What is a website structure?
Site structure, or site architecture refers to how you organise the content of a website. A website can consist of a variety of pages and posts,relating to similar or different topics. The structure of a site is used to indicate to both users and search engines the relationships between these pages.
A well structured website will allow users to easily find the information that’s relevant to them, as well as Google (and other search engine bots) being able to easily index and understand the relationship between different areas of the site. URL structure, internal linking, breadcrumb trails and navigation all play a big role in the structure of a website.
Sequences
What are sequence website structures?
One of the most simple ways to organise information is to place it in a sequence. Sequential ordering can come in many forms; chronological, alphabetical or a series of topics – broad or niche.
Straight sequence structures work best for sites that rely on completion for progression. For example, a site that requires the user to complete a form or specific action before accessing the next step.
There are also a different kind of sequences – logical sequences. When the information relationships are slightly more complex, a logical sequence can be used. These logical sequences have links to optional, additional information that eventually leads back to the current part of the overall sequence. The pages linked to are typically parenthetical pages within the website – or in some cases, links to relevant, external resources.
Example of a straight sequence structure
Example of a logical sequence structure

Hierarchies
What are hierarchy website structures?
Information hierarchies are predominantly used to organise lots of complex information. As the majority of websites are organised around the homepage, creating a hierarchical, folder structure allows you to group relevant information in a parent/child based format. A hierarchy website structure lets users and search engines find the relevant and grouped information more easily.
Example of a hierarchy website structure

Webs
What are web website structures?
In SEO terms, web, or silo like structures are a fantastic way to build and loop authority. Ensuring all pages are linked together in a web-like structure helps users to continue to find useful information and the search engines understand that all elements within a specific web structure are related to each other.
Although the goal of this structure is to exploit the Web’s power of linking and information association, web website structures can become confusing if not planned and implemented properly.
Example of a web website structure
Diagrams from https://webstyleguide.com/
What website structure should I use?
Deciding on which way to structure your website entirely depends on the information that your website contains and what the end goal is.
Sequence: Sequence structures are predominantly used for sites, or sections of sites, where there is a specific start point and a specific end point.
Hierarchy: Hierarchy structures are great for sites that have a lot of information relating to differing topics. For example, a site that offers a number of different services and sub-services would benefit from a hierarchy structure..
Web: Webs work best for smaller sites that contain lots of informational or educational pieces. Again, in SEO, we use webs/silos to add supporting content to ‘money’ pages and create authority and topic loops.