Folder structure means well-organized things and everything is easily accessible. Website structure is part of web designing that help to make our websites look perfectly organized.
The answer to the question “Does the organized website structure affects SEO?” is yes. The good structure of the website is the foundation of the memorable experience for website visitors. A good experience will bring visitors again, which is a good sign for the SEO of your website. Thus, websites that are logical, hierarchical, and easy for website visitors to navigate can bring a huge volume of visitors and encourage them to visit again. Failing to maintain an adequate structure of a website can confuse your targeted audience or website visitors. A bad structure of a website leads to higher chances of leaving your website and choosing your competitors, which is the last thing any competitor wants.Do you know that 73.1% of people leave websites due to non-responsive website structure?
Different Types Of Websites Structure
There are 4 different types of website structure. Let’s take a look:
Linear Website Structure or Sequential Model
The simplest form of website structure- Linear or Sequential model, follows a basic interlinking approach. All webpages on the website are linked linearly, indicating users can move only back and forth on the website.
As it is the simplest structure, therefore, it is not capable to handle an enormous webpage. Thus, it is suitable for websites with limited information/services/products. For example, if you are running a Digital marketing company with limited services, then this model is suitable for you. In addition to this, educational institutes, clinics, or new businesses with small product ranges.
Hierarchical Website Structure Or Tree Model
E-commerce websites mostly use these kinds of website structures because these websites mostly have thousands of products to display. Thus, hierarchical or tree website structures are best suits to Ecommerce websites or those websites that have plenty of data to display. A hierarchical model will help in the proper categorization of each piece of information/service/product and ensures easy navigation for users. To ensure the optimum use of this structure, it is important logical placement of various pages.
Webbed Website Structure Or Network Model
This type of website structure forms a webbed visually due to multiple interlinks among various web pages of the website. This form of website structure is highly suitable for informative and catalog-based websites. Websites that have plenty of categories such as retail, cosmetic, etc. need this kind of structure.Webbed structure for websites with a wide range of categories ensures smooth and hassle-free navigation for the users. Users can easily move from one page to another at their convenience.
Database Website Structure
These kinds of website structures follow a bottom-up approach. Websites that follow the database model offer personalized experiences to website visitors. People who visit these kinds of websites need to enter their details and preferences. After that, visitors will get the relevant content such as personal details stored in the webpages’ database.
The best example of websites that used database website structure is Bank’s website. You need to log in by entering the details and you will get access to personal data. Choosing a database model for a banking website is the right choice because the rest types of website structures can not handle the form of data stored on the banking websites.
After discussing different types of website structures, I want to say choosing the right one for your website is very important to ensure everything is properly arranged. Well-arranged data displayed on the website help visitors easily find what they are looking for. Thus, you should understand what you want to show on your website. Based on your data, you need to choose the website structures.
Tips To Maintain the Proper Structure Of Your Website
Do you want to make your digital marketing efforts bring fruitful results? Well, every marketer wants to make the most of their efforts. Thus, the first step of every marketer should be maintaining the proper structure of the website. Well, maintained websites keep visitors engaged and 10X enhances conversion rates. Let’s find out tips and tricks that help us to maintain a perfect website structure.
Keep Your Eye On Competitors
Research work before creating your website structure would help you to make the right decisions. Thus, keeping your eyes on competitors would help you to make the right decisions in advance to avoid problems in later stages. You should check at least 8 to 10 competitors and list down important points related to their website structure. This research work would let you avoid their bad decisions and embrace the good ones.
Determine Your Target Audience
Along with research work, the next important thing you need to do is to determine your target audience. Before choosing a structure for your website, it is imperative to find out what your audience expects from your website. Once you know the navigational style of your audience, you can create the perfect website structure. When you will consider the likes and dislikes of your audience, then you can ensure the best user experience for them by choosing the best website structure and maintaining it up to the mark.
Pick The Best Website Structure
There are four basic types of website structures with their pros and cons. At this point, making the right decision is very important because your decision will make or break the user experience on your website. To make the right decision, you should analyze the data collected in the above two stages. Based on the type of business you awww.example.com/top-category/bottom-category/product-pagere running and the number of products/services you offer, you should choose the right website structure among the different options available.
Ensure Clear URL Structures
URL structure should be just like the structure of your website. The best URL structures show the logical path that users need to follow to reach a specific web page. For example, if you have selected a hierarchical structure for your website, which follows top to bottom approach, then its URL should be like this:
www.example.com/top-category/bottom-category/product-page
But, in the case of webbed structure, it is not possible to create the logical structure of a URL. If you have chosen a webbed structure, then you can create a URL that directly links to the topic.
Wikipedia website URLs are the best examples of webbed structure.
Proper Usage Of Internal Linking
The concept of interlinking is here with a purpose. Just randomly adding internal links that are not useful at all because they will degrade user experience on your website. Internal links help to provide detailed information about a particular topic or tell a cohesive story to the user. In addition to this, internal links help users to navigate your website in different ways.
The right usage of internal links will simplify everything on your website for the user and encourage them to make a purchase. The main idea behind interlinking is to provide valuable data and not just bombard your users with a lot of information.
Create Sitemap File
Creating a sitemap file of your website is very important so that search engines can crawl your website quickly and easily. A sitemap is a file where you provide information about the pages, videos, and other files on your site, and the relationships between them. Search engines like Google read this file to crawl your site more efficiently.The process of creating a sitemap is quite easy and won’t take much time. So, don’t skip this step at all and let search engines crawl your website quickly.
Perform Testing
Don’t think that your job is done after launching your website. You need to perform regular testing to ensure that everything is fine. With the growing data or information, you may need to do urgent changes in the website structure to keep it well-maintained and ensure a good user experience. By performing regular testing, you will find the answers to the following questions:
- Do users get stuck anywhere in their journey on your website?
- What kind of alterations are required in your website to enhance users’ experience?
- Are there any bottlenecks in your websites?
You need to perform website testing regularly and do the necessary improvements.
Wrap Up
Website structure helps users to understand what your website is offering. Moreover, it helps in improving their experience on your website. A memorable experience will ensure that users will come again and again to your website. Thus, choosing the right website structure is the first and very important step in digital marketing.
FAQs
How does a bad website structure affect user retention?
A bad website structure can lead to higher bounce rates and lower user retention. Users may find it difficult to navigate the website and locate the information they need, resulting in frustration and a negative experience. This increases the chances of them leaving your website and opting for a competitor’s site instead.
How can a well-maintained website structure improve conversion rates?
A well-organized website structure keeps visitors engaged and helps create a positive user experience. This, in turn, can lead to improved conversion rates as users are more likely to stay on the site, find what they are looking for, and make a purchase or take the desired action