Website Architecture and its importance

What is website architecture?

In simple terms, website architecture refers to the structure of the website. In specific terms, a good website architecture should enable users to find the required information quickly and make conversions easy.

Importance of Website Architecture:

Solid website architecture is important for a seamless user experience. When the website structure is intuitive, it becomes easy for users to find the required information. Better user experience also helps in better search engine rankings, as the users will spend more time on the website, and bounce rates will be lower. This is an indication to Google that the website content is original and genuine. A sound website architecture also helps search engine bots to easily crawl and index your website.

Essentials of a good website architecture:

#1. Easy to navigate

If your website is not easy to navigate, the user bounce rate will be high. Users do not want to waste too much time trying to find some information. If users are unable to find the required information and the website seems hard to navigate, they leave the website. So any website should aim to provide an easy to navigate experience to their users.

For example, if a user clicks on the “Contact Us” tab, he would expect to reach some page to contact the website admin and it should be the intuitive way. But if the tab takes him to a page where there is no contact form or a way to contact admin, then the navigation is not correct. Also, it should be easy for the user to come back to the desired page from any page of the website.

#2.  Make your website architecture similar to the top players in your industry:

 Users have already seen the websites of top brands in the industry, so if your website architecture is based on theirs, your users will find your website structure and navigation familiar.

#3. Consistency:

The website should look consistent in terms of format, design, and links on all or most of the pages. Consistency in the above elements will reduce the bounce rate as users will find it easy to navigate through the website by clicking on links.

#4. Use internal links sensibly

Internal links are a useful means to make users stay on the website for a longer time. But these have to be used sensibly. An internal link should take the user to content that is useful and relevant. The link should also tell the user where this link will take them and why this particular link is placed on the page they are currently browsing.

Internal linking should be done cautiously so that you do not stuff keywords with anchor text links. If you follow the practice of stuffing keywords with the anchor texts, your website can be penalized by Google.

The website header or footer should have a link to the sitemap page for the search engines and users to find any page faster.

#5. Access to any page with 3 or 4 clicks:

Another feature of solid website architecture is that it allows the user to reach any page from the home page within 3 to 4 clicks. To achieve this, the top-level navigation should clearly define the categories and subcategory pages of the website.