How do you apply SEO principles to web navigation structure and labels?

Web navigation is the way users find and access information on your website. It is a crucial element of user experience (UX) and digital strategy, as it affects how visitors interact with your content, brand, and goals. In this article, you will learn how to apply SEO principles to web navigation structure and labels, and how to test and improve your web navigation for usability.

1 Why Web Navigation Matters for SEO

Web navigation is not only essential for UX, but also for SEO. SEO, or search engine optimization, is the process of improving your website's visibility and relevance for search engines and users. Web navigation has a significant impact on SEO, as it helps search engines crawl and index your website, and understand its structure and hierarchy. Additionally, it helps users find what they are looking for, navigate through your website easily and intuitively, and stay longer on your website, reducing bounce rate and exit rate. Furthermore, web navigation can help users trust your website, and increase engagement and conversion. Consequently, web navigation is a key factor for your website's performance and success.

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David Schulhof

Director of Digital | Marketing Consultant | Expertise in Defining Marketing & Growth Strategies / Fractional CMO
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A mistake often made is that a website is designed purely for crawler (SEO) purposes without user consideration. Websites should be user first and ensure the navigation is logical and simple. The SEO side is more about the breadcrumbs, internal linking and site tagging which shouldnt impact the front-end UX. In an ideal situation, your front end & back end designers and SEO's are working together to ensure the website is technically strong, looks great and adds value from a SEO perspective. If collaboration happens, you shouldn't need to compromise.

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2 How to Structure Your Web Navigation

The structure of your web navigation refers to how you organize and group your web pages and content into categories and subcategories. To create a good web navigation structure, it should be clear and consistent, using the same labels and layout across your website. Additionally, it should be simple and concise, using the minimum number of categories and levels. It should also be relevant and logical, using the most important and common categories and subcategories, and following the user's expectations and needs. Lastly, it should be scalable and flexible, allowing for future growth and changes. A card sorting technique can be used to create a good web navigation structure, which involves asking users to sort and label your web pages and content into categories and subcategories.

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Michael Bogosian, MBA

Co-Founder at Launchpad Innovations
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Finding the right balance between too much and not enough is the hardest part of designing your sites architecture. Social psychologists Sheena Iyengar, PhD, and Mark Lepper, PhD empirically discovered the downside of excessive choice: "In a 2000 paper in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (JPSP, Vol. 79, No. 6), the team showed that when shoppers are given the option of choosing among smaller and larger assortments of jam, they show more interest in the larger assortment. But when it comes time to pick just one, they're 10 times more likely to make a purchase if they choose among six rather than among 24 flavors of jam."

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3 How to Label Your Web Navigation

The labels of your web navigation refer to the words and phrases you use to name your categories and subcategories. To create a good web navigation label, it should be descriptive and informative, keyword-rich and SEO-friendly, short and catchy, and unique and distinctive. A keyword research tool can be used to find and analyze the most popular and relevant keywords and phrases for your website and niche. This will help ensure that your labels are optimized for user search intent and queries, easy to read and remember, and differentiated from other categories and subcategories.

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4 How to Test Your Web Navigation for Usability

The test of your web navigation for usability refers to how you evaluate and measure the effectiveness and efficiency of your web navigation for your users. To ensure a successful test, it is important to involve real users and scenarios, measure key metrics and outcomes, identify and prioritize issues and improvements, and repeat and refine the process. A usability testing tool can be used to create and conduct web navigation tests online or in person, and to gather and report the results and recommendations. This will help you find and fix the problems and gaps, and to enhance the strengths and opportunities of your web navigation.

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5 How to Improve Your Web Navigation for Usability

The improvement of your web navigation for usability refers to how you implement and monitor the changes and enhancements to your web navigation based on your test results and feedback. To ensure a successful improvement, it is important to follow best practices and guidelines, align with your digital strategy and goals, and adapt to your user's and market's needs and expectations. Additionally, tracking and measuring the impact and results of your web navigation improvement is essential. A web analytics tool can be used to track and measure your web navigation's performance and impact, and to optimize and enhance your web navigation's usability and SEO.

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How do you apply SEO principles to web navigation structure and labels?

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1 Why Web Navigation Matters for SEO

2 How to Structure Your Web Navigation

3 How to Label Your Web Navigation

4 How to Test Your Web Navigation for Usability

5 How to Improve Your Web Navigation for Usability

Digital Strategy

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How do you apply SEO principles to web navigation structure and labels?

1

2

3

4

5

1 Why Web Navigation Matters for SEO

2 How to Structure Your Web Navigation

3 How to Label Your Web Navigation

4 How to Test Your Web Navigation for Usability

5 How to Improve Your Web Navigation for Usability

Digital Strategy

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