Website Architecture

In lay man’s term, web architecture simply involves planning and web design. This is handled by web architects who are responsible for URL structure, page layouts, link building within the site, navigation bar and organizing the site’s content. Basically, they make sure that the site is easy to navigate and the pages are understandable to users and spiders.

Web architects should prioritize a user’s experience when doing web design. Thus, website architecture should focus on user’s convenience. Hence, labels throughout the site is important in order for users to easily find their way around the site. Labels are helpful when its specific and do not mislead users. For example, a label that says “Tour” should not mean a map of a certain place. Also, users should be able to obtain any information on the site with just two or three clicks on either the highlighted text or icon available.

The information on the site has to be designed in a way that enables people to find what they want quickly. Therefore, a site taking a long time to load can detract users. Loading time for a site becomes time consuming when there are a lot of information and graphics with large files. To avoid this, information has to be split in several pages. Do not try to put everything on one page. Also, the width and height tag of graphics should be specified.

A proper website architecture will result in satisfied users, will save a company money and aid in an increase of traffic to the site.