Website Re-launch and Maintaining Search Rankings - Quick Points on Website Structure

There are no hard-and-fast rules about setting up the underlying directories when it comes to website building. I have seen a handful of directory structures which obtain high search rankings. So, the prime considerations when site mapping should be that it's logical for the organization you're building it for as well as organized. I'm sure some Information Architects are pulling out what little hair they have when they read my one sentence summation of site mapping, so I apologize to them. To paraphrase: There are no reasons why SEO practices and proper website structure cannot work alongside each other.

When it comes to naming the new directories and web pages I have a few tips that can have a positive effect on your search engine rankings:

- Directories can be keywords (i.e.: /computer-training-services/, /dog-food-products/, etc.)

- Pages can be keywords (i.e.: windows-training.htm, dog-supplies.asp, etc

As you can see, I use hyphens, not underscores, to separate keywords. Using this standard is the advice GoogleGuy made back in September 2003. He stated that “Google does not treat underscores as word separators.”

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