site-architecture
Site architecture
Architecture is one decision repeated: how does someone get from the homepage to the page that answers their question, and how does a crawler follow the same path. Depth, navigation, URLs, and internal links are four views of that one structure, so change them together or they drift.
Depth
Aim to put any page that matters within three clicks of the homepage. It isn't a law, but a critical page four or more levels down is a symptom worth chasing.
| Shape | Fits | Costs |
|---|---|---|
| Flat, 2 levels | Small sites, portfolios | Stops scaling once a nav item has 20 children |
| Moderate, 3 levels | Most SaaS and content sites | Usually the right answer |
| Deep, 4 or more | Large catalogs, big docs | Scales, but buries things without strong linking |
Go as flat as the navigation tolerates. When a dropdown passes roughly 20 items, that's the signal to add a level rather than keep the list flat.
Levels: L0 is the homepage, L1 is a primary section (/features, /blog), L2 is a page within it (/features/analytics), L3 and beyond are detail pages (/docs/api/authentication).