Your Website's Information Architecture: A Quick Audit Questionnaire

Max Hietpas

— 2 min read

This simple questionnaire is designed to help you think like a search engine crawler and identify potential areas for improvement in your website's structure. Answer the questions for your main website or for a specific section, like your blog or products.

Step 1: Laying the Foundation (Homepage & Main Categories)

  1. Is your homepage easy to understand at a glance?
    • Yes: It clearly states who you are and what you do.
    • No: It’s cluttered or confusing.
  2. Can a user (or crawler) get to your main product/service categories from the homepage with a single click?
    • Yes: Your main navigation is clear and prominent.
    • No: You have too many menus, or the links are buried.
  3. Do your main navigation links use simple, descriptive names?
    • Yes: E.g., "Services," "Products," "Blog."
    • No: E.g., "Our Stuff," "What We Do," or generic "Page 1."

Step 2: Building the Hierarchy (URL Structure & Content)

  1. Do your URLs follow a logical, hierarchical path?
    • Yes: E.g., yourbusiness.com/services/web-design.
    • No: E.g., yourbusiness.com/page?id=123.
  2. Does your website have clear "category" pages that group similar content?
    • Yes: E.g., a "Men's Apparel" page that links to all relevant products.
    • No: Products are all on a single, long page.
  3. Are your individual pages linked back up to their parent category pages?
    • Yes: You use breadcrumbs (e.g., Home > Products > [Product Name]) or internal links at the bottom of the page.
    • No: Pages exist in isolation without a clear path back up the hierarchy.

Step 3: Connecting the Dots (Internal Linking)

  1. Do you regularly link from your blog posts to relevant products or services?
    • Yes: E.g., a post about "How to choose a coffee grinder" links to your coffee grinders in the shop.
    • No: Your blog and product pages are completely separate.
  2. Do you link from your product or service pages to related, helpful content?
    • Yes: E.g., a product page for a coffee grinder links to a blog post about how to clean it.
    • No: You only link to other products.
  3. Are your most important pages linked to from multiple other pages on your site?
    • Yes: Key pages (like your "Contact Us" or most important service page) are easy to find.
    • No: They are only linked from a single location.

Step 4: Final Assessment & Action Plan

Tally your "No" answers. Each "No" is a potential point of friction for search engine crawlers and a missed opportunity for your Digital Marketing.

  • 0-2 "No" Answers: Great job! Your site has a solid foundation. Focus on creating more high-quality content and building backlinks.
  • 3-5 "No" Answers: You have some good bones, but there’s room for improvement. Prioritize fixing your URL structure and improving internal linking to pass authority more effectively throughout your site.
  • 6+ "No" Answers: Your website's architecture is likely holding you back. Start with a comprehensive review of your site map and navigation. Restructuring these foundational elements will have a significant impact on your SEO best practices and website traffic.

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