Search engine optimization is crucial to any business who operates online. Most of the marketers and businesses do not realize how the website structure can impact SEO in the long run. When a business tries to build a website, the prime focus goes into its design while ignoring other important elements, which is an incomprehensive approach. We can take website structure as a key SEO metric. But what is the connection between website structure and SEO?
Before delving into the study to explore the connection between SEO and website structure, it is important to understand what makes up a website structure. Simply put, it is about how the website is set up and the individual subpages are linked together. Instead of putting excessive attention on how a site appears physically, focus on how a website’s individual pages are linked together. The pages of your site must be linked in such a manner that is super easy for users and search engines to navigate.
So far as SEO is concerned, a well-organized website structure is of paramount significance. Let’s get down to exploring the connection between website structure and search engine optimization:
User experience (UX)
If a visitor lands on a poorly built site, he will instantly decide to avoid having any further interaction with the site. People do not like to stay on sites where they are clueless about what to do next. This is how a bad user experience can kill your SEO efforts. Search engines monitor how searchers interact with a site. A negative experience notifies Google that the page may not be the most relevant for that query and vice versa. Some of the basic elements that build a good user experience include:
- Accessibility
- Usability
- Usefulness
- Findability
- Credibility
- Value
If your site has the above-mentioned elements, you are highly likely to secure the desired ranking. Try to figure out how usable your site actually is and how you can improve the user experience.
Site crawlability
Crawlability and indexability, both terms refer to the ability of a search engine to access and index pages on a site. If your site has zero crawlability issues, this will make it easy for web crawlers to access all of your content by following links between pages. Dead-ends and broken links can create crawlability issues and make it impossible for search engines to access specific content on your site.
Site crawlability is a key factor when it comes to defining website structure. The pages of your site must be able to take a user from one page to another in order to be considered as crawlable. Including internal links on every page will connect one part of your site to another.
Duplicate content
Duplicate content, content that appears on the internet in more than one locations, can badly affect your search engine ranking and site traffic. Google treats duplicate content as spam which is by no means good for your SEO. A focus on unique, relevant, and high-quality content defines how your site should be structured for SEO. Tools like Google’s Search Console can help you find and eliminate duplicate content on your site.
Internal links
It must not be difficult for your users to move from one page to another. It can be challenging to organize many pages and make them accessible with only a few clicks. Normally it should not take more than three licks to locate any given page. Moreover, link organization should not destroy your site structure.
The use of keywords within your content and linking them to pertinent content pieces on your site will allow search engines to locate other pages through keyword-rich anchors. By decreasing page depth, internal linking will make it easy for users to access other content.
Some seemingly ordinary factors such as the URL structure can also impact SEO. It is advisable to focus on keywords in URL and avoid any unnecessary characters.
In order to streamline your SEO efforts and achieve sustainability, build a proper website structure. Do not limit your SEO campaign to keyword research and some basic activities. Consider SEO at every step in the web development process, from URL structure and design to programming and content.
Reach First is a rapidly growing digital marketing agency in Edmonton where we specialize in and provide comprehensive SEO, web development, branding, paid advertising, and social media management services to a broad range of businesses. Schedule a free consultation now to see how we can help your business grow by using modern digital means.