Web Structure Optimization:
The Three Deadly Sins

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Search engine optimization should not only cover the optimization of keywords on a site, but also needs to deal with the site structure. A basic guideline that will result in good SEO as well as usability is that for every target keyword there should exist at least one page of content within the site. And that page should offer relevant and compelling information.

In the day to day application of SEO countless mistakes are committed in this area. The following three deadly sins cover the most common structural issues we have seen among our clients.

Sin #1: Superficial content

Frequently this sin is unwittingly committed by the web designer or agency in charge of adding content to the site. One example web site is in the financial sector: A single page devoted to "retirement plans" barely covers the topic and is littered with conceptual tidbits, i.e. that the financial service company has been in existence for over 60 years and proudly offers innumerable client references.

From the perspective of a search engine (and any critical visitor) this approach doesn't cut it. Potential clients, whether private or corporate, usually search for specific solutions to a problem. I.e. "401 k retirement plan," "supplemental executive retirement plan," "deferred option retirement plan," etc. But in order to appear on the radar of the search engines for these search terms, the financial service will need to create one separate page each that covers these solutions in more detail.

Another real world example: Travel packages are frequently searched for in combination with a destination, i.e. "mexico fishing tour," "miami scuba diving" or "italy bike tour." In this case it would be vital to create a separate page for each of the travel areas that can be covered. If a travel site only features one general page summarizing the features and benefits of the print catalog, the site will definitely not be found for these queries.

Sin #2: Centralized content

Often web sites will actually feature relevant content, but it will be in a configuration that cannot be parsed well by the search engines. If a scuba diving travel site lists all information for every one of their 42 scuba destinations on a single page, Google will hardly be able to interpret all of this data effectively. It is much more effective for potential rankings to split up the content into logical chunks, i.e. pages, that can stand on their own and create more top-notch content around these.

Another example is the FAQ. These lists of frequently asked questions along with their answers often get crowded onto one painfully long page that defies navigation. It is much more strategic to create a separate page for each of the questions/answers.

Sin #3: Click depth

A major issue that comes up especially for larger portal sites is the ease of access to content. For a search engine to access and index content it needs to be accessible with a minimum number of clicks from the home page. Every page has a so-called click depth: the home page is zero, the pages right below are one, etc.

A good example here is a news portal where pages can be found that link to a certain number of articles, ten let's say. To access more news articles the visitor needs to click on the "more news" link at the bottom, same on the next page, etc. This architecture leads to the predicament that the older news articles will end up having a very high click depth.

The majority of search engines don't perform a deep crawl ignoring any content with high click depth. Thus it is possible that content with high click depth, although it might be full of high quality information, won't be neither spidered nor indexed by the search engines and hence not available in the rankings.

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