"Website Directory Structure Will Keep Your Content Organized."
I've seen it a thousand times. Internet Marketers with a great looking website, awesome content but their directory structure is lax with broken internal links, links in the wrong places or pages with no links at all. Listen, its no secrete that search engines gather information for their index by sending out "web bots" (sometimes called crawlers or spiders) to collect information about every website on the internet.
Its also no secrete that once on your home page, web bots get to all other pages of your website via the internal linking structure. Using the Google Keyword Tool you can come up with directory structure and page content ideas.
As a hypothetical example I used "Panda Bear" to show you how one might structure their website.
Simple Website Structure:
- Every page will have [Sitemap | Contact us | Policy] links.
- Keywords on the home page will link to your subsequent pages.
- Keywords on the subsequent pages will link to succeeding pages.
- Your Home page (lead capture page) content has anchor text to succeding pages throughout your website.
Some Internet Marketers will have a capture page and a home page so the URL for their capture page may be [http://yourURL.com/index]. Then their home page URL will be [http://yourURL.com/home] vice versa or something to that effect. Personally I’ve never done it that way because when I have a highly optimized capture page it is directly related to all the other pages in my website. It's really up to you, but keep in mind that if you have links away from your capture page you may be keeping your visitors from signing up or buying. ...unless sending them to another page is part of your marketing strategy.
I will link my capture page to my first directory but my link may not stand out to the visitor (because I want them to stay on my capture page and signup to my list). But web crawlers will be able to crawl my entire site.
Also, some Internet Marketers only have a capture page and may have a completely different site (URL) for their content or storefront. I suggest you use whatever method is best for your market.
Slightly more complex website structure will be how you make additions to your website. Apply the instructions from “page 2” in the “site structure and organization” section. Your subheads or related keywords can and should eventually link out to other pages on your website.
Slightly Complex Website Structure:
Your website URL directory structure will look like: [http://yourURL.com/panda-facts/panda-pictures.html].
The last page in each directory will link to the first page of the succeeding directory. So Panda Habitat will link to Giant panda. The purpose of this is two fold:
- Website crawlers can flow fluidly throughout the entire website.
- Organizes your content for easy updates.
It's not uncommon to find a keyword or phrase with high search volume and low competition. Finding these types of keywords can be the start to a successful marketing campaign. On the other hand, if done correctly you can use high competition keywords and still rank high in the search engines organic search results (results seen on the left) and draw in a substantial amount of traffic.
How?
By consistently updating your website with new information and marketing in several online and offline arenas that refer prospects to your Capture page. Your pages HTML meta description and keywords tags need to be optimized so when pages from your website appear in a search engines index prospects will know exactly what you have to offer.
To view how Google rates your competition, lets change our focus from Panda Bear to Internet Marketing.
Note: the phrase “Panda Bear” was just an example, a more natural search would be something like “what do Panda Bears eat”.
Go back to the Google keyword tool and select “website content" on the left and place http://www.Marketingemaildirect.com in the appropriate field then select "Get keyword ideas".
What this does is scan the website and the Google web bot returns its keywords and phrases. This is one way of seeing how your competition organizes their website.
On MarketingEmailDirect.com the "Keywords related to Internet Marketing are abundant and cover many of the topics related to online marketing. The "keywords related to..." gives you ideas on website directories. The keywords and phrases below that gives you ideas of the content you need to use.
If you already have a website but poor website directory structure you need to get it in check ASAP If you do not have a website take this information into consideration when creating it yourself or having a professional do it for you (they should know what they are doing but its always a good thing for you to know as well.
If your starting any type of marketing campaign your website structure should be easy for prospects to navigate. This is especially important when providing information to your opt-in email list. Most times list moderators will add valuable content to their website and send the link out to their list.
Having great website link structure is important not only to search engines but to user navigation and their ability to retrieve more related information deep within your website.
This type of blueprinting and research are the initial steps to researching a market and planning a marketing campaign. If you already have not done so, sign up to my Marketing Newsletter and I will give you free no cost, step by step information on how to compile a winning marketing plan with strategies that will allow you to remain consistent, realistic and dedicated to growing your business.
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Best Regards,
