Are you familiar with the term site structure? Site structure is an effective method for SEO measures when considering content production for a site.
However, if you are running a site or creating content for the first time, you may not know where to start when structuring your site.
This time, in order to solve the above problems, we summarized the points and merits of how to create a site structure, and the SEO effect. Use this article as a reference to design a good site structure.
What is site structure?
Site structure is the perspective from which you think about the placement and structure of content within your site. Specifically, it refers to the work of checking the placement of the table of contents for each content and imagining the concept of the entire site.
Technically, such a design is called a directory structure. In order to create a website that is highly convenient for readers, it is essential to consider the directory structure.
It’s also important to understand hierarchy when designing your directory structure. The hierarchy is divided into major categories, medium categories, articles and pages.
Understanding the above concepts will help you create a good directory structure when creating your site’s structure diagram.
Two points in creating the site structure
There are two points to consider when creating a website structure.
- Subdivide and summarize based on suggestions
- Properly navigate with links
Let’s create an easy-to-understand site structure by referring to the points.
1. Subdivide and summarize based on suggestions
When creating the site structure, first subdivide and summarize based on the suggestions. Grouping by related keywords will give your site an organized and easy-to-understand structure.
Suggest is a function that displays keywords related to the entered keyword, and is used to organize similar content. User needs and search intentions can be read from suggested words, so it is important to subdivide based on suggestions to increase user satisfaction.
To give a specific example, if you are creating an “affiliate” site, “affiliate method” and “affiliate advertisement” will come up as suggestions. If you classify this finely, you can easily find the story of the article, what kind of content the reader is looking for. Creating many articles that meet the needs of these users will eventually lead to improved usability of the site.
2. Appropriately induce with a link
It is also important to set up links in order to guide users appropriately .
How you can lead from the landing page of the first page you visit is an important point of view when considering an increase in conversion.
A conversion is when a user viewing your content takes an action such as purchasing or subscribing . Since the site structure is easy to understand and you can browse the content without stress, the conversion rate will increase significantly.
As a specific measure, it is effective to set up appropriate internal links. This is because it contributes to an increase in the user’s conversion rate within the site. The conversion rate is the number of page views on the site, and when users browse various contents, the conversion rate also increases. An increase in the conversion rate has the advantage of increasing the evaluation of the entire site.
Set up an internal link in the best place so that you can complete your troubles on the site and lead to the CV page.
3 design elements of the site structure
The three design elements that appear in the site structure are
- Category design
- content design
- Conductor design
And so on. Let’s understand each feature.
1. Category design
Category design is a way to organize articles together .
Articles and content usually exist separately, but if you organize and divide them into categories, your site will be easier for users to understand visually.
For example, suppose that each article or piece of content is written on a piece of paper. The content of each paper is different, but if you sort the paper by genre and clip it, it will be easier to know which bundle belongs to which genre. At this time, it is the “category” that plays the role of the clip.
2. Content design
Content design is a method of creating articles and content on a site with user-friendly content . Specific steps include keyword selection and composition creation.
Keyword selection is the work of determining the direction of the article based on the keywords actually searched on Google. Don’t just imagine your readers, look at their actual search needs.
If you write an article without actually doing a search, it will cause a difference in what the reader is looking for and cause a decrease in usability. Therefore, it is very important to choose the right keywords in the beginning.
As a specific procedure, it is recommended to select keywords based on related keywords that appear at the bottom of Google searches and tools such as sea otter keywords. In particular, sea otter keywords are very convenient because you can quickly search for many keywords.
Let’s proceed with content design after capturing the latest search trends.
3. Lead wire design
Conducting design is a method of designing the site structure by assuming the movement of users within the site . Merely enriching the content is not enough to improve the usability of the site.
Specifically, we need to analyze the actions that users actually take on the site. Understand your user’s mental state by analyzing their behavior.
For analysis, it is better to use Google Analytics. Let’s aim to create a site that is easy to understand for users by firmly setting up the conductor design.
3 benefits of proper site structure
As a merit of doing the optimal site structure,
- Improved user convenience
- The site is consistent and the direction is less likely to blur
- Easier to be evaluated by Google
And so on.
1. Improved user convenience
By designing a site structure that is easy to understand visually, you can aim to improve user convenience. Imagine an organized room. You’ll know where your things are right away, and you won’t have to spend time looking for them.
On the other hand, if your room is cluttered, you may not be able to keep track of where things are, and you may feel uncomfortable.
If you build a site after carefully designing it in advance, you can access the content you want to know next without hesitation, and the advantage is that it is easy to move around the site.
In other words, if the site structure is properly done, it can be said that it will lead to the improvement of user convenience .
2. The site becomes consistent and the direction is less likely to blur
If you design your site according to the site structure, you will have consistency and less directionality.
For example, if the axis of the content genre is decided, it will be easy to understand at a glance what kind of information the site is dealing with.
On the other hand, if the direction is blurred, information and content will vary, which can cause usability to decline.
In order to keep the direction of the site from blurring, it is important to build the site before creating the content. Even if content is added later, users will know where to put it on the site, and it will be easier for users to view the site.
3. Easier to be evaluated by Google
Optimal site structure has the advantage of making it easier to get high ratings from Google. This is because when the Google robot crawls, it is easy to highly evaluate sites with easy-to-understand hierarchical structures, site maps, and leads.
Users prefer an environment where they can quickly find the content they want to see when browsing a site. Similarly, when Google robots (crawlers) crawl around, they prefer a site structure that makes it easy to see where everything is.
Also, when using a site map, it is effective to image the site structure.
A sitemap is a page that lists the page structure of the entire site like a map. Designing the site structure is essential to make the site structure diagram as easy to understand as possible.
Read Also: What Are Subdomains and Subdirectories?
Site structure and SEO effect
Let’s keep in mind that the site structure has a big impact on the SEO effect.
In fact, there are cases where the site structure was reviewed and the search ranking on Google rose from 10th to 5th. The reason for the increase is that the review of the structure has made it easier for users and crawlers to move around smoothly.
Two points to keep in mind in site structure
As a precaution to be kept in the site structure,
- Build your site structure first
- Prioritize user first
And so on.
1. Create a solid site structure first
When setting up your site structure, you need to take your time and get it right the first time. This is because it takes a huge amount of man-hours to make detailed changes later.
Also, if you take the time to create it properly at the beginning, you will end up with less lost time, so the total number of hours will be reduced.
Spend some time planning your site structure to reduce the amount of lost time.
2. Prioritize user first
The most important thing in site construction is to consider the user’s feelings. Creating content that satisfies user needs is the most important point in SEO.
In order to create content that satisfies users, it is important to set a firm persona and anticipate how users will move around the site .
Let’s build the site with the perspective of thinking about how to make it read smoothly.
Summary
This time, I explained the points, merits, precautions, and SEO effects of how to create a site structure.
If you understand the basic site structure, you can take thorough SEO measures. As a result, usability will increase, which will lead to an increase in the number of visitors to the site and the rate of conventions.
Use the information in this article as a guide to design a good site structure.