I have read that folder structure and internal linking structure can influence hits to and crawling of a web site.
I have read:
If you use less folders, with a ‘flatter’ structure search engines find it easier and quicker to crawl and you get a higher ranking.
If pages are internally linked properly, the importance of content can be boosted and result in a higher ranking in search engines.
I use a flat structure with folders.
I am not sure if there is a best-structure in terms of internal linking. With product pages should the product be accessible within 2 clicks? (Customer arrives at homepage, 1. clicks PHONES 2. clicks APPLE 3. clicks IPHONE 4; so customer has clicked 3 times and found what they are looking for). From the viewpoint of the Search Engines is this good, bad or what??
(You can’t have “a flat structure with folders” … as soon as you have folders, it stops being flat!)
It doesn’t make a huge amount of difference to search engines what structure you have your files in, as long as it is consistent and the navigation is clear.
As for internal linking, it depends how deep and complex your site is. If you’ve got a small site, you can realistically link to most/all pages from the home page and it will be manageable. But as the site gets bigger, that’s going to be harder and harder to do effectively. Even if you find ways to achieve it, in terms of drop-down and fly-out menus etc, you’re running the risk of information overload for your visitors. So for bigger sites, it can sometimes be better to lead them down a path, getting closer to the goal with every click.
Again, as long as the navigation is clear and consistent, search engines should have no trouble finding their way around the site. If you’re worried about it, you could include a sitemap that links to all pages (grouped into relevant categories) in a single list.
You may also want to consider ‘page rank’ or probably more specificallythe flow of link juice in regards to your comment:
“If pages are internally linked properly, the importance of content can be boosted and result in a higher ranking in search engines”
Link ‘juice’ flows through the website via your anchors (links).
Now if you consider that the majority of inbound links from external sites are probably to your homepage, this means your link juice is divided up amongst the various anchors on your homepage.
If you have to click twice or more and visit extra pages before reaching the destination page from the homepage then the link juice is divided twice or more (amongst the anchors on these pages) before reaching the destination page.
Therefore site structure can be manipulated to add more link juice to particular/important pages by putting more anchors to these particular pages throughout the site and ensuring that they are only one level away from the homepage.
As a follow on to this, some websites used the rel=“nofollow” tag on internal links to try and manipulate the flow of link juice within the website. Google recently advised that all internal links should now be “dofollow” - google generally hates having its SERP manipulated.
Google does look at file structure of the website. If your website has directories with sub-directories, and sub-directories within the sub-directories etc. then the google algorithm places less importance on the webpage as it descends further down the directory structure.
Many years ago, it used to be said that every webpage on your website should be accessible with just 2 clicks from your homepage. I’m not sure if this is still applicable.
I am 100% agree with it. But, I have little bit confusion with internal link structure. I have developed very good folder structure for my website as per Google webmaster tools guidelines. But, I am not maintaining internal link structure.
On end level page is available at home page, sub category page & end level page. So, Is it advisable or not?
from my experience in today world people are using divs,pop up using ajax for selecting products. for example if you have experience with godaddy.com after search they are using one page only for order info that is not related to crawl. So the result is the pages on your website will be closest to root domain. Google Also recommend this. thanks
you more!