Content
Front-end code allows users to interact with a website and play videos, expand or minimize images, highlight text, and more. Web developers who work on front-end coding work on client-side development. It’s essentially the translator between you and the Internet — it reads your website request, reads the code sent back from the server, and translates it for you in the form of a website. This contains all the content that you want to show to web users when they visit your page, whether that's text, images, videos, games, playable audio tracks, or whatever else. A well planned site also gives you another avenue to level up your SEO game.

Google uses the context of your links to gather information about the page you’re linking to. It always used the anchor text to understand what the page you’re linking to is about. Nowadays, it also considers the content around the link to gather extra information. Google is becoming better at recognizing related words and concepts.
Linear website structure (AKA sequential model)
The matrix model is one of the oldest site structure types on the internet. A matrix-type structure gives users options to choose where they want to go next. These types of sites are best navigated via search or internal links. A well-planned structure is what turns a messy set of webpages into a site loved by users and search engines. For both, it’s crucial to get a clear idea of how your website is organized and how to find relevant information on it. This website has a category for the different topics discussed on the site and display this list of topics to the user.
Now, brainstorm all the other content you want to have on your website — write a big list down. Two elements that you'll use occasionally and will want to know about are and . It's considered best practice to begin each section with a heading; also note that you can break s up into different s, or s up into different s, depending on the context. Our example seen above is represented by the following code . We'd like you to look at the example above, and then look over the listing below to see what parts make up what section of the visual.
Search intent
This includes things like keywords and a page description that you want to appear in search results, CSS to style our content, character set declarations, and more. This element wraps all the content on the entire page and is sometimes known as the root element. It also includes the lang attribute, setting the primary language of the document. This almost feels like a lack of structure but that’s the point, it makes it easy for users to have an experience that suits whatever their needs are even if they change mid-process.
- It’s the foundation of all websites and represents the bare minimum of what’s needed to create a website.
- Filtering and sorting options are essential for websites with tons of information and products to offer.
- You should consider the interface errors, and save yourself from spending money on reworking your website.
- The main content sections of your website must be available to the users at any page and any time.
- Why would someone choose a CMS over coding “by hand” or “from scratch?
- Google automatically pulls out the most relevant information to generate sitelinks, and the only way you can influence this process is to build a comprehensive structure.
It is a good idea to be specific on what you are focused on. If you are focused on organizing your website, then make sure to stick to that. While there is no right way to create a taxonomy below, we will take you through the basic steps you can use to create and develop your website taxonomy. HTML elements label pieces of content such as "this is a heading", "this is a paragraph", "this is a link", etc. Product development is essential for long-term growth and success.
This will also give you an added benefit if you are doing search engine optimization for your website. From the main sections of your website, you can dig a level deeper to show the sub-sections. This will be where the individual pages of your website live, or this could indeed be a sub-section of your main section. The hierarchical structure is the most important among web design structures. CMS options often include plugins that remove the need to write a back-end.
Do keyword research for each section of the taxonomy
If this is too much work to do manually, you may consider using a tool that will help you group keywords, depending on SERPs. A website structure is how all your web pages and content are organized and connected to one another. It also shows how a visitor can properly navigate your website without causing confusion, allowing them to find the specific information they need. In essence, it’s a blueprint that will help you understand how your platform will work. Businesses generally prefer CMS for the best website structure as the platforms have inbuilt features to customize it.
Now try to sketch a rough sitemap — have a bubble for each page on your site, and draw lines to show the typical workflow between pages. You might also want to include notes about how things might be presented. In this module we're not teaching CSS, but once you have an understanding of the basics of HTML, try diving into our CSS first steps module to start learning how to style your site. Product landing pages significantly differ from cornerstone articles. The latter are lengthy, where product landing pages shouldn’t be that long. These pages only need to show what your visitors need to know to be convinced.
The way you structure your site will give Google vital clues about where to find the most valuable content on your site. It helps search engines understand what your site mainly is about or what you’re selling. A decent site structure also enables search engines to find and index content quickly. A good structure should, therefore, lead to a higher ranking in Google. Your site needs to have a defined structure, because without it, it’ll just be a random collection of pages and blog posts.
If they didn't have a back-end with a database, none of that data would be accessible to them. Writing code might be one of the more complicated parts of web development, but it’s hardly the only component. You also have to build your back-end and front-end site structures and design. It adds design elements like typography, colors, and layouts to websites to improve the overall “look” of websites. Again, it’s a good idea to consult with other teams within your organization.
Matrix model
Deciding the proper structure can significantly improve optimization. An excellent example of database structuring is your bank’s website. You log in, and information appears that is specific to you. In that case, Google Nest Thermostats couldn’t save enough energy to power the server power needed to rebuild individual sites every time you make a transaction.

Here is the step-by-step process that discusses how a website structure is created. Anything less than 2 main sections is too low for a website and websites with more than 8 main sections is too complicated. A well-structured website can even increase how to plan a website structure your revenue if your business is very much depended on the online audience. The first and foremost reason for having a well laid out website structure is that it makes your user interface much better and deliver the best user experience .
How to Create High Converting Landing Page Web Design in 2023
To implement a web design structure, first you need to come up with a plan. This plan should be implemented right from the early stage of design process. Typically, it is advised to include individual pages in your sub-section as any pages far from 4 or more clicks away from the homepage is not a good user friendly sign.
Strategies for Involving Customers in New Product Development
You’ll also notice at the bottom of the article are other related articles. The theme you pick will determine the number of menus you can create. All of them will have at least one main or primary menu, which sits along the top, usually just below the header. Some themes allow a footer menu; you can add other pages there such as your legal pages, copyright notices etc.
What Is Website Structure?
Breadcrumbs are clickable links that are usually visible at the top of a page or post. They improve both the user experience as well as the SEO of your site, as you can read in Edwin’s guide on breadcrumbs. These are links on webpages or blog posts that point to other relevant content on other webpages. Contextual links are useful in showing users related content.
Page And Post Design
Also, using internal links helps web crawlers search for every page on your website. Next, it’s time to create a sitemap (not to be confused with sitemap.XML, which is an XML file that helps search engines crawl and find your site). Just like a business plan gives a potential investor insight into your goals and deliverables, a sitemap gives a developer the information needed to meet your vision.
In fact, an average of 38% of visitors to a website will leave if it is poorly laid out. That creates a necessity of making sure your site is well arranged. Analysis of your competitors’ websites structure will help to fix and prevent errors that they had already made at the start. In order to create a detailed and flawless structure, it is necessary to analyze several competitors at once.