Welcome to SEO Site Organization and Structure.
In this learning activity, we will learn about the mechanics of good site structure and
what role it plays in search engine optimization.
If you think of SEO as a three layer cake,
the layers would be site organization and structure, then site optimization, then analytics.
And finally the finishing touch, or the frosting would be promotion,
which includes, among other things, social media, blogging and paid ads.
Today we will focus on the base layer, site organization and structure.
Every site has structure, however, not every site has good structure.
Sometimes it has evolved overtime with no clear plan or obvious design.
Other sites are methodically planned.
Organization is a great thing for users and for web crawlers.
It makes sense that a well-organized site also leads to a good visitor experience.
If you can find what you are looking for, you will be more eager to explore.
This also means a lower bounce rate and longer dwell times.
Think about it.
Would you rather go to a library where the books are in a big pile?
Or one that is organized by author and category?
It makes sense that we crave structure.
The more appealing a site is to users, the more appealing it is to search engines also.
Web crawlers love a well-organized site.
When a site is planned properly, it's obvious what's important.
This makes it easy for the web crawler to move efficiently through the site.
This efficient movement translates to more organic search listings.
The better your site structure, the better your chance of higher traffic and rankings by search engines.
The elements that make up good site organization and structure are
clear and descriptive URLs, well thought-out site navigation, a well organized directory and finally, a site map.
Let's take a closer look at each one of these.
URLs.
Why is it so important to have a clear URL?
One obvious reason is that the clearer the URL, the easier it is to remember.
That alone could help bring users to your site.
Say you were looking for a mousetrap.
Wouldn't it be easier for you and the search engines to find a business called mousetrap.com?
Or mousetrapsrus.net?
Much easier than if the business that sold mousetraps was called xyz.com or say, ACME.net
Providing a descriptive URL that includes keywords specific to your site, promotes better crawling by search engines.
Descriptive URL's also increase the opportunity for other sites to link to your site.
When other sites link to your site, your rankings increase.
Site Navigation.
Site navigation is like a road map for the site.
Styles of website navigation include; text links, breadcrumbs, navigation bar, tab navigation, drop-down menus and named anchors.
Text Links, for example create clickable text that take you to another web page within a site.
These are great for easy navigation and for accessibility.
And here's another bonus, search engines love them.
Search engines analyze the link structure of a site and find short cuts called site links.
You've seen them before when you do a search.
Typically, the site's title and URL appear along with several internal links, listed directly below.
These site links are a huge SEO advantage.
They make the site easier to navigate and point to relevant information.
They also work to help your site dominate the search engine results page.
This prominence in the rankings will increase click through rate and traffic to your site.
Here's the tricky part, you can't ask for site links.
Google awards site links based on an algorithm.
The biggest factor in this algorithm is logical and consistent site structure.
Site Directory.
The site directory is the backbone of good SEO.
The directory is the site's file structure. Sort of like what a table of contents would be to a book,
or an ingredients list would be to a recipe.
The directory should have a clean, organized file tree.
When the nomenclature is logical and consistent, it's easy for web crawlers to recognize it.
This increases the site's search engine visibility.
This also makes it easier for the developer to manage new and existing content.
Directory structure and how things are named within the site,
are important to search engine visibility and the overall development of the site.
Site Maps.
Each site should have 2 maps.
One for visitors to the website to help them find what they are looking for,
and a second site map, written in a coding language, like XML, specifically for search engines.
Starting with a site design that has strong organization,
a directory, and logical navigation, will help to increase the site's rankings,
as well as reduce site related issues in the future.
It will make any maintenance or changes go more smoothly.
The goal is to make it as easy as possible for the search engine to find your site and to process the content.
Site structure is crucial to this.
Site structure compliments great content.
It allows that content to be found.
If you haven't addressed site structure, or have fallen behind in it's upkeep,
take time to clean things up and organize your site.
It will help increase your ranking.
Congratulations! You have completed SEO: Site Organization and Structure.