Website architecture: how to create an effective structure for SEO and UX?

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A website's sitemap refers to the way its various pages are organized and linked together. As the true skeleton of the site, it allows users to find information easily, search engines to understand the content and teams to structure the project even before starting the page design.

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What is a website sitemap?

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A website's sitemap represents the hierarchical organization of its pages. It allows you to visualize how content is distributed between a homepage, main categories, subcategories, and more specific pages.

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It should be distinguished from two related concepts.

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Navigation refers to the elements that allow the user to move practically between these pages: main menu, submenus, internal links, breadcrumbs or footer.

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The sitemap, on the other hand,, generally refers to a file or a list of URLs that primarily allows search engines to discover the pages of a site. It does not replace a coherent architecture.

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A good site structure is established beforehand: it allows you to define which pages must exist, how to group them and what relationships to create between them.

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How are the pages of a site structure organized?

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A classic site structure follows a logic going from the most general content to the most specific.

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For example:

• Home
• Services
• Website creation
• Website redesign
• SEO
• Portfolio
• Blog
• SEO
• Web design
• Webflow
• About
• Contact

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The homepage corresponds to the first level. The main categories or pages services constitute then parent pages, to which more specialized child pages can be attached more specialized.

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The further a page is from the homepage, the greater its depth level. You should therefore avoid unnecessarily burying important pages behind a succession of categories and subcategories.

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What are the main types of site structure?

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All architectures do not work using the same model.

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• Linear : Pages are viewed one after another. Pros: very simple to understand. Cons: poorly suited for sites with a lot of content. Use case: funnels, mini-sites.
• Hierarchical : Organized into categories and subcategories. Pros: clear and scalable structure. Cons: can become too deep. Use case: showcase sites, e-commerce.
• Siloed : Pages are grouped by thematic areas. Pros: semantic coherence and linking ease. Cons: requires a solid editorial strategy. Use case: SEO sites, media.
• Networked : Many pages are linked to each other. Pros: flexible navigation. Cons: hierarchy sometimes less clear. Use case: wikis, editorial sites.
• Hybrid : Several models are combined. Pros: adaptable to project needs. Cons: more complex to design. Usage: large-scale sites.

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In most projects, a hierarchical structure complemented by internal cross-linking provides an effective foundation.

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Why is website architecture essential for UX and SEO?

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Website architecture should not be viewed solely as a planning document intended for designers or developers. It directly influences the user experience, navigationSEO and sometimes even the site's commercial performance.

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An effective structure allows users to get closer to the content they are looking for while giving search engines guidance on the importance and relationships between different pages.

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Facilitate navigation and the user journey

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Users must be able to quickly understand where they are and how to access the information they are looking for.

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A company offering ten different services can, for example, group them on a main "Services" page , then create a dedicated page for each service. The visitor has a single entry point overall before accessing the content that precisely meets their needs.

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This structure must also take into account business goals.

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The site architecture can gradually guide visitors toward making contact, requesting a quote, making a purchase, signing up or downloading somethingIt must therefore be designed based on actual user journeys , and not solely based on the internal organization of the company.

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Facilitate exploration and indexing by search engines

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Search engines crawl sites by following primarily their internal links.

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A clear architecture helps Google identify the main topics of the site and the relationships between the different pages. A page linked directly to an important category will generally be more easily accessible than a page that is isolated and requires many clicks.

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Depth therefore plays an important role. Strategic content must remain easily accessible from the main levels of the site.

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The XML sitemap can help search engines discover certain URLs, but it does not compensate for a poorly structured architecture or pages that are insufficiently linked between them.

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Building a coherent internal linking structure

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The site architecture also facilitates building internal linking.

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Pages belonging to the same topic cluster can be grouped around a main page. A web agency could for example have a pillar page dedicated to SEO and then specific content focused on SEO auditing, keyword research, internal linking, or even SEO migrations.

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Internal links allow you to connect these pages to one another and structure a cohesive semantic universe.

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This approach is similar to organizing content into thematic silos.

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How do you create a website architecture step by step?

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Creating an effective site architecture is not just about simply drawing boxes in Figma or Miro. The work begins by analyzing the site's goals , user needs , and the content to be produced.

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Step 1: Define site goals and user journeys

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Start by identifying the actions you want to see taken on the site.

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This could be requesting a quote, contacting the company, buy a product, view documentation, sign up for a platform or download a resource.

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Next, you need to consider the main reasons why users visit the site.

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A prospect might for example search directly for a specific service on Google, while another might start to view the homepage before exploring several services.

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These different scenarios must be taken into account from the design stage of the site structure.

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Step 2: Inventory the necessary content and pages

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As part of creating a site, list all the pages required for the project.

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This may include, for example:

• the homepage;
• legal pages page;
• legal pages or offers;
• categories and subcategories page;
• product listings page;
• projects or case studies;
• blog posts page;
• the FAQ;
• the contact page;
• legal pages.

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For a redesign, start by taking an inventory of all existing URLs to identify content to keep, delete, merge, or restructure.

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Step 3: Conduct SEO keyword research

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The site structure must also be based on keyword research.

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The goal is to identify the main search intents that the site must address and determine which page will target each one.

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A web agency could for example decide to create different pages for "Webflow agency", "SEO agency" and "Google Ads agency" if these queries correspond to services and distinct intentions.

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This step also helps avoid creating multiple pages very similar targeting exactly the same search intent, which could risk creating SEO cannibalization.

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Step 4: Create categories and organize page hierarchy

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Content can then be grouped by thematic relevance.

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You need to determine which pages will serve as parent pages and which pages will be nested under each of them.

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The general rule is to organize the site from the most general to the most specific.

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A structure could take the following form : Home → SEO → SEO Audit → SEO Consulting → SEO Migration.

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This organization must remain simple enough so that important pages are not unnecessarily far from the main entry points of the site.

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Step 5: Visually represent the site structure

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Once the structure is defined, represent it as a diagram.

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The representation visual makes it possible to quickly detect quickly categories that are too large, poorly positioned pages or unnecessary depth levels.

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It also the communication between the SEO, UX, design, development, development and marketing teams.

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Step 6: test user journeys before validating the structure

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Before moving on to wireframes or development, simulate multiple paths.

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Imagine for example a user arriving directly from Google on a deep-level page. Can they find easily the corresponding category? Can they discover another relevant service? Can they contact the company ?

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Also test the visitor journey arriving from the home page and looking for specific information.

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These simulations make it possible to identify detours, dead ends or categories that are hard to understand before they become more costly to fix.

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Examples of website sitemaps by project type

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There is no one-size-fits-all sitemap. The structure depends heavily on the type of site, the volume of content, and the goals being pursued.

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Example of a sitemap for a brochure website

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A structure simple could be: Home → Services (Service A, Service B) → About → Portfolio → Blog → Contact.

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The main goal is generally to provide a quick overview of the company's business before guiding the user to the various offerings and encouraging them to get in touch.

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When multiple services correspond to distinct SEO queries, each can have its own page.

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Example of a site map for an e-commerce website

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The organization of an e-commerce site is primarily based on its catalog: Home → Categories → Subcategories → Product pages.

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Additional pages are then added : cart, customer account, shipping, returns, FAQ, contact or legal notices.

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The categorization must be particularly rigorous. A catalog too complex or products organized into categories that are hard to understand can complicate both user navigation and crawling of the site by search engines.

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Example of a site structure for a blog

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For a blog: Home → Thematic categories → Articles.

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The difficulty arises mainly over time.

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As the number of articles grows, it becomes necessary to manage the categories, internal linking and relationships between content to avoid orphan articles.

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• Showcase website : Main pages (services, portfolio, contact). Recommended structure: simple hierarchy. Primary goal: lead generation.
• E-commerce : Main pages (categories, subcategories, products). Recommended structure: hierarchical architecture. Primary goal: facilitate purchases.
• Blog : Main pages (categories and articles). Recommended structure: thematic organization. Primary goal: facilitate content discovery.

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What tools should you use to create a website sitemap?

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The tools used are not necessarily the same depending on whether you want to build a new architecture or analyze an existing site.

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Tools for designing and sharing your sitemap

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Several solutions allows you you to represent an architecture in the form of a diagram.

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• Figma : Primary use for diagrams, design, and collaboration. Collaboration: yes. Profile: designers and product teams.
• GlooMaps : Primary use for quick creation of visual sitemaps. Collaboration: yes. Profile: project managers.
• Miro : Primary use for collaborative whiteboards. Collaboration: yes. Profile: multidisciplinary teams.
• MindMeister : Primary use for mind mapping. Collaboration: yes. Profile: marketing and strategy.
• Slickplan : Primary use for architecture planning. Collaboration: yes. Profile: web projects.
• Dynomapper : Primary use for site mapping and analysis. Collaboration: yes. Profile: SEO and large-scale architectures.
• Octopus.do : Primary use for visual sitemaps. Collaboration: yes. Profile: UX, design, and agencies.

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Choosing the right tool matters less in the end than the quality of the thought put into it beforehand.

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A site map drawn up in a simple spreadsheet can be perfectly relevant if the page hierarchy and search intent have been properly addressed.

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Tools for auditing an existing site's structure

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For a redesign, a crawler like Screaming Frog allows retrieve the URLs of the site and study its architecture.

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It becomes in particular possible to identify the depth levels , the links between pages, certain isolated pages or even existing redirects.

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This information allows you to compare the theoretical architecture of the site with its actual performance.

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How can you optimize an existing website structure?

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Website architecture is not set in stone.

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An evolution of the offering, adding hundreds of pieces of content or a redesign can make a major restructuring necessary.

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Identify navigation and structure issues

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Start by looking for the main friction points.

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Are certain strategic pages difficult to access? Do several categories refer to almost the same thing? Are there any pages with no internal links? Content on the same topic is scattered across different sections of the site?

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You must also analyze the site structure from the perspective of the user and not solely through the organizational logic of the company.

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Move, merge, delete, or create pages

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A restructuring may require several types of intervention.

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Two pieces of content very similar can be merged. A page that is too general can, conversely, be split into several pages that are specialized. Some obsolete content can be deleted while new pages are created to cover intentions previously unaddressed.

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The goal is not necessarily reduce the number of pages, but to achieve an architecture that is more understandable and more coherent.

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Check internal links and indexing after a redesign

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A change to the site structure can have significant SEO consequences when it also involves changes to URLs.

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After a redesign, check in particular:

• redirects from old URLs;
• internal links ;
• any 404 errors ;
• orphaned pages ;
• the new XML sitemap ;
• canonical tags ;
• indexing of key pages ;
• consistency between menus and the new architecture.

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When the site already has a significant SEO history, the migration must be planned before launching to avoid unnecessarily losing the performance already achieved.

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At Afalence, we incorporate the site structure from the scoping phase of our Webflow creation and redesign projects. The goal is to build simultaneously an architecture clear for users, usable by teams and consistent with the site's SEO strategy.

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FAQ on website architecture

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What is the difference between a site structure and a sitemap?

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The site structure represents the way in which pages are organized and prioritized within the site. The XML sitemap is primarily a file listing the URLs to help search engines to discover them.

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When should you create a website's site map?

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A site map should ideally be defined before designing a new site. It can also be reworked as part of a redesign, a major change in your offering, or a restructuring of your content.

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How do you know if a site map is effective?

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A good site map allows users to find the content you are looking for quickly sought, organizes pages into clear categories and avoids unnecessarily isolating content important. It must also facilitate the main conversion paths and internal linking.

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Can a website's structure be modified after it goes live?

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Yes. A site structure can evolve over the life of the site. However, changes must be carefully planned when they involve changes to URLs or internal links. Redirects, the sitemap, and indexing must include be checked in order to limit SEO risks.