Site effectiveness and ease of operation are two concepts that are highly looked upon when a user lands on a site. You want your web page to have a presentable and strong architecture and foundation. That brings users back and allows the most basic person to understand what is going on. However, it is often the basic foundation elements that are overlooked or forgotten upon creation, causing complicated visits with unneeded layouts and designs. When approaching this dilemma or situation upon building your platform, people often question what the major components are and what the entail. It is important to take the time and research your desired site architecture to create a strong SEO strategy.
The two most broad components are technological & structural decisions. Address each of these categories at the beginning of building to avoid a messy situation down the line. Within these two sections are a few of the most critical details that we are going to address.
Technology Decisions:
- One of the most important issues to address on the technical side are Dynamic URLs. These are generated on the fly from specific queries on a site’s database. It is crucial to make sure these do not go out of control into complex pages. Try to keep a balance of dynamic and static URLs for the ease of sharing to the user.
- Session IDs are something to avoid in your CMS (Content Management System). This is a tracking code at the end of the URL, which use to be seen as beneficial since you could follow searches. In recent years, this has been considered as not optimal for search engines. Pages often get considered as something completely new rather than an extension of another page.
- Temporary (302) redirects are often a hassle when content is moved to a different server. You have to make sure your default redirect setting uses a 301, which recognizes that you have moved the content. If it is recognized, it will move users to the new location.
Structural Decisions:
- Keyword research is a simple component that creates flow and easy accessibility when searching on a website. Finding what people search and common searches around that link them to other products and relate more to the user. All good sites have this feature to appeal more to each individual. It leads to other pages one might be interested in, causing more interaction and sales.
- Along the lines of keyword research, cross-linking those words and their relevant content helps determine how applicable a web page is to a certain search or idea. This link between relevant pages allows users to continue their search with more information and know that it all relates back to the same topic.
- No one wants to click on six different tabs before eventually ending at your desired search. Make sure to minimize link depth from the homepage for clarity, with the most significant information being the fewest clicks away. You want to make your site as flat as possible to avoid confusion and allow users to find exactly what they need in a short time span, otherwise they will not come back.
- One must also address URL crawlability when building your foundation. This means that search engines are able to access your site and all of its pages. If there is not a clear pathway, then certain pages may not be recognized by search engines’ indexes. You must have a publishing system that allows you to remove symbols such as # or #!, otherwise you can not back click or bookmark the page.
In Conclusion
Site architecture is at the core of creating a strong and stable SEO. Following these few steps will make the difference in the long run, even if they seem simple. If you need more information on the do’s & don’ts in building your web page, consider exploring the basic steps here! If you are looking for a personal approach on what worked best for one individual and his tips on the importance of putting site design at the core of your SEO, then click on this link to his story.
-Mallori Allen