It doesn’t take much to realise that the architecture of your site has a big effect on the site’s success. If internet users have trouble finding the information they want, they’re going to leave your site. It’s a simple enough conclusion. When it comes to architecture and search engine optimisation, though, things get a little more complicated.
Architecture can really interfere with what the search engines are able to see on your site. It’s not just a matter of putting your menu in the right place, although this is something you should be thinking about. It’s also about how many pages you have, and where you put them.
The spider issues
When you’re thinking about the way search engine spiders see your site, there are really two issues to consider:
- Can they understand what you’re saying? Your code needs to clearly present the right information at the right place for your SEO to succeed.
- Can they find their way around? This is where information architecture comes in.
When performing search engine optimisation, it’s important to look at your site from a search engine perspective. This means not just looking at the things the search engines will want to see, but looking for the things the search engines won’t want to see. Reviewing your site for spider traps is a basic way to improve your ranking, and you can talk to us at SEO Consult Australia about this.
The right approach
The way most people approach SEO is much like adding spices to an interesting dish. You know that the search engines like a touch of cinnamon and chilli, so you add a sprinkling of both to your recipe. This is an approach that can work, but it’s not as effective as going back to the start of the recipe and taking out the elements the search engines won’t like.
The approach most optimisation experts take is to assume that the search engine spiders will spend a limited amount of time on site, or to continue the metaphor, to assume that there’s only so much they can taste. Because some pages are more important than others, priorities must be set. Once a set of priority pages have been decided upon, it is time to direct attention to them through the information architecture.
There are a number of techniques to direct search engine attention to the right pages. The first thing done usually is to straighten out the architecture, establishing a clean, simple hierarchy for the navigation. Once this is done, use the internal links of your site to turn attention to your most important pages. This requires a fair bit of planning, so don’t be afraid of doing some pencil work to figure it out.
There are a couple of ways to sculpt the attention of search engines within your site, but these are best used only once you’re certain that all of your pages have been indexed. When looking at a more advanced SEO approach to architecture, it’s best to talk to your optimisation consultant.
