Though it may not be very well known, site structure can play a very important role in SEO. While every site has some structure, good or bad, paying attention to a site structure that is organized and logical will pay off handsomely in boosting the search engine page rankings. Some tips:

Reasons Why Site Structure Is Important

The human mind craves a logical order in everything it encounters, including website content. Thus the user experience of any site that has its contents arranged in a manner that is logical is inherently more appealing and satisfying. When a site has its contents logicallyordered users tend to be more loyal and spend more time on the site. These factors are very important from the point of SEO.

More Sitelinks for Better Navigability

SEO gets a boost with sitelinks that increase website navigability by pointing users to the information that is relevant. Good navigation improves the trust of users, brand goodwill, and click-through. It also boosts search page rankings and makes conversions faster. However, you can’t generate sitelinks at will; it is generated automatically by the search engine algorithm based on how it perceives the site structure to be. Therefore, a poor site structure may not be awarded site links and as a result, lose out on the opportunity of better ranking and conversions.

Better Crawling By Search Engine Bots

A good site structure along with the sitemap makes it possible for the search engine bots to crawl the site and index it better and faster. The sitemaps make it easier for the crawlers to access and index the pages, which is why websites that have a strong and logical structure are invariably rewarded with better rankings. According to SEO experts at SandCrestSEO.com, SEO success can never be achieved without having a good website structure in place.

Steps Involved In Creating a Good Site Structure

The best way is to develop the content hierarchy before starting to create the actual pages. It is important to keep the hierarchy simple for yourself and the search engine bots. Keep the number of main categories limited by making them distinct and have subcategories under each that are relevant. Try to make the number of subcategories approximately the same under each category to maintain a sense of balance. A shallow structure is always easier for search engines. Thereafter, create a URL structure that follows closely your hierarchy. Try to construct the URL with real words and incorporate the keywords relevant to that page. It is best to create the navigation code in either HTML or CSS as other methods like JavaScript, Ajax, and Flash may restrict the ability of the crawler to discover all the pages. Create appropriate headers for the main pages and develop an internal linking structure that’s comprehensive.

Conclusion

Good website structures do not happen by accident; you need to put in a lot of thought and arrange the site contents logically but simply. When you do it well, the results can be very enduring from the point of SEO.