Website Structure for SEO: How to Organise Your Pages Like a Pro
Right then. Let me tell you a story about website structure that'll save you from the chaos most businesses create online.
Last week, I was trying to find a specific product on a local shop's website. Twenty minutes later, I'd clicked through what felt like every page twice, found three broken links, and still hadn't located what I needed. Sound familiar? That's what happens when website structure is an afterthought.
Here's the thing - your website structure isn't just about keeping things tidy. It's the foundation of your SEO fitness. Get it wrong, and you're basically hiding from both Google and your customers. But get it right? That's when the magic happens.
Why Your Website Structure Is Like Your Business's Skeleton
Think of your website structure as your business's skeleton online. Just as your skeleton holds everything together and lets you move efficiently, your website structure determines how easily customers and search engines navigate your content.
Google's Gary Illyes (one of their Webmaster Trends Analysts) puts it simply: websites need clear hierarchical structures, especially as they grow. It's not about impressing Google with complexity - it's about making everything findable.
Hang on, there's more to the story. Structure affects everything:
- How quickly visitors find what they need
- Whether Google understands what you offer
- Which pages rank for which keywords
- How authority flows through your site
- Your bounce rate and conversions
Making sense so far? Something as simple as how you organise your pages determines whether you get found online.
The H-Tag Hierarchy: Your Website's Chapter System
Before we dive into page structure, let's talk about something that confuses the life out of most business owners: H-tags (that's H1, H2, H3, and so on).
Think of H-tags like the chapter system in a book:
- H1 = Your book title (one per page, please!)
- H2 = Chapter titles
- H3 = Section headings within chapters
- H4-H6 = Sub-sections (rarely needed)
Quick tip: Your CMS (WordPress, Squarespace, etc.) almost always assigns the article title as the H1 in a blog. So if it's a blog you're writing, you can tick that box. One less thing to worry about!
Here's what this looks like in practice. Say you're a plumber creating a page about bathroom installations:
- H1: Professional Bathroom Installation Services in Bedford
- H2: Our Bathroom Installation Process
- H3: Initial Consultation and Design
- H3: Installation Day
- H3: Final Inspection and Warranty
- H2: Types of Bathrooms We Install
- H3: Family Bathrooms
- H3: En-Suite Installations
- H3: Wet Rooms
See the logical flow? Each H2 introduces a major topic, and H3s break it down further. It's like giving both visitors and Google a roadmap of your content.
Another example: In the blog you're reading, the title "Website Structure for SEO: How to Organise Your Pages Like a Pro (Without the Headache)" is also the H1 tag. See the next headline, "Building Your Website Structure: The Professional Approach"? That's an H2 tag. Below that, "Start with Your Main Categories" is an H3 tag, and so on. Make sense?
Common H-tag mistakes I see constantly:
- Multiple H1s on a page (confuses Google about your main topic)
- Skipping levels (jumping from H1 to H3)
- Using H-tags for styling instead of structure (that's what CSS is for)
- Stuffing keywords unnaturally into every heading
Building Your Website Structure: The Professional Approach
After 30 years in this game (yes, I started when websites were just text on grey backgrounds), I've seen every structure imaginable. The ones that work follow a simple principle: organise like your customers think, not like your filing cabinet.
Start with Your Main Categories
Your homepage should link to main category pages covering broad topics. Keep it simple - if you need more than 7 main categories, you're probably overcomplicating things.
For a trades business (let's say an electrician):
- Residential Services
- Commercial Services
- Emergency Call-outs
- About Us
- Service Areas
- Contact
For an online shop (imagine a gift retailer):
- Shop by Recipient
- Shop by Occasion
- Personalised Gifts
- Gift Ideas
- About Us
- Contact
Notice how these match how customers think? Nobody searches for "Category A Products" - they search for "birthday gifts for mum" or "emergency electrician near me".
Create Logical Sub-Categories
Under each main category, add specific pages that make sense together. This is where The Norman Advantage really shines - our AI strategist Norman analyses what structure works best for your specific business and market.
Example structure for our electrician:
Residential Services
- Rewiring
- Full House Rewiring
- Partial Rewiring
- Old Wiring Replacement
- New Installations
- Kitchen Electrics
- Bathroom Electrics
- Outdoor Lighting
- Safety Checks
- Electrical Safety Certificates
- PAT Testing
- Fault Finding
See how each level gets more specific? That's exactly how customers narrow down their needs, and it's how Google understands your expertise.
The 3-Click Rule (Sort Of)
You've probably heard that every page should be reachable within 3 clicks. That's... mostly right. What matters more is that your structure makes sense. If someone needs 4 clicks to reach a specific product variant, but each click logically narrows their search, that's fine.
What's not fine? Making people click through unrelated pages or guess where things might be hiding.
Mobile Structure: Because 2025 Isn't 2005
Here's a stat that should wake you up: over 60% of web traffic now comes from mobile devices. If your structure doesn't work on phones, you're basically turning away more than half your potential customers.
Mobile Structure Essentials:
- Collapsible menus: Nobody wants to scroll through 50 menu items on a phone
- Thumb-friendly navigation: Put important links where thumbs naturally reach
- Breadcrumbs: Show users where they are (Home > Services > Rewiring)
- Search function: Sometimes it's faster than navigating
- Speed optimisation: Complex structures can slow mobile loading
Through our Optimiser AI service, Norman monitors your mobile performance and suggests structure improvements that actually impact your rankings.
Common Structure Mistakes That Murder Your SEO
Let me share the disasters I see regularly (and yes, I'm probably describing your website):
- The "Everything From Homepage" Disaster: 47 links on your homepage doesn't make you look comprehensive - it makes you look confused.
- Mystery Meat Navigation: Clever names like "Solutions" or "Offerings" mean nothing. Call things what they are.
- Orphan Pages: Pages with no internal links pointing to them. Google might never find them, and neither will customers.
- The Infinite Subcategory Loop: Products > Clothing > Men's > Shirts > Casual > Cotton > Blue > Navy > Dark Navy... Stop it.
- Duplicate Content Structures: Having /services/plumbing/ and /plumbing-services/ confuses everyone.
How to Fix Your Structure (Without Starting from Scratch)
Good news - you don't need to burn everything down and start over. Here's my proven process for structure rehabilitation:
Step 1: Audit What You've Got
List every page on your site. Yes, every single one. Tools like Screaming Frog help, but a proper website audit gives you the full picture.
Step 2: Group Related Content
Look for pages that belong together. Often, you'll find content scattered everywhere that should be in the same category.
Step 3: Create Your Ideal Structure
Map out how things should be organised. Think like a customer, not like your internal departments.
Step 4: Implement Redirects Properly
When you move pages, use 301 redirects so you don't lose rankings. This is where our Premium service really earns its keep - we handle all the technical bits.
Step 5: Update Your Internal Links
Every page should link to related pages. It helps users explore and spreads "link juice" (yes, that's really what we call it in SEO).
Step 6: Monitor and Adjust
Structure isn't set-and-forget. As your business grows, your structure needs to evolve.
Structure Tips by Business Type
Different businesses need different approaches. Here's what works:
Service Businesses (Trades, Consultants, Agencies)
Lead with your service categories rather than company information - people want to know what you do, not your mission statement. If you serve multiple areas, create location pages for each. Give every main service its own page (don't cram everything together), and tuck case studies under the relevant service sections where they make sense.
E-commerce and Retail
Give customers multiple ways to find products - by category, brand, price range, or occasion. Just make sure your faceted navigation doesn't create duplicate content issues. Include proper category descriptions too, not just grids of products. And keep your product variants organised logically so people can find the exact version they want.
Professional Services (Accountants, Solicitors, etc.)
You'll need to organise by both client type AND service type - solicitors might have pages for individuals and businesses, then subdivide by practice area. Create resource sections organised by topic, and make sure compliance or regulatory information is easy to find (nobody wants to hunt for your terms of business). Structure your case studies by both industry and the type of challenge solved.
The SEO Structure Fitness Test
Want to know if your structure's fighting fit? Ask yourself:
- Can a first-time visitor find any service/product within 30 seconds?
- Does your URL structure match your navigation structure?
- Could you draw your site structure from memory?
- Do related pages link to each other naturally?
- Would your nan understand your menu labels?
If you answered "no" to any of these, your structure needs work.
Why This Matters More Than Ever in 2025
Google's getting smarter (scary smart, actually). Their AI doesn't just crawl pages anymore - it understands relationships between content. A logical structure helps Google recognise you as an authority in your field.
Plus, with voice search growing, people ask complete questions like "Where can I find an emergency electrician in Bedford?" Your structure needs to answer these natural language queries.
The Bottom Line on Website Structure
Your website structure is the foundation of your SEO fitness. Get it right, and everything else becomes easier - rankings, user experience, conversions, the lot. Get it wrong, and you're fighting an uphill battle with one hand tied behind your back.
The good news? It's fixable. Whether you're starting fresh or rehabilitating a chaotic site, the principles stay the same: think like your customers, organise logically, and make everything easy to find.
And remember - structure isn't about impressing other web developers or SEO nerds like me. It's about making it dead easy for customers to find what they need and buy from you. That's it. That's the whole game.
Ready to Get Your Website Structure Fighting Fit?
Look, I could write another 3,000 words about website structure (and Norman's probably analysing your competitors' structures as we speak). But here's what matters: is your structure helping or hurting your business?
If you're losing customers because they can't find what they need, or if Google's ignoring your pages because it can't understand your structure, you need help. And that's exactly what we do.
Start with a free website evaluation - we'll show you exactly where your structure's letting you down and what to fix first. No fluff, no jargon, just straight talk about what needs doing.
Because at the end of the day, your website should be working as hard as you do. Time to make sure it's structured for success.
P.S. Still manually updating navigation menus every time you add a page? There's a better way. Our AI strategist Norman can analyse your entire structure and create a plan that actually makes sense. Just saying.
Editor's Note: We originally published this guide in March 2024 and completely revised it in June 2025 to include comprehensive H-tag guidance and reflect current best practices.
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