What are the steps to create an easy-to-use website structure?

1 Define your goals and audience

Before you start designing your website structure, you need to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve and who you want to reach. Your goals and audience will influence your content, layout, and navigation choices. For example, if you want to sell products online, you'll need a structure that showcases your products, guides customers through the purchase process, and builds trust. If you want to educate people about a topic, you'll need a structure that provides relevant information, encourages engagement, and showcases your expertise.

2 Create a content plan

A content plan is a document that outlines what content you'll create, where you'll place it, and how you'll link it. It helps you ensure that your content is relevant, consistent, and aligned with your goals and audience. To create a content plan, you can use tools like keyword research, competitor analysis, and content mapping. Keyword research helps you identify what topics and phrases your audience is searching for and how to optimize your content for them. Competitor analysis helps you see what content your rivals are offering and how to differentiate yourself. Content mapping helps you assign content to different stages of the customer journey and match it with the appropriate pages and calls to action.

3 Design a logical hierarchy

A logical hierarchy is a way of organizing your pages and content into categories and subcategories based on their importance and relevance. It helps you create a clear and intuitive navigation system that allows users and search engines to access and understand your site easily. To design a logical hierarchy, you can use tools like card sorting, tree testing, and sitemaps. Card sorting helps you group your pages and content into meaningful categories based on user feedback. Tree testing helps you evaluate how well users can find information within your hierarchy. Sitemaps help you visualize and refine your hierarchy and show how your pages are linked.

4 Implement a simple and consistent navigation

A simple and consistent navigation is a way of displaying and linking your pages and content that makes it easy for users and search engines to find what they're looking for and explore your site. It helps you improve user satisfaction, retention, and conversion, as well as SEO performance. To implement a simple and consistent navigation, you can use tools like menus, breadcrumbs, and internal links. Menus help you show the main categories and subcategories of your site and provide quick access to them. Breadcrumbs help you show the current location and path of the user within your site and provide context and orientation. Internal links help you connect your pages and content and provide additional information and value.

5 Optimize your URLs and page titles

Your URLs and page titles are the elements that appear in the search results and browser tabs when someone searches for or visits your site. They help users and search engines identify and understand what your pages and content are about and how they relate to your site. To optimize your URLs and page titles, you can use tools like keywords, modifiers, and separators. Keywords help you include the main topic and phrase of your page and content and match the user intent and query. Modifiers help you add extra information and value to your page and content and make them more specific and relevant. Separators help you structure and format your URLs and page titles and make them more readable and clear.

6 Test and improve your website structure

Your website structure is not a one-time project, but a continuous process that requires testing and improvement. You need to monitor and measure how your website structure affects your user experience and SEO, and make adjustments as needed. To test and improve your website structure, you can use tools like analytics, feedback, and audits. Analytics help you track and analyze how users and search engines interact with your site and identify issues and opportunities. Feedback helps you collect and evaluate user opinions and suggestions and understand their needs and preferences. Audits help you check and optimize your site's technical, content, and SEO aspects and ensure they comply with best practices and standards.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?