Businesses are in a constant battle to be at the top of search engine rankings. After years of experience helping Perth businesses drive incredible results, I learned that most make a crucial mistake.
Underestimating the power of website architecture in effective SEO.
That’s right. Well-strategised website architecture can truly change the game for your online performance.
So what’s the winning approach that delivered my clients top rankings on search engine results pages?
Let’s find out.
Understanding Site Architecture: A Success Story
In December 2023, Seasons Bali came to us with a sad search performance. We audited their website and discovered that the website structure was incredibly poor in terms of performance criteria. As a result, user experience was NOT a great experience.
Quite like most businesses, as their website grew over time, they failed to structure and organize. The result: a maze of pages that was confusing, made no sense, and lacked adequate internal linking.
Website Architecture Challenges:
- Disorganised content and web page structure
- Confusing jigsaw puzzle of navigation paths
- Poor and nonsensical internal linking
- Duplication of content
- Weak topical relevance signals
What we did:
- Careful restructuring
- Strategic organisation
- Cutting the webpage clutter
- Logical internal linking
- Transformation of website architecture
Results:
- 182% increase in organic traffic
- User engagement metrics drastically improved
- Stronger topical authority
- Higher conversion rates
- Better search visibility and ranking
Director of Seasons Bali, Rachael Smith, sheds light on the impact by saying:
“Seasons Bali truly enjoyed working with Slinky on the website and we’re very happy with the outcome. Absolutely fantastic results on our website ranking also.”
The Power of Proper Site Structure: A Local Success Story
Our client Principal Pools and Landscapes is yet another example of the massive impact proper site architecture can bring to the table. When wwe conducted an audit, we uncovered a list of inconsistencies that were completely derailing their search rankings.
Website Architecture Challenges:
- Disconnected service pages
- Weak structure and planning of categories
- Content disorganisation
- Inefficient navigation pathways
- Limited internal linking
What we did:
- Set a comprehensive plan
- Restructured their website
- Exhibited a clear hierarchical structure for better navigation
- Created logical categories and subcategories
- Internal linking improved
Cullen Long, when asked about the impact, said:
“Peter and his team have worked diligently in the background to ensure our website is first class, functional and has a good presence online.”
Results:
We developed a strategic internal linking framework that:
- Optimised relevance signals for web performance
- Improved page authority distribution
- Optimised navigation; enhanced user journey and easier paths
- Increased discovery and rank with improved content discovery
- Significantly lower bounce rates with clearer user pathways
- Reduced click depth
- Better user experience and increased engagement
The Strategic Approach to Site Architecture
We’re all about a systematic approach to site architecture. Our proven process has failingly delivered such great results to our clients, that we always go back to it.
Content Audit and Analysis:
We recommend starting with a comprehensive review of existing content, which includes (but is not limited to):
- Creating an inventory of existing pages
- Categorisation of content based on relevance
- Evaluating and ensuring the quality of content — vs bombarding with quantity
- Gap identification
Structural Planning:
There’s a way to set up ace planning. Start by building a framework focused on content organization.
- Define clear categories
- Cluster relevant topics
- Hierarchy planning
- Navigation mapping
- Internal linking strategy
Implementation Strategy:
- Execute changes systematically
- Phased restructuring
- URL mapping
- Redirect planning
- Content reorganisation
- Navigation updates
Performance Monitoring:
- Look at the impact of structural changes
- Conduct user behavior analysis
- Track search performance
- Monitor engagement score
- Conversion assessment
- Observe ranking
Advanced Architectural Strategies
Our work with Seasons Bali and Principal Pools and Landscapes has had a powerful impact on how we went on to develop expert strategies — ones that we now know will drive massive improvements in search engine rankings.
Topic Clustering:
We want search engines to be able to ‘read’ how great you are as a business, and decipher your expertise so they can rank you higher for relevant keywords.
Create strong topical relevance through:
- Intelligent content grouping
- Understanding theme development
- Logical internal linking
- Authority building via external linking and quality backlinks
- Relevance signals
Siloed Architecture:
- Strategic content organisation to strengthen topical authority
- Improves relevance signals
- Better user navigation
- Boosts search visibility
- Increases engagement
Navigation Optimisation:
- Creating user-friendly pathways to reduce bounce rates
- Improve engagement
- Increase conversion rates
- Enhance user experience
- Support SEO goals
Implementation Success Factors
During my experience of bringing Perth businesses to the top of search result pages for highly competitive keywords, I’ve made a checklist of effective site architecture.
For effective restructuring, prioritizing user preferences, and balancing search engine understanding is of paramount importance. Let’s dive into the key factors that will drive successful revamp of website architecture.
1. Crystal-Clear Planning:
- Conduct a comprehensive analysis
- Strategic planning and mindful execution
- Regular monitoring and ongoing optimisation
2. User Focus:
- Intuitive navigation for clear pathways
- Logical organisation to facilitate content discovery
- Smooth user journeys
3. Search Engine Consideration:
- Clear hierarchy
- Strong relevance signals and logical structure
- Efficient crawling and proper indexation
Common Architecture Challenges
During our years of working with and auditing websites of Perth businesses, we’ve run head first into some obstacles and challenges. Here are the most common — yet quite unfavorable — architectural challenges we’ve seen — and 100% tackled.
Content Sprawl:
- Uncontrolled growth of websites
- Poor organisation and duplication of content
- Navigation confusion
Solution Approach:
- Thorough content audit
- Strategic reorganisation
- Clear structure and navigation simplification
Technical Implementation:
- Careful planning can overcome technical challenges
- Gradual execution with regularly scheduled testing
- Performance monitoring and consistent optimisation via modifications
How to Future-Proof Your Site Architecture
When you’re looking at planning for site architecture, consider the growth trajectory and capability so you can build onto the existing structure.
Scalability Planning:
- Accommodate growth and support expansion
- Maintain organisation and preserve relevance
- Enable adaptation
Regular Review:
- Ongoing performance monitoring and content assessment
- Structure evaluation and navigation testing
- User behavior analysis
Measuring Architectural Success
Is there a way to find out if your site architecture is hitting the mark? The following metrics and indicators speak to you — so keep an eye out to effectively measure how successful your restructuring efforts have really been.
User Behavior Metrics:
- Time spent on site by users
- Pages visited per session
- Bounce rates
- Conversion rates
Monitor Search Performance and Impact:
- SERP ranking improvements
- Traffic increases
- Visibility growth
- Authority development
- Relevance signals
Final Thoughts, and Some Great Next Steps
Great site architecture translates to SEO success. Better user experience, and Google reads that as ‘Hey, this is a great site.’ Basically, this is one of the best things you can do to get great consistent momentum that basically drives itself.
Of course, your site will still require regular maintenance (like anything of value) but think about the results — keep going.
If you’re on board to revamp your architecture for optimised performance, let’s discuss how we can get you what you need.
Remember, great user experience speaks directly to search engines. The time to restructure your site architecture is right now.
