With digital marketing taking the lead in our current society, websites have become a vital representation of brand image and credibility. They not only showcase your servicing catalog, but also present a full coverage of resources and interrelated information. 

Having a messy website is often the case in many enterprises, leading to a confusing user experience and failure of relevant content discovery. This not only impacts your potential reader engagement, but also negatively affects SEO analysis. 

Given SEO standing is a determining factor of your online presence, improving website structure becomes a naturally valued topic. Simply consider the amount of people using Google everyday! By properly educating and applying such techniques, it is possible to magnetize a greater number of users into your page. 

In this article, we will cover how exactly to lay out your website in a clear and user friendly way. Let’s have a look at the titles, subcategories, content clustering, and a few plugins that you can use in order to facilitate the process.  

Keep on reading to take your website structure to the next level!

What is Website Structure and How it’s Done Efficiently

Think of your website as an interconnected system (or just a spider web, if it’s easier to imagine). It is essentially the architecture of your digital page. Just as a house has hallways and doors in logical locations, your website should lead the user in a friendly and natural way, as if to create a smooth sense of navigation. This can also be called user flow. 

Hierarchical placement of titles and their subcategories is of vital importance. This is the foundation of your structure, so think critically. 

Taking a look at an optimal organization, you will notice the homepage menu is often on the top left corner, as English readers have a tendency to scan from left to right. This menu should be simple, concise, and depending on your type of business, have an according amount of subcategories. 

An e-commerce website, such as Amazon, will provide the reader with a vast number of subtitles to click on, as it is focused on selling a diverse range of products and would benefit from dissecting search options with precision and quick access. 

In other niches, it is best to keep it simpler and reduce the number of subcategories. The goal instead is to magnetize readers into a selected number of core pages, and then move from there. 

Here’s what to pay attention to when laying out your homepage: 

• Use a common language! Don’t confuse your readers with unfamiliar words, or usually unseen forms of titling. Keep it simple and obvious. If done correctly, users will know exactly and where to go in a matter of seconds. 
• An adaptive menu structure might be a great idea for your kind of website. This means providing the user with a customised menu, depending on their particular interests. If a person is coming from a website that deals with a certain location, it is possible to adjust your main titles as they browse. This way, you will be providing more relevant content to your audience and engaging in a way that boosts sales and profits. 
• Consider your footer section. This is a significant call to action portion of your platform, and it greatly partakes in user flow. It is the final opportunity to guide the experienced navigation. Footers also have an impact on SEO analytics and SEO ranking. For an effective design, include all links that are seen on the top menu, plus other useful buttons. 
• Check URLs! They are technical SEO determinators. Avoid mysterious and complicated coding such as:

www.yourwebsite.com/jsk=9!?s

Instead, go for more a direct indication, such as: 

www.yourwebsite.com/about

• Improve SERP standing by using standardized meta tags. This is a form of content identification with title and description, seen when browsing in a search engine. In case you are utilizing WordPress, this can be done easily with the assistance of external plugins. 
• Keep away from script based navigation. No Ajax or Javascript. Instead, create your menu with HTML or CSS for better search engine accessibility.
  
  

Content Clustering 

This is a concept in which content is grouped based on keyword similarity or topic equality. It can be optimized in a way that boosts SEO ranking and supports a successful strategy. 

If your site is currently unorganized, Google Analytics is a great facilitating tool. It will provide you with all your currently available content and allow you to begin sorting by topic. 

The key in clustering is to interlink between blog posts.
 

Dive deeper into content engagement: Key Points Of Content Engagement: Digital Marketing Effectively

See what I just did there? That’s exactly what we mean. By doing so, you will progressively create a spider web of relevant content, seamlessly guiding your user in a way that is effective and of interest. 

You may add links in the body of the article, in the beginning, end.. Wherever it is suitable, and more than once or twice if opportunities arise. Backlinks to products can also serve beneficially if you are running an e-commerce format.  Think creatively and make use of cross links between topics and website segments. 

By doing so, you are not only creating a more satisfactory user experience, but also improving SEO status, as you highlight to Google what is important in your platform. Start with the content that delivers the highest traffic volume, then gradually work your way through other areas. 

Best External Tools for Website Analysis

To best understand the habits of your audience, the following tools might provide you with game-changing insights. Learn what are your users’ preferences and adapt your strategy accordingly. 

1. Google Analytics, as mentioned above. 
2. PageSpeed Insights – Scan what needs to be corrected
3. Ubersuggest – Receive reports and suggestions on your current website structure and keyword utilization
4. CrazyEgg – Perfect your layout based on your specific needs.
   
   

To know more about plugins: Guide: 8 Plugins For Maximized SEO Content Marketing

In this article, we have covered how to improve your website structure, implementing user flow, hierarchical thinking, and all relevant SEO considerations to take your site to the next level. 

See you soon!

Read more about content creation: Evergreen Content: How To Make It Last

by Julia Arguello Busch – Ninja Partners