs to relevant new content to prevent 404 errors.
• Keeping your content fresh improves both user experience and search rankings.

Author’s Note: Not sure which posts are outdated, or what to do with them? Check out my complete content checklist and how to write for the Helpful Content Update to effectively find and rewrite outdated content.

Improve Internal Linking

Internal linking connects pages on your site, making navigation easier for users and helping search engines understand the relationship between different content.

• Regularly audit your site for opportunities to add internal links.
• Ensure high-value pages receive internal links to boost their visibility and authority.
• Run your website through a site structure visualizer to check for missing or broken links.

Identifying Site Structure Issues

Your website’s structure affects everything from user experience to search engine rankings. Here are some common issues and how to fix them:

Linking Problems

Broken links, inconsistent linking, or a lack of internal links can disrupt navigation and affect SEO.

Solution:

• Regularly check for and fix broken links.
• Ensure key pages are well-connected with relevant internal links.

Click Depth

Click depth refers to how many clicks it takes to reach a page from the homepage. If important pages are buried too deep, users may struggle to find them, and search engines may not index them efficiently.

Solution:

• Keep essential content within three clicks from the homepage.
• Flatten your website structure to reduce unnecessary layers.

Orphaned Pages

Orphaned pages are not linked from anywhere on your site, making them difficult to find for both users and search engines.

Solution:

• Use tools like Ahrefs’ Site Audit to identify and integrate orphaned pages into your site’s structure.
• Ensure all valuable content is linked from at least one other page.

Taxonomy

Taxonomy is all about how the website’s content is categorized. Poor taxonomy can make content hard to find and navigate. If you notice that certain points of your website have high bounce rates, or users go back and forth on the same set of pages, you might be having a taxonomy issue.

Solution:

• Organize your content logically with clear categories and subcategories.
• Maintain consistency in naming conventions.

URL Structure

A confusing URL structure can hurt search rankings and make navigation harder.

Solution:

• Follow a clear and logical URL format based on your website’s hierarchy.
• Keep URLs concise, readable, and relevant to the page’s content.
• Incorporate keywords when appropriate.

Key Takeaway

An organized website structure makes navigation intuitive, helping first-time visitors find what they need—even on sites with hundreds of pages. Following this guide to website structure will help you plan thoroughly, and maximize your website’s potential by improving user experience and SEO.