What Is A Directory Structure?

The directory structure of a website describes the way in which the webpages are organized. Directory structures, like search engine optimization, require serious consideration if you hope to create a website that's effectively found, crawled and indexed in SERPs.

There are different kinds of directory structures you can incorporate into your website, though not all are ideal depending on your objective.

A general but useful rule of thumb is that your directory structure and your internal link structure should compliment each other. This means that the type of site you have, the number of pages and the significance of the pages should be mirrored by the type of directory structure you choose.

Let's go through different types of directory structures as if we are Goldie Locks. (Remember the bears' porridge? Too hot! Too Cold! Just right...)

Flat Directory Structure

Example: http://www.site.com/page.html

Flat directory structures...

• can be suitable for small sites.
• are too simple for sites greater than ten pages
• place the same amount of weight on every web page
• make it hard for search engines to understand your site's hierarchy
  
• make it hard for search engines to understand each page's importance
• don't give a clear picture of categorization for site visitors

Vertical Directory Structure

Example: http://www.site.com/dir1/dir2/dir3/dir4/dir5/dir6/page.html

Vertical directory structures...

• create problematic distances between the homepage and lower level pages
• bury lower level pages beneath mounds of hierarchy
  
• make it difficult, if not impossible, for users to find the pages they're looking for
• make it difficult, if not impossible, for search engines to crawl all of your pages

Relatively Flat Directory Structure

Examples: http://www.site.com/dir/page.html, http://www.site.com/dir1/dir2/page.html

Relatively flat directory structures...

• place each page no more than two clicks from the homepage
• are not a surefire solution to all websites, but ideal for many
• do not bury pages beneath a complex hierarchy
• make navigating to subpages from the homepage very simple
• successfully convey the importance of every page to search engines

Appropriate Directory Structures and SEO

When you take the time implement a relatively flat directory structure, you are also rewarded by simple but helpful opportunities to add relevant keywords for SEO.

Example: http://www.site.com/keyword1/page.html, http://www.site.com/keyword1/keyword2/page.html

But be sure you don't keyword stuff - a big no-no! Keyword stuffing your URLs makes for unnecessarily long, clunky addresses and could get you marked as a spammed by search engines.

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