Website Taxonomy – Everything you need to know
If you just entered the SEO world, then you probably have heard the term “Website Taxonomy.” What the heck is this? You might have said this. Actually, it is a little puzzling because we all know about the website but not about ‘taxonomy,’ right! But let me tell you that website taxonomy is crucial for having a scalable SEO plan. So don’t you think you should have proper knowledge about it?
I’m going to explain everything about website taxonomy in this article. Just stick to it!
Let me start now.
What is the concept of website taxonomy?
Website taxonomy also known as URL taxonomy, refers to how the pages of your website are structured into the different content silos. It basically defines relationships and similarities among the set of descriptive terms and labels. Website taxonomy creates a classification system for a website to make it easier for users to navigate and for visitors to find the content they’re searching for.
Moreover, the goal of website taxonomy is to make content easier to find via browsing, searching and asking. The taxonomy supports task completion therefore users, as well as technology, should correctly interpret taxonomy.
Let’s learn about the different types of taxonomy
There are four types of taxonomy you will find: flat, hierarchical, network and faceted. Learn about them one by one below.
1. Flat Taxonomy
Another name of flat taxonomy is unlayered taxonomy; it is a simple list of items. Flat taxonomy only has top-level categories therefore the items have equal weight. Although on a website, it is general to put the most important items first on the list. Which type of website can have a flat taxonomy? Generally small websites have flat taxonomy and are user friendly. But you should not all the content on a single page rather split the content into separate pages.
2. Hierarchical taxonomy
In the book, Information Architecture for the World Wide Web by Louis Rosenfeld, hierarchical taxonomy is a hierarchical arrangement of categories within the interface of a website or intranet. The hierarchical taxonomy is like a tree or a flowchart. In this type of taxonomy, individual items are arranged in order of importance or status.
3. Network taxonomy
Network taxonomy organizes content into both hierarchical and associative categories. You can link categories to other categories. Every item will have different and meaningful to users. Therefore, in-network taxonomy users can connect in more meaningful ways. If your site has network taxonomy then you must ensure user-friendliness of the corresponding networks.
4. Facet taxonomy
The last series of taxonomy is facet taxonomy. It assigns an item to multiple taxonomies; enables the classification to order in multiple ways. It doesn’t have a single and predetermined order. Facet taxonomy allows users to locate and discover content based on the facets that are important to them.
The benefits of website taxonomy
Following are the benefits of website taxonomy, just give a read.
#Taxonomy helps improve communication
What do your users expect from you? What kind of content do they want to see? The answer could be effective communication. Taxonomy helps you improve communication with your clients by providing them the information they’re looking for. The better the communication, the higher ROI you get.
#You connect people with their interest through taxonomy
In the digital marketing field, all marketers want to know the one thing that is the interest, preferences, and dislikes of their customers. Here taxonomy helps you connect with people to know their interests and likes. For instance, if the user has an interest in a particular topic on your website, taxonomy makes sure that the user gets enough of the related content on your website.
#Show related content to users
In the second point, I have already told you that taxonomy makes it clear to show particular content to users of their choice. But this point says if your content is organized by topics like video, podcasts, news etc. and if one item shows up another related item will also pop up for the user. I would say this is such a powerful and rewarding system for websites that help present related content to users.
#Taxonomy boosts search experience
Of course guys, if users get everything on your site they’re looking for, it will definitely boost their search experience. Taxonomy increases search experience where users get to view other suggested options that they may be interested in.
The bottom line
In the final section of this article, I want to ask you a question. Does your website have taxonomy? Believe it or not, if you have URL taxonomy then it can benefit your site a lot. URL taxonomy is very important for your site visitors. You can take this article as a helping guide for you and make use of taxonomy on your site.
I hope now you’re clear with the concept of website taxonomy. For more updates get in touch with us till then keep reading and keep sharing.
