By Cas in Resources — 24 Sep 2025

Site Structure & Navigation | Module 2

By the end of this module, you’ll know how to set up a simple, SEO-friendly site structure where no page is more than three clicks from your homepage. This makes it easier for both Google and your visitors to find everything.

A solid foundation makes your site strong

Think of your website like a shop. Your core pages are the main aisles, your navigation is the signposts, and every door needs to open properly. If one page is hidden or hard to reach, people and Google will miss it.

Step 1: Create Your Core Pages

Do this:

Minimum pages: Home, About, Services (or Products), Blog, Contact
Optional pages: FAQ, Resources, Testimonials, Privacy/Legal pages

Check this worked: All main pages are reachable in one click from homepage

Why this matters: Core pages form the backbone of your site. Without them, visitors and Google can't navigate easily.

Do this:

Add core pages to the top menu
Keep it flat - no deep submenus
Place trust pages (Privacy, Terms) in the footer

Example menu structure:

Top menu: Home, About, Services, Blog, Contact
Footer: Privacy, Terms, Sitemap, FAQs, Resources

Check this worked: A friend can find "Contact" in under 2 seconds

Why this matters: Clear navigation helps both people and Google move around your site. Flat structure means important pages are easy to reach.

Step 3: Plan Blog Categories & Tags

Do this:

Use Categories for broad topics
Use Tags for specifics
Create categories that match your actual content

Example structure:

Categories (broad): SEO, Web Design, Content, Analytics
Tags (specific, optional): core-web-vitals, internal-linking, breadcrumbs, xml-sitemap

Check this worked: Each post has 1 category and a few relevant tags

Why this matters: Categories group content like aisles in a store. Tags act like labels. Both help visitors and Google find related content.

Beginner tip: Don't set up categories if you don't have posts yet. Write 3–4 posts first, then see what natural groups emerge.

Step 4: Check for Orphaned Pages

Do this:

Every page needs at least one internal link pointing to it
Quick check: Is every page linked from a menu or another page?

What's a CMS? Your CMS is the platform you built your site on (WordPress, Shopify, Squarespace, Wix). Most CMS platforms have SEO plugins or built-in tools that make tasks like sitemaps and internal linking easier.

Check this worked: No important page is left unlinked

Why this matters: An orphaned page is like a locked room. Visitors and Google can't enter.

Beginner tip: If you're on WordPress, plugins like Yoast or Rank Math flag orphaned content.

Step 5: Keep URLs Short & Clean

Do this:

Use clear keywords in slugs (part after domain)
Avoid filler words (and, the, of)
Keep to 3–6 words

Clean URL examples:

Home:

Good: /
Bad: /homepage-welcome/

About:

Good: /about/
Bad: /about-our-company-and-team-story/

Services:

Good: /services/
Bad: /our-amazing-services-for-all-businesses/

Service detail (Web Design):

Good: /services/web-design/
Bad: /services/website-design-services-for-small-business-brisbane/

Blog:

Good: /blog/
Bad: /our-latest-articles-and-news-blog-posts/

Rules to follow: 3–6 words, real keywords, no filler words, lowercase, hyphens between words.

Check this worked: Each slug describes the page clearly in plain English

Why this matters: Simple, clean URLs are easier for people to read and for Google to understand.

Step 6: Set Up an XML Sitemap

Do this:

Generate sitemap (most CMS plugins handle this automatically)
Submit to Google Search Console
Your plugin usually includes only indexable URLs automatically

In Search Console: Go to Indexing > Sitemaps to submit your sitemap URL

Check this worked:

Sitemap submitted in Search Console
Sitemap has no blocked or duplicate URLs

Why this matters: Sitemaps help Google discover pages it may miss when crawling.

Beginner tip: Submitting the sitemap in Search Console is enough for now.

Step 7: Implement an Internal Linking Strategy

Do this:

Link to key pages from the homepage
Add contextual links in blog posts
Build hub pages that connect to related posts
Link new content from existing strong pages

Check this worked:

Important pages have multiple links
Links use descriptive anchor text
Each page has at least 2–3 internal links

Why this matters: Google uses internal links to find content and judge importance. More internal links signal that a page matters.

Step 8: Optimise All Anchor Text

Do this:

Replace "click here" with descriptive phrases
Make anchor text natural and relevant
Avoid stuffing keywords

Anchor text examples:

Weak: "Click here for our services" Better: "Explore our web design services"

Weak: "Read more" Better: "Read our guide to internal linking"

Weak: "Learn more about contact" Better: "See contact options and response times"

Check this worked:

Anchor text makes sense if read on its own
Text matches the destination page

Why this matters: Google uses anchor text to understand linked pages. Descriptive anchor text helps both users and search engines.

Do this:

Add breadcrumb navigation to all pages except homepage
Make breadcrumbs clickable and logical
Keep breadcrumb order consistent

Breadcrumb examples:

Service detail page: Home > Services > Web Design

Blog post: Home > Blog > How to Choose a CMS

Resource subpage: Home > Resources > SEO Checklists

Consistency tips:

Always start with Home
Use exact page names
Last crumb = current page (no link)

Check this worked:

Breadcrumbs show on all relevant pages
Breadcrumbs match site structure

Why this matters: Breadcrumbs help visitors and Google understand page relationships and site hierarchy.

Beginner tip: Most WordPress themes and plugins (Yoast, Rank Math) can add breadcrumbs without coding.

Module 2 Foundation Checklist

[ ] Core pages created
[ ] Flat, crawlable navigation in place
[ ] Blog posts organised with categories & tags
[ ] No orphaned pages
[ ] Clean, descriptive URLs
[ ] Sitemap submitted to Search Console
[ ] Internal linking strategy active
[ ] Anchor text optimised
[ ] Breadcrumb navigation added

FAQs

What pages should every website have? Home, About, Services or Products, Blog, and Contact. Privacy and Terms pages build trust.

How many pages deep should my site structure be? Keep important pages close to your homepage through logical structure and internal linking. Focus on making pages easy to find rather than counting clicks.

What is a flat site structure? All main pages sit close to the homepage. Avoid deep submenus or long folder paths that make pages hard to reach.

Should I use categories or tags in my blog? Start writing first. Once you have a few posts, create categories that match your topics. Each post should have 1 category and a few relevant tags.

What is an orphaned page? A page with no internal links. Google may not crawl or index it because it can't discover it through your site's link structure.

How many categories should I create? Create as many as you need to organise your content logically. There's no magic number - match your categories to your actual content topics.