Site architecture refers to the structure and organization of a website. It involves how the pages and content are built and interconnected through navigation and internal links. Good site architecture is important for both usability and search engine optimization (SEO).
The key elements of effective site architecture include:
- Information Architecture – The underlying organization system and semantic relationships between different types of content and site sections. This provides a framework for site mapping.
- Sitemaps – A site map outlines the pages and hierarchies within a website. XML sitemaps also help search bots index all important pages.
- Navigation – The main menus, sub-menus, footer links, and other navigational schemes that allow users to easily find and access relevant pages.
- Link Structure – The interconnecting links between internal pages that form the site’s link graph. This allows logical flows between content.
- URLs – Clean and descriptive page URLs that reflect the content hierarchy and keywords where appropriate.
- Crawlability – Structuring the architecture so search bots can easily crawl and index all relevant pages.
- Accessibility – Designing the architecture for easy user and device accessibility following web standards.
- Responsive Design – Creating a seamless site architecture across desktop and mobile platforms.
Proper site architecture enhances user experience by making navigation intuitive. It also improves SEO by facilitating systematic crawling of all important pages on a site. A well-planned architecture underpins effective front-end design and content strategies.
