By tree structure we mean the hierarchical structure of the sections of a site that originate on the home page and branch out into the relative categories and subcategories. It is very important because it makes search engines like Google understand which topics are covered by that particular website and what hierarchical level they present. The ideal would be to have a balanced structure , both horizontally and vertically, so that the user is not disoriented and can reach all the information they might need with just a few clicks. To analyze the tree structure I use Screaming Frog, a tool that scans the site as a Google bot would do, I also navigate the site manually , paying attention to various elements present in the pages, such as breadcrumbs and URLs. Once the structure of the site has been reconstructed, I represent it graphically and from there I make any improvements. I often find that the structure is not distributed across multiple hierarchical levels, or on the contrary that the level of depth reached is excessive. Or, better yet, that the tree structure could be streamlined by grouping together pages with similar and/or duplicate content .
Analysis of the tree structure of a site
URL Structure
Subcategories and products. If static and without parameters, they allow the topic of the page to be immediately clear. In my opinion, a short URL is preferable to a longer one, not so much for the purpose of creating content that is key features of office 365 database pleasing to the eyes of the search engine, but because I think a user will find it much easier to copy, paste, share or embed a short address. Furthermore, even if I am aware that the keywords inserted within the URLs have minimal influence on the ranking, I always recommend optimizing them .
Navigation menu
The navigation menu allows the consultation of the most important sections of the site because it is the first visual element that the user comes across when entering. For the main menu, therefore, it is better to choose only the truly important items, leaving out the secondary or even tertiary ones, which could distract or even mislead the user. In the case of large, complex sites, alternative navigation solutions could also be evaluated , which allow reducing the number of clicks that the user must make to reach a page in depth of the site (e.g. product sheet). One of the favorite solutions in this case is the MegaMenu in overlay. Whatever choice is made, it is clear that the labels must always be clear, representative and descriptive of the content.