Introduction: Importance of Website Structure
Without structure, a website is just a collection of pages and articles; users need structure to navigate and jump between pages; Google uses website structure to determine the importance and relevance of content; structure also affects user (UX) experience
- Website structure has priority over growth
- After purchasing a domain and brand name, you can design the overall website structure. As the product grows, you only need to add new content or modules
- If not designed well from the start, you may face the risk of website restructuring
- 90% of independent developers' websites have problems; teams with UX and product professionals barely pass if they don't consider SEO
Why is Website Structure Important?
Structure is the organizational and connective representation of pages on a website, affecting the following factors:
1. User Experience
Users enter the website through different channels. Can they quickly jump to target pages and present the content they're looking for in the shortest time? Can they understand what the page and website are about after visiting? Better user experience leads to longer page dwell time and higher conversion rates
2. Brand Image
Websites with chaotic structure or missing essential pages create great distrust among users (would you leave immediately if you entered a restaurant without a price list and business license? The same applies to users and Google). Grouping similar content by Category and Tag can improve authority on a certain topic. If Google judges you as an authoritative information source, ranking becomes easier
3. SEO
A well-structured overall architecture and internal link structure can improve Google's crawlability and indexability, allowing pages that need ranking to appear in SERP in the best form, while not wasting your crawl budget. Link juice and user attention can be concentrated on important pages through internal links to help pages that need ranking achieve better positions on Google (you cannot influence the impact of external links on your website, but you can manually allocate page weight by manipulating internal links); prevent orphan pages (Orphan Pages)
4. Additional Exposure
Good website structure can generate sitelinks, which give you greater exposure in SERP and help improve your click-through rate. When content has TOC and highly authoritative and relevant internal links, sitelinks are naturally generated. This cannot be created by adding structured data
How to Improve Website Structure
1. Visualize and Plan Website Structure
If you have no previous website building experience, you can analyze competitor or similar software structures using tools like website planner and sitemap visualizer. If you really have no budget, you can use Coze's crawler + Xmind Bot to create a rough framework
2. Use a "Flat" Website Structure
Allow users and crawlers to reach any page on the website in at most four clicks. Flat structure also allows weight to be passed to all pages. Build the website hierarchy from day one and slowly expand as the website develops
3. Optimize URLs and Canonicalization
URL optimization and canonicalization are important components of website structure optimization. Good URL structure can not only improve user experience but also help search engines better understand and index your website content. Main optimization directions include: using SEO-friendly URL structure (short, readable, containing keywords), handling canonicalization issues for static and dynamic URLs, properly handling URL parameters and query strings, and avoiding weight dispersion caused by duplicate content.
Complete Guide to URL Optimization and Canonicalization
Deep dive into URL structure optimization, canonicalization methods, parameter handling techniques, and how to create SEO-friendly URLs. Includes static/dynamic URL handling, Canonical tag usage, query string optimization, and other practical guides.
5. Breadcrumb Navigation
Breadcrumb navigation is an important component of website structure optimization. Adding breadcrumb navigation to pages can make website structure clearer, help users understand their current location and quickly navigate to parent pages. Breadcrumbs are clickable links, generally displayed at the top of pages, reflecting website hierarchy. Breadcrumb navigation can not only improve user experience but also help search engines better understand website structure. By adding structured data markup, breadcrumb paths can also be displayed in search results, improving click-through rates.
Complete Guide to Breadcrumb Navigation SEO
Deep dive into breadcrumb navigation types, SEO value, best practices, and technical implementation methods. Includes structured data markup, HTML implementation, common platform configurations, and other practical guides to help you create SEO-friendly breadcrumb navigation systems.
6. Use Sitemap
Sitemap is a file that provides website page information to search engines, helping search engines discover and crawl website pages more efficiently. Sitemaps can improve website "crawlability" and visualize pages, providing information such as update time/frequency and webpage language versions. Search engines like Google, Bing, Yandex, and Baidu all read sitemaps.
Sitemaps come in three formats: XML, TXT, and HTML, with XML being the most commonly used format. Although sitemaps cannot guarantee that all content will be indexed, for large websites, new websites, or websites containing a large amount of rich media content, sitemaps are an important tool for improving search engine indexing efficiency.
Complete Guide to Sitemap SEO
Deep dive into sitemap functions, types, creation methods, and best practices. Learn how to create and submit XML and HTML sitemaps, understand when sitemaps are needed, and how to submit sitemaps through Google Search Console.
7. Use Category Pages
Category pages are somewhat like category navigation stations and HTML-format sitemaps within a website, helping users and search engines understand how website content is organized. If a website has fewer than 1000 pages and a well-structured internal link system, category pages may not be very necessary. However, for large websites or websites that need to organize content by topic, category pages are valuable.
After having category pages, long-term website structure maintenance becomes relatively simple: new pages only need to be added to existing categories, and new categories only need to be added separately. Category pages come in various forms, including Category Pages, Hub Pages, Directory Pages, and Explore Pages, each with its specific purpose and SEO value.
Complete Guide to Category Pages and Hub Pages SEO
Deep dive into category pages, hub pages, directory pages, and explore page types, SEO best practices, and maintenance methods. Learn how to create effective category pages, understand when category pages are needed, and how to optimize category pages to improve website structure optimization and user experience.
8. Use Internal Links
Internal links let users and search engines know that the two connected pages are related, helping to understand website structure and content. Internal links also pass weight, so try to add more internal links to important pages. There are several types of internal links, and besides internal links, you can also use content pillars and topic clusters. Internal/external links should preferably not exceed 3-5 per 1000 words (of course there are exceptions, such as Wikipedia)
Recommended reading:
Complete Guide to Internal Link Optimization
Internal links are crucial in SEO and user experience. By optimizing weight transfer and user navigation, they help improve page exposure and dwell time. Effective internal link strategies include adding internal links, optimizing anchor text, category tags, and strengthening page relevance through bidirectional links to improve overall website structure and content discoverability.
Website Structure and Growth
Website structure demonstrates a website's features from a product perspective, such as tools and content. On the other hand, you can see the promotion logic of the corresponding product
If you have a website www.domain.com, then
- http://www.domain.com/affiliate represents conversion through an affiliate program. After planning the website structure, you need to submit it to search engines for indexing
- http://www.domain.com/education represents growth through a student program
- http://www.domain.com/zh-CN represents growth through multilingualism
Other Subdirectories
- Want to do community operations but have limited team members? Then you should have an Ambassador Program
Notion has set up one Ambassador in each country
Currently all 82 Ambassadors: https://noteforms.com/notion-ambassadors-influencers
The one in China is Linmi – https://linmi.cc/about
Notion's official statement: https://www.notion.so/notion/Notion-Ambassadors-40c3b3ee8c744e7fad34ab4ac9765773 - Building supporting ecosystems for large tools? Then you should have Plugins
On different platforms, this function also appears under names like Extension/Integration/Add-on. Corresponding to domestic products are WeChat mini-programs, Feishu widgets, etc. In the AI era, there are various Agents, such as GPTs, Coze, and other services
Heygen's plugin in Canva: https://www.canva.com/apps/AAFSMHx80yA/heygen-ai-avatars - Targeting B2B? Then you should have Custom Stories
Good customer success stories will bring you more leads and a better brand image - Targeting developers? Then you should have an API
- Value user participation in building? Then you should have Feedback and Roadmap
You can use canny.io - Targeting the global market? Then you should have multilingual versions
- Focus on brand and reputation? Then you should have About, Testimonials
- Targeting creator communities? Then you should have a Showcase
- Focus on copyright, privacy, and commercial use? Then you should have Terms, Policy
Free tools:
https://www.freeprivacypolicy.com
https://www.termsfeed.com - Better local running experience? Then you should have
Software, Mobile App - User activation? Then you can organize
Giveaway, Contest
Previously seen more frequently used by e-commerce with physical products, can be one-time or periodic events to test effectiveness. The following SaaS can help quickly implement:
Gleam: https://gleam.io/
Woobox: https://woobox.com/
Viralsweep: https://www.viralsweep.com/
These internal pages can be extended infinitely. Some parts are universal, meaning all websites should have them, such as About, Contact, Pricing, etc. Other parts depend on your product form and operational strategy. At the same time, webpage design needs to consider many elements, not just for growth and conversion. I'm not a PM, but I recommend a book: Steve Krug's "Don't Make Me Think", the Chinese translation is called "点石成金:访客至上的网页设计秘笈"
How to Find Growth Channels?
The essence of cold start and growth is exposure, being seen by potential users and then entering the conversion stage. If the goal is to maximize exposure, it means you can easily find competitors' channels (unless they are completely private channels, such as newsletters, WeChat groups, friend recommendations, etc.), and then promote through the same methods
Taking Suno AI as an example, first search for "Suno AI" in the largest channel - search engine - Google
Except for the initial on-site SEO, the rest are off-site growth channels. Channel types and specific paths can be extended infinitely downward. Some traffic comes from spontaneous formation. What needs to be analyzed for traffic size and conversion are the remaining "paid" traffic that needs to be actively mined (direct payment and human cost)
How to Quickly Implement These Channels?
- Consider the entire structure when initially designing the website
- Go see what's in your competitors' subdirectories and learn their growth strategies
- If unsure, you can create landing pages and use coming soon and waitlist to validate
- Once established, but team development capacity is limited, you can use SaaS software to quickly implement (Gleam, Rewardful, TechSoup)
