Successful Online Shop Structure: Useful Tips

Structure is the foundation on which an online store’s users’ convenience and interface clarity depend. To make the site easy to work with, you need to carefully consider the «foundation». We will share the secrets of how to build a successful online store structure.

Tips for Building a Structure

Based on our experience, we recommend answering the following questions before developing a successful website structure:

• How large is the product range? If it is very large, a hierarchical structure with categories and subcategories is more suitable. If there is only one product and a landing page is needed, it is better to choose a linear structure.
• How do users behave? It is important to understand how visitors search for products and navigate the site.
• How effective will SEO be? The store visibility in search engines depends on how optimized the URLs are. Try to build an ecommerce store structure based on the semantic core.

What does analytics say? If you have a ready-made e-commerce business, we recommend checking the statistics of analytics tools. Such plugins will help identify vulnerabilities and fix critical website page structure problems.

Checklist of Mandatory Pages for an Online Store

When building a structure, it is important to consider the mandatory pages of the site. For an online store, they are divided into three categories:

• informational;
• navigational;
• functional.

Informational pages include «Contacts», «Privacy Policy», and «About us». On functional pages the user actively interacts with the site, for example:

• cart;
• ordering;
• reviews.

Website navigation structure helps the user explore the site. These include categories, subcategories, products, and the main page. This is only a basic list of pages because their number will be much larger to cover all user requirements. For example, delivery pages, product returns, promotions, warranties, etc. will also be added.

What Not to Do When Building a Structure?

There are red flags that can make your successful ecommerce site quite inconvenient. Here are some things you shouldn’t do when building an online store structure:

• Ignore segmentation. For example, if the «Technics» section contains food processors, washing machines, phones, tablets, vacuum cleaners, and DVRs, it will be difficult for the user to find the right product. We recommend segmenting the general category into subcategories.
• Use complex names. You should not use the manufacturer’s part numbers, technical characteristics, and specifications. Instead, show what this product is for, for example, «Laptop for work».
• Ignore properties. Properties can apply to different products in the same group. For example, you should filter out «black smartphones» or «laptops with 15-inch screens». This will not only improve the user experience, but also simplify ecommerce website management.

If the site structure is built correctly, it will be easy for the user to place an order. Incomprehensible sites scare away visitors, so pay special attention when planning a web resource.