SEO Page Depth vs Structure

You’re on a treasure hunt. A website page depth is how many clicks it takes you to find the treasure.

Your homepage? That’s the starting line with a depth of zero. If you click once to get to a category page, congrats, you’re now at depth one. Another click to a product or article? Boom, depth two.

In a literal sense, page depth refers to the number of clicks required for a user to navigate from the homepage to a specific page on your website. It determines how accessible a page is to users and search engines.

It’s not complicated math—it’s just counting clicks. But don’t underestimate its power.

For example:

• The homepage has a depth of 0.
• A category page one click away has a depth of 1
• A product page two clicks away has a depth of 2

Why Page Depth Is Important

Page depth isn’t just some nerdy metric; it’s the key to making your site smooth like butter. Here’s why it’s super important:

Improved User Experience

Nobody likes an online maze. According to a study done by Impact Plus, 52% of users said that a bad mobile experience made them less likely to engage with a company.

Shallow page depth gets your visitors to the good stuff faster, which means fewer rage-quits and more happy campers.

Enhanced SEO Performance

Search engines crawl sites like a curious toddler—if something’s too far out of reach, they’ll lose interest. Keep your important pages close to the homepage to stay in their good graces.

Here a quick tip from us, make sure your pages have internal links, as this signals to the search engines which pages are important.

Here is where you can learn more about Why Internal Links Are Important

Optimized Crawl Depth

A buried page might as well be a ghost. If it’s too deep, search engine bots won’t bother crawling it, and your chances of ranking plummet.



Not only that, the more clicks the further away you get from converting a prospect to a client.

What Is Website Structure?

Website structure refers to how the pages of a site are organized and connected. If page depth is about “how far,” structure is about “how things are arranged.”

Imagine your site as a giant library. Website structure is the Dewey Decimal System that keeps everything in order.  A clean, logical hierarchy makes it easy for users and search engines to navigate.

Core Components of Website Structure

Hierarchy

Like putting your sci-fi books on one shelf and your romance novels on another, hierarchies are important. This involves organizing pages into main categories and subcategories.

Internal Links

Internal links connect related pages, ensuring visitors (and bots) don’t get lost. Creating pathways between pages to improve navigation and distribute authority.

And as mentioned above, it helps search engines identify which pages are important. So make sure you are doing this on EVERY page.

URL Organization

Nobody trusts “www.yoursite.com/p=128946.” Keep it descriptive, like “www.yoursite.com/awesome-product.”



Best practice here is to keep the URL as short as it can be with providing sufficient information. Search engines prefer shorter URLs vs longer ones.

Page Depth vs Structure

How They Differ

So, what’s the difference? Think of page depth as the “distance” and website structure as the “map.”

They’re two sides of the same coin, working together to create a seamless user experience.

But when one gets out of whack—like a page buried six clicks deep or a structure that’s messier than your sock drawer—you’ve got a problem.

The Connection Between Depth and Structure

Both of them are like lazy roommates. A shallow website page depth often results from a well-structured site.

Poor structure can lead to unnecessarily deep page depths, negatively impacting user engagement and search rankings.

Crawl Depth and SEO

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Simplify Navigation

Think of this as spring cleaning for your menus. Only keep the essentials in your top-level navigation and add breadcrumbs (those nifty “Home > Category > Page” links) to keep things tidy.

Best practice here would be to keep the URL the same as the breadcrumbs, though, not necessary, it is cleaner and improve user experience based on our experience.

Build a Logical Hierarchy

Use categories and subcategories to group related content.

Homepage > Category > Subcategory > Content Page

Please be careful with this one. As we mentioned above, the shorter the better, but depending how much growth your business has undergone, sometimes adding the extra layer of categories helps on both search engines and user experience.

Strengthen Internal Linking

If your site is a city, internal links are the highways. They reduce page depth and help users (and bots) get around.

Bonus points for using descriptive anchor text like “Check out our smartwatch guide” instead of “Click here.

Regularly check your website page depth with tools like Google Analytics or Screaming Frog.

If something’s buried too deep, bring it closer to the surface.

It’s important to take note of these important elements for your website. For example, one online store found its product pages were buried five clicks deep.

After reorganizing their categories and adding internal links, sales shot up 30%. Turns out, people buy more stuff when they can actually find it. Who knew?

Tools for Analyzing Page Depth and Structure

To effectively monitor and enhance your website's performance, utilizing the right tools is essential. One such indispensable tool is Google Search Console.

Google Search Console

Google Search Console serves as a comprehensive dashboard, offering insights into your website's visibility and health.

It provides detailed reports on search traffic, indexing status, and potential issues, enabling you to identify and address areas that require improvement.

By analyzing metrics such as impressions, clicks, and average position, you can understand which pages are performing well and which may need optimization.

Additionally, it alerts you to any indexing errors or security issues, ensuring your site remains accessible and secure for users.

This is especially useful for content-heavy blogs. A blog with hundreds of posts can reduce website page depth by introducing a well-defined category structure and linking older articles to trending or evergreen content.

Uncovering Page Depth vs Structure

Hopefully we did a good job at portraying the importance of page depth vs structure. And as you can see, this is not rocket science, but it is game-changing.

A shallow page depth ensures your content is accessible, while a strong structure keeps your site organized and easy to navigate.

Together, they create an experience that makes both users and search engines happy.

If you want Alterior Digital to step in, whether you’re struggling with website page depth, crawl optimization, or just need a full SEO overhaul, our team of experts have the tools, insights, and strategies to take your website to the next level.

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