Information Architecture, the building blocks of SEO
(Part 2 of 2)
Following on from the first part blog post on information architecture, we have compiled some prompts for webmasters to think about when developing their sites. Firstly though, let's look at how the information architecture (IA) relates to search engines, crawlability, and rankings.
Relationship of Information Architecture and SEO
Importantly for marketing a website, the information architecture influences how search engines perceive content on the website. This is because search engines must read the content of the website, in the context of everything else on the website. The way the information inter-relates communicates things to the search engine on the type of information, the importance of the information and it's relevance to searchers.
Search engine algorithms continually ask how a piece of information sits within the rest of the website's information: webpages are not read by bots as stand-alone pages but as part of a bigger picture.
SEO Considerations for Effective IA
The IA considers a wide variety of areas of a site design. Important areas to consider are:
- Where the information is stored on the server - how close the information is to the root directory and what other information is in that particular directory
- How the information sits within the flow of the site
- The order of the sections in the navigation bar
- What pages link to what, internally
- How many links leave that page (content hub or single spoke of information?)
- How many pages link to a page
- Where on the page do they link from
- What anchor text is used
- How the on-page information organised (navigation, body, footer)
- ...the list goes on.
If you want to make sure that the visitors that you receive are the right visitors, who find the right information and are then converted, make sure you're clear on how you organise and communicate your site's information - don't leave it to the search engine to decide what content is most relevant. Even talk to Google to avoid a nonsensical representation of your website's information in the SERP's, by using an html and xml sitemap!
Bespoke, Relative and Responsive Decisions
As stated before, there is no 'right way' in designing the way the information on your site works together. Most decisions that you make as a web designer, developer or webmaster will be bespoke and be based on relative information.
Be responsive. Look at your website stats to see how people respond to your site's information. If a high-proportion of people are leaving on a 'content-hub' page then they are not making it through to the real value adding content. Maybe look at reducing the options, break-up text with images, or reordering the call-to-actions. Continually learn from how users your site and you don't need to second guess them.
Efficiently provide relevant results for visitors
'Information architects' must therefore take complex information and reorder and integrate it in a way that positively ticks both human and search engine bot boxes.
Remember, too many websites overload the visitor with options. Don't over burden the visitor with decisions. Make their route through your site as intuitive and informative as a London tour bus not a derailed roller coaster!
Answer the purpose of the visit as quickly as possible. Helping the visitors make quick and clear decisions is great for satisfying them in this super-fast online world we live in. A good website that satisfies a user's goals is not one that is easily forgotten.
Posted By: Ben
27 September 2008