Every website has a backbone — its structure. And when that backbone is strong, search engines and users alike can easily navigate and find what they seek. In contrast, a poor site structure can hamper your SEO efforts, confuse visitors, and lead to lower engagement or higher bounce rates. In this reference-style post, we’ll explore how to build or improve your site architecture with SEO in mind, using internal linking wisely, and integrating external authoritative sources. (No heavy sales pitches — just useful, durable guidance.)
Why site structure matters (for both SEO and users)
A well-designed site architecture helps in multiple ways:
- Crawl efficiency & indexation
Search engine crawlers (like Googlebot) follow links to discover pages. If your pages are buried too deep or not linked appropriately, they may never be indexed or given weight. A flatter, logical hierarchy helps crawlers find and index your content more reliably.
- Topical relevance & topical authority
When related pages interlink and are organized under thematic silos or categories, it signals to search engines that you cover a topic deeply. This coherence can help particular sections or subjects gain more authority.
- User experience & navigation
Visitors like predictability. If your menu, breadcrumbs, and internal links guide them smoothly, they stay longer, click more, and are less likely to bounce.
- Distributing ranking signals
Internal links help distribute “link equity” (ranking power) from strong pages (such as a homepage or cornerstone content) to other pages you want to help rank.
- Reducing duplicate content, canonical paths, and orphan pages
Good structure helps prevent multiple URLs pointing to the same content, ensures canonicalization is clear, and avoids pages that no inbound internal links point to.
Because your site (Mixture Web) offers multiple services (web design, marketing, hosting, graphics) and has a blog and resource section, having a coherent structure is key.
Key principles of SEO-friendly site structure
Here are guiding principles you should keep in mind as you map or reorganize your site.
1. Hierarchy depth — how many clicks is “too many”?
A common heuristic is that most important pages should be reachable in 3 clicks or fewer from the homepage (or main navigation). If a page takes 5 or more clicks, it risks being “too far” for both users and bots.
While this is not a rigid rule (some large sites do well with deeper structures), as a small/medium agency, staying shallow helps you. Your main service categories (e.g., “Website Design,” “Marketing Services,” “Graphic Design”) should be first-level menus. Under each, subpages should be one level deeper. Don’t bury essential content too deep.
2. Silos, or themed clusters
Group pages by topic. For example:
- /services/web-design
- /services/web-design/custom
- /services/web-design/hosting-maintenance
- /services/marketing
- /services/marketing/seo
- /resources/blog
- /resources/case-studies
These clusters help search engines understand topical relevance. Within each silo, interlink pages closely — e.g. your “custom web design” page should link to the main “web design services” page and to related subtopics.
3. Cornerstone (pillar) content & supporting pages
Create foundational, authoritative pages (pillar pages) for each major theme — pages with broad coverage of “Website Design Services” or “Digital Marketing Strategy.” Then build narrower, supporting pages that go deeper into subtopics (e.g. “SEO for small business,” “Social media marketing,” “Website redesign tips”). Each supporting page should link back to the pillar and between them where relevant.
4. Navigation, breadcrumbs, and contextual linking
- Navigation (main menu and footer) provides global orientation.
- Breadcrumbs show hierarchical position (e.g. Home > Services > Marketing > SEO).
- Contextual links inside content connect relevant pages naturally, e.g. in a blog post about “SEO in 2025,” link to your service page “Marketing / SEO Services.”
Be judicious: don’t overlink. Use meaningful anchor text, not “click here.” That helps crawlers and humans understand destination content.
5. URL structure & naming
Keep URLs short, meaningful, hyphenated, lowercase, and consistent. Avoid overly deep /long/path/structures when unnecessary. Examples:
/services/seo/services/website-design/custom/blog/seo-trends-2025
If possible, mirror your directory structure with your navigation. Also, avoid changing URLs lightly; use 301 redirects if you ever need to reorganize.
6. Prevent orphan pages & broken links
An “orphan” page is one that has no internal links pointing to it. That makes it nearly invisible to crawlers unless externally linked. Audit your site periodically (using tools like Screaming Frog, Ahrefs, or SEMrush) to detect and fix orphan pages or broken internal links.
7. Pagination & filters, if applicable
If you have blog archives, category pages, or filterable product or service lists, be cautious about paginated content. Use rel=“next”/“prev” or noindex tags if needed to prevent duplicate content. Make sure filter parameters or facets don’t create infinite, redundant URL variations.
How to apply this to Mixture Web’s structure
Given your current setup (Services, Resources/Blog, Portfolio, Getting Started Guide), here’s how you might refine or enhance:
- Services catalog as a hub
The “Services Catalog” page (already present) acts as a high-level overview. Under that, each service (Website Services, Marketing Services, Graphic Design Services) should be directly linked.
- Package deals link into relevant service pages
Your “Package Deals” page should not exist as a silo but rather be integrated or crosslinked with service pages where packages combine web + marketing or design + hosting.
- Getting Started Guide as cornerstone resource
That guide can serve as a pillar of educational content, linking out to blog articles (e.g. “How to choose a CMS,” “SEO basics”) and service pages (e.g. “We offer CMS evaluation as part of our Web Services”). On the blog, any article that mentions “getting started” can reference this guide.
- Blog as topical support
Each blog post should consistently link to at least one service or resource page, creating a bridge between educational content and solutions. For example, a post on “Why mobile speed matters in 2025” could link to your Website Services page (speed optimization subpage), or hosting/maintenance.
- Portfolio & case studies interlinking
Your “Client Portfolio” page should categorize by industry or service type and link to service pages. Within case studies, embed links to relevant services (e.g. “We implemented SEO strategy, see our Marketing Services page”).
- Footer & meta navigation
In the footer, include key categories: Services, Resources, Portfolio, About, Contact. Ensure each top-level service is accessible from the footer. Use a “Resources / Blog” link. Internally link to privacy, terms, etc.
Example internal linking opportunities (hypothetical anchors)
- In a blog post on “5 Web Design Trends,” link the anchor text “responsive web design” to your
/services/web-design page or subpage.
- When mentioning “ongoing maintenance” in content, link to your hosting/maintenance subpage.
- In your package deals page, link each package’s description to individual service pages (e.g. “see Details on Website Services,” “learn more about Marketing Services”).
- In your Getting Started Guide, when discussing choosing a marketing strategy, link to an SEO or social media service page.
Using external links smartly
Including a few well-chosen external references can strengthen your credibility without sending users to direct competitors. For example:
- You might reference the Google Search Central documentation when talking about crawlability and indexation.
- You could link to a trustworthy study or industry authority like Moz, Search Engine Journal, or W3C guidelines (so long as they’re not direct competitors to your core services).
These external links round out your post and signal that your content is well-researched.
Sample content outline & flow suggestions
Below is a suggested structure you might follow when writing longer posts around site structure or SEO best practices. Adapt as needed.
- Introduction / why structure matters
Use a real-world metaphor (like a city map or library).
- Core principles
(Hierarchy, silos, pillar vs supporting, navigation, URLs)
- Common pitfalls & how to avoid them
- Deep nesting
- Orphan pages
- Excessive filter URLs
- Unclear menu architecture
- Internal linking strategy
- Anchors
- Quantity (not too many)
- Contextual vs navigational linking
- Breadcrumbs, navigation, and user paths
How a visitor might move from homepage → service → subservice → blog article, and how to support that flow.
- URL and page naming best practices
- Audit & maintenance
Tools, metrics you should monitor (crawl depth, bounce rate, orphan pages, link equity distribution).
- Specific application to your site (Mixture Web)
(As I described above: services catalog, Getting Started Guide, portfolio, blog cross-links)
- Conclusion & next steps
A gentle reminder to audit structure, refine internal linking, and keep evolving as you add content or services.
External resources
Use these as trusted sources (without embedding links in the body):
- Google’s documentation on how they crawl and index sites (Google Search Central)
- A solid article on site structure and SEO from Moz or Search Engine Journal
