{"id":15232,"date":"2022-08-25T13:00:26","date_gmt":"2022-08-25T13:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.searchenginejournal.com\/complete-guide-site-taxonomy-seo\/461241\/"},"modified":"2022-08-25T13:00:26","modified_gmt":"2022-08-25T13:00:26","slug":"a-complete-guide-to-site-taxonomy-for-seo-via-sejournal-brianharnish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marketingnewsbox.com\/?p=15232","title":{"rendered":"A Complete Guide To Site Taxonomy for SEO via @sejournal, @BrianHarnish"},"content":{"rendered":"
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For those who have been in SEO for some time, you may have heard of site taxonomy as it refers to the website.<\/p>\n

When you refer to a website\u2019s structure and how easy it is for users to navigate, you are referring to the site\u2019s taxonomy.<\/p>\n

Attention to your site taxonomy is a critical skill for SEO professionals to master.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s because a site\u2019s taxonomy not only influences its overall organizational structure but also influences how it\u2019s perceived on Google and how users navigate your site.<\/p>\n

Because of this, placing your site\u2019s taxonomy optimization in your queue (in a high-priority position, hopefully) is a critical step toward a solid website architecture.<\/p>\n

What, Exactly, Is A Site\u2019s Taxonomy?<\/h2>\n

When one talks about taxonomy, they usually refer to a classification system.<\/p>\n

This classification system will control everything in a site structure from organization to classification \u2013 and this is all based on their semantic characteristics and how they relate to each other.<\/p>\n

Your website\u2019s taxonomy is something that can play heavily into how Google crawls your site<\/a>, as well as how your users will perceive their user experience.<\/p>\n

It can also heavily impact search engine rankings. It pays to focus on your website\u2019s taxonomy, how it plays out throughout your site, and how it is set up overall.<\/p>\n

Your website\u2019s taxonomy can also play into how your site creates internal links, which can also be a significant boost for your website\u2019s success on Google.<\/p>\n

Google Guidelines: Create A Clear Conceptual Page Hierarchy<\/h2>\n

If you were wondering whether or not this could be a black hat tactic<\/a>, it\u2019s not.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s actually a white hat technique.<\/p>\n

Because you\u2019re focusing on your content organization, you are not risking anything black hat being interpreted by Google.<\/p>\n

In fact, Google\u2019s Webmaster Guidelines<\/a> state that you should create a hierarchical taxonomy:<\/p>\n

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Design your site to have a clear conceptual page hierarchy.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Google prefers a clear conceptual taxonomic structure that includes top-level categories pursuant to a site\u2019s content type<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This structure should also include related topics organized within this.<\/p>\n

The Different Types Of Taxonomies<\/h2>\n

There are a couple of different types of taxonomies that can aid you in creating your taxonomic structure. They include flat taxonomies and faceted taxonomies.<\/p>\n

Flat Taxonomies<\/h3>\n

Flat taxonomies, or hierarchical taxonomies, are easily used when you have a group of topics where the semantic relationship is already very well known.<\/p>\n

Entities are easily used in a flat taxonomy with one classification dimension.<\/p>\n

Using a parent-child relationship for these entities can help Google dive deep into a topic and can help organize things in a logical way for users.<\/p>\n

Faceted Taxonomies<\/h3>\n

You may want to use faceted taxonomies when you have a subject matter with many different dimensions of classification (as opposed to just one).<\/p>\n

It\u2019s possible to utilize faceted taxonomies to organize an entire, deep library.<\/p>\n

Whether you\u2019re organizing all the different types of dishes in your kitchen, or you are organizing thousands of products with similar and many different dimensions of classification, you may want to use faceted taxonomies.<\/p>\n

The interesting thing about faceted taxonomies is that complete knowledge of the semantic relationship between entities is not required.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s possible to construct an ad hoc taxonomy that encompasses all of these pieces of content, regardless of where they may fall in the taxonomic spectrum.<\/p>\n

Okay, I\u2019m Sold On A Site\u2019s Taxonomy. Why Is This So Important?<\/h2>\n

Creating a well-organized taxonomy can truly impact how users positively interact with your site. This is especially true when you have a logical organization of your content.<\/p>\n

The better a site\u2019s taxonomy, the more reputable a source your users will see you, and the more they will stay and read your stuff.<\/p>\n

If a site does not have a specified structure, it will be very difficult for users to understand and consume your content.<\/p>\n

Many users will leave a site if it is poorly organized. We want to make sure that users have the easiest time possible when trying to navigate your website.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s also critical for SEO because it gives Google a better understanding of your site architecture. Additionally, it provides easier crawling and indexing for bots.<\/p>\n

Creating the proper relationships between semantic definitions that apply to Google\u2019s knowledge graph also explains how Google will understand your site.<\/p>\n

The easier you can make it for Google to analyze and understand your overall site taxonomy, the better your site\u2019s performance in the search engines and for your users.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s examine this in more detail with an example website about search engine optimization (maybe you own ilovedoingseoonallthethingsintheworldsosueme.com).<\/p>\n

Say that you have your site targeting a variety of topics within the search engine optimization field. They may include things like:<\/p>\n