We’ve all been there – stranded on a website, clicking endlessly trying to find the information we need. This not only tests our patience but often leads us to abandon the site altogether.
This scenario highlights the importance of website taxonomy, a seemingly invisible yet crucial framework that shapes user experience and search engine rankings.
Many studies reinforce the correlation between well-organized taxonomy, increased user engagement, and improved search engine rankings.
- 38% of people will stop engaging with a website if the content/layout is unattractive. (Source: Adobe).
- After reaching a company’s website via a referral site, 50% of visitors will use the navigation menu to orient themselves. (Source: KoMarketing).
- 60% of consumers rate usability as an important design characteristic for an online shop. (Statista, 2020)
- 47% of website visitors check out a company’s products/services page before looking at any other sections of the site. (Source: KoMarketing)
A well-structured website taxonomy is the foundation of an exceptional user experience and a powerful SEO strategy. Organize your content into clear, logical categories and subcategories to empower users to quickly find the information they need while making it easier for search engines to understand and rank your site.
What is Website Taxonomy?
Website taxonomy refers to the practice of organizing and classifying your website’s content into a clear, logical structure of categories and subcategories. It acts as a framework that guides users and search engines through your content, making it easy to find and understand the information they seek.
What Are the Benefits of a Well Defined Taxonomy?
As a website owner or content manager, you know the frustration of putting in countless hours to create valuable content, only to have it get lost in the depths of your site. It’s a disheartening reality that many of us face, but the good news is that there’s a solution – and it all starts with your website’s taxonomy.
Think of your taxonomy as the backbone of your site, the very foundation upon which your content rests. A well-structured and thoughtfully organized taxonomy can work wonders for your user experience and SEO. A haphazard and confusing one, however, can leave your visitors feeling lost and your search engine rankings in the dust.
Implementing a user-centric, intuitive website taxonomy can:
| Benefit | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Boost user experience | Users can easily find the content they need, leading to lower bounce rates and higher engagement. |
| Improve SEO | Search engines can better understand your content, leading to higher rankings and more organic traffic. |
| Make content more discoverable | Related content links and clear categories encourage users to explore more of your site. |
| Enhance site navigation | A logical structure makes it easy for users to navigate your site and find what they need. |
| Guide content strategy | Gaps and opportunities in your taxonomy can inform your content creation efforts. |
Investing time and resources into your website’s taxonomy is well worth it, given the significant benefits. A solid structure sets your site up for success, making it easier for users and search engines alike to find, understand, and engage with your content.
What Are the Different Types of Website Taxonomy
Before we dive into creating the perfect taxonomy for your site, take a moment to understand the different types of taxonomies you might encounter:
Flat Taxonomy
A flat taxonomy has a single level of categories, with no hierarchical structure. This type of setup works well for smaller websites with a limited range of topics or products. A personal blog focusing on a niche subject or a small e-commerce site with a curated selection of items are good examples of when a flat taxonomy might be the right choice.
- Ideal for: Smaller websites with less content, such as personal blogs or portfolio sites.
- Structure: All categories and content are accessible from a single level, usually the homepage.
- Benefits: Simplified navigation, easier management, and maintenance.
- Limitations: As the amount of content grows, this model can become cluttered and less efficient.
- Example: A personal blog where all posts are listed on the homepage.
- Visual Example: Imagine a homepage with several tabs like ‘Blog Posts’, ‘Portfolio’, and ‘Contact’. Under ‘Blog Posts’, you find every blog post listed without any further categorization. The simplicity is akin to a one-story house where every room is directly accessible.
Hierarchical Taxonomy
In a hierarchical taxonomy, your main categories form the trunk of the tree, while subcategories branch out, becoming increasingly focused. This is the go-to structure for larger websites with diverse content, as it allows for a clear, logical organization. Much like a real tree, each branch leads to smaller, more specific leaves, guiding users to the exact information they need.
- Ideal for: Larger or more complex sites with a broad range of topics or services.
- Structure: Content is organized into primary, secondary, and sometimes tertiary categories, creating a tree-like structure.
- Benefits: Clear, organized structure that’s easy to scale as content grows.
- Limitations: Can become too complex if not well-maintained, potentially leading to navigation difficulties.
- Example: An online bookstore with primary categories like “Fiction” and “Non-Fiction,” further segmented into genres like “Mystery,” “Romance,” etc.
- Visual Example: Visualize an online bookstore with tabs for ‘Fiction’ and ‘Non-fiction’ on the homepage. Clicking on ‘Fiction’ reveals genres like ‘Mystery’, ‘Romance’, etc. Each genre then leads to a list of related books. This structure is like a building with multiple floors, where each floor hosts different genres and each room hosts different books.
Network Taxonomy
A network taxonomy allows content to form connections with related topics across your site, rather than being confined to a single category. This web-like structure can enhance user experience by encouraging exploration and discovery. It’s like going down a Wikipedia rabbit hole, where each article links to several others, inviting you to learn more about the subject at hand.
- Ideal for: Websites with a diverse range of interconnected topics or content.
- Structure: Topics are interlinked in a non-linear, web-like structure allowing for multiple pathways to navigate.
- Benefits: Flexibility in navigation, reflects complex relationships between topics.
- Limitations: Can become confusing if not well-designed, potential for user to feel lost.
- Example: Academic research sites where various topics are interconnected.
- Visual Example: Consider an academic research site. A visual diagram might show circles representing various academic fields like ‘Physics’, ‘Chemistry’, and ‘Biology’. Lines connect these circles, illustrating the interdisciplinary relationships, such as the link between organic chemistry and biology.
Faceted Taxonomy
Faceted taxonomies are particularly useful for e-commerce sites, as they allow users to filter and navigate products based on specific attributes, such as price, brand, size, or color. Give users the power to drill down to the exact item they’re looking for, and faceted taxonomies can greatly improve the shopping experience and boost conversions.
- Ideal for: E-commerce platforms and review sites where a central topic can be explored from various angles.
- Structure: Central topic linked to various related terms or attributes.
- Benefits: Enables detailed, filtered searches, enhancing user experience.
- Limitations: Requires a well-thought-out design to avoid confusion.
- Example: A product page on an e-commerce site linking to reviews, specifications, and accessories.
- Visual Example: Picture an e-commerce product page for a smartphone. The central point is the product, with lines radiating out to tabs for ‘Reviews’, ‘Specifications’, ‘Accessories’, etc. Each tab reveals more information about the central product, akin to each thread of a spider web leading to different facets of the central point.
| Type | Ideal For | Benefits | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flat | Smaller sites, blogs | Easy to manage | Blog posts listed on one page |
| Hierarchical | Complex, large sites | Scalable and organized | Online bookstore with genres |
| Network | Interconnected topics | Encourages exploration | Wikipedia with linked articles |
| Faceted | E-commerce | Allows filtering | Filters for size, price, brand |
How to Create Your Website’s Taxonomy
Now that you’re familiar with the different types of taxonomies, roll up your sleeves and get to work on creating a structure that will take your website to new heights.
Step 1: Research Your Audience’s Language
Create a taxonomy that resonates with your audience by first understanding the language they use when searching for content related to your niche. Identify the terms, phrases, and questions they employ.
Use keyword research tools like Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, and Ahrefs to gain valuable insights into the words and phrases your target users utilize, helping you pinpoint the most relevant, high-traffic terms to incorporate into your taxonomy.
Don’t stop at individual keywords. Look for overarching themes and topics that emerge from your research. These will form the basis of your main categories.
Step 2: Choose Your Main Categories
Define your main categories with your keyword research insights in hand. These should be broad enough to encompass a significant portion of your content but specific enough to be meaningful to your users.
Aim for a manageable number of top-level categories – usually somewhere between 4 and 8, depending on the size and complexity of your site. Create a structure that’s comprehensive without overwhelming your visitors.
Put yourself in your users’ shoes as you’re choosing these categories. Determine the main topics they would expect to find on your site and the core pillars of your content offering. Your main categories should reflect these key areas.
Step 3: Create Targeted Subcategories
With your main categories in place, get more specific with subcategories. Make them targeted enough to help users quickly find the exact information they’re looking for, without being so narrow that they contain only a handful of pages.
For example, if you run a cooking website, one of your main categories might be “Recipes.” Under that, you could have subcategories like “Appetizers,” “Main Dishes,” “Desserts,” and “Beverages.” Within “Main Dishes,” you might further subdivide into “Chicken,” “Beef,” “Vegetarian,” and so on.
Find a balance. Your subcategories should be specific enough to be useful but broad enough to house a substantial amount of content.
Step 4: Link Related Content Across Categories
Your website isn’t meant to be read like a linear book from front to back. It’s a living, breathing network of interconnected information. Develop your taxonomy by looking for opportunities to link related content across categories.
For instance, an article on “The Best Running Shoes for Flat Feet” could be categorized under “Gear Reviews” but also linked from your “Running Tips” and “Foot Health” categories. Weave these contextual links throughout your site to help users discover valuable content they might have otherwise missed and demonstrate the depth and breadth of your expertise to search engines.
Step 5: Use a Clear and Logical URL Structure
Implement your new taxonomy by paying close attention to your URL structure. Avoid using a string of random numbers and letters for your URLs. Mirror your content hierarchy, with each segment reflecting a specific category or subcategory.
Here’s an example of a clear, logical URL for a product page on an e-commerce site:
www.yoursite.com/electronics/smartphones/brand/model
This URL tells users (and search engines) that they’re looking at a specific model of smartphone from a particular brand, within the broader electronics category.
Make your site more navigable and help search engines understand the context and relevance of each page, which can positively impact your rankings.
Step 6: Review and Refine Your Taxonomy
Your website taxonomy isn’t a set-it-and-forget-it proposition.
Review your site analytics to look for signs that your taxonomy might need some adjusting, like high bounce rates on certain category pages, users spending a lot of time on your search page (indicating they can’t find what they need through your navigation), or low click-through rates on certain categories in your menu.
Seek out qualitative feedback from your users in addition to quantitative data. Use surveys, user tests, or a feedback widget on your site. Ask your visitors if they can easily find what they’re looking for and if your site’s organization makes sense to them.
Make iterative improvements to your taxonomy based on this data and feedback. Add a new subcategory to reflect an emerging topic in your niche or rename a category to better align with user expectations. Continuously refine to maintain a taxonomy that truly serves your audience.
Best Practices for Maintaining an Effective Website Taxonomy
Keep these best practices in mind as you develop and maintain your website’s taxonomy:
- Align your taxonomy with your overall content strategy. Your site’s structure should reflect your broader content goals and priorities. Consider how new content will fit into your existing taxonomy when planning.
- Make sure your content team understands taxonomy best practices. Ensure everyone involved in creating and managing content on your site understands your taxonomy and how to use it effectively. Develop clear guidelines for things like choosing the most appropriate category for a piece of content, using taxonomic keywords in page titles and headers, and linking to related content.
- Monitor key performance metrics. These can indicate the health of your taxonomy, such as pageviews and engagement rates for specific category pages, the paths users take through your site (Are they finding what they need or hitting a lot of dead ends?), and search terms that bring users to your site (Are they aligned with your taxonomic keywords?).
- Prioritize user needs and experiences. At the end of the day, your taxonomy should serve your users first and foremost. When in doubt, make the decision that will make your site easier to navigate and your content more accessible for your human visitors.
Conclusion
A well-organized, user-centric website is the foundation of online success.
And at the heart of that foundation lies your site’s taxonomy.
Take the time to create a thoughtful, intuitive structure for your content. You’re not just making your site easier to navigate. You’re setting the stage for a better user experience, improved search engine rankings, and a more effective content strategy overall.
Invest the time and effort into getting it right, and continuously refine it as your site evolves. The results – in terms of traffic, engagement, and conversions – will speak for themselves.
Your website’s taxonomy is more than just a way to organize content. It’s a strategic tool, a competitive advantage, and a reflection of your commitment to your users. Treat it with the importance it deserves, and watch your digital presence thrive.
