One of the most reliable ways to increase your site’s ranking with popular search engines is to correctly set up the layout and website architecture. The goal is to make the website so easy to navigate that visitors experience little resistance to exploring deeper and finding relevant content related to their search.
If your website is just a collection of random ideas and not easily laid out, it makes it a lot harder to understand, leading to higher bounce rates and lower page ranking.
Here are some tips to help boost your website architecture and improve search ranking with platforms like Google, Bing, and Yahoo.
Improve Your Navigation
Make your navigation the simplest thing in the world. Do you have a menu that clearly lays out where to find information on the website? Remember that today’s fast-paced visitor doesn’t want to overthink anything. They want to get directly to the information they need with as few barriers as possible.
This includes making your URL as simple as you can. This makes it easier to remember and more logical. If you sell black puppy shoes, maybe go with something like: www.mystore.com/petshoes/blackpuppyshoes.
The 3-Click Rule
This is the practice where critical information is no more than three clicks away whenever someone lands on your website. That forces you to consider how to get to the information as quickly as possible with as few steps in between. Implementing this rule naturally creates a more organized structure that search engines prefer, leading to improved search ranking.
Topics and Categories
Whenever possible, group things together into easily digestible topics and categories. Human beings naturally want to organize the things they see in the world, and when you make your website architecture reflect that desire, it becomes more engaging to view. This doesn’t have to be complicated. Think of an online shop that sells basketball accessories. You could have categories by the different sports teams in the United States or the function of similar items (shoes, balls, apparel, etc.). It is just a natural way to group things together that makes it easier to understand.
Sitemaps and Internal Linking
Search engines love sitemaps and internal linking. Most WordPress-based websites create a sitemap naturally. This is some form of website architecture that is easily crawlable and usually in HTML or XML format. It shows the pages on your website, how they are organized by topic, and the overall site structure as if it was a map of a large building.
When you combine a quality site map with internal linking, you boost the overall accessibility of your content. It gives everything context, which is why you see search engine results from a single domain with multiple subpages listed underneath them. Google wants to show users exactly what they want to search for, and they will provide more information about your site and boost ranking if you give them the context they need to make the experience better for visitors.
Need Some Help?
If all this information feels a little overwhelming, it’s okay. There are plenty of experts available to specialize in on-page SEO and finding ways to improve search ranking organically. We didn’t even talk about canonical tags using breadcrumbs or putting an internal search option on your website.
This is why we at Griffon Webstudios always suggest you seek outside help. Our expert team spent years crafting and formulating websites so they are easily credible by search engines and organically reach the top echelons of search results. Why not schedule a consultation with our team today and learn how we can boost your website architecture so when someone searches for anything related to your store, it pops up near the top. Reach out today, and let’s help your site get noticed.
