Navigation best practices

Page hierarchy 

A website’s page hierarchy refers to the way webpages within a website are organized and how these pages relate to each other, as well as their importance to each other. Page hierarchy essentially lays out the information architecture (IA) of a website. A website’s information architecture organizes the information on a site, focusing on organizing, labeling, and categorizing content (Google AI) so that this content is represented on the website in a logical, usable way, and the information is easy for users to find. Page hierarchy is important for user experience and accessibility because websites should be straightforward for users to navigate. Page hierarchy also helps improve SEO, making sites easier for bots to crawl, and easier for search engines to understand the site structure. 

The standard components of page hierarchy are as follows: 

1. Homepage
   1. The parent page of a website
   2. The central starting point from which users navigate a website
2. Primary pages
   1. Primary pages are accessible via direct links from the homepage
   2. Includes the following major sections:
      1. About
      2. Admissions
      3. Academics
      4. Student resources
      5. Research
      6. Alumni
      7. News
      8. Giving
   3. Landing pages
3. Secondary pages
   1. Secondary-level content is nested under and linked from primary pages
   2. Provides additional info related to primary page (Google AI)
   3. Example: Undergraduate programs
      1. Homepage à Secondary page (Admissions) à Button: Explore our programs à Undergraduate programs
4. Tertiary pages
   1. Sub-pages beneath primary and secondary-level pages
   2. Example:
      1. Blog post: My experience on an archaeological dig
5. Utility pages
   1. These pages are commonly found in the global navigation areas, such as the header or footer.
   2. Typically consist of essential resources such as the Privacy Policy, Terms of Service, Login, and FAQs 

Descriptive link text 

Descriptive link text is the actual text or phrase that makes up a hyperlink that spells out the purpose of the link. For example, if you have a hyperlink that reads “Apply to LAS”, the link will take the end user to a webpage about admissions. It is best to keep the language in descriptive link text straightforward—you want to tell the end user exactly where they’re going, and text should consist of phrases no longer than 3-4 words. 

Examples:

• College site
  • Acadmeics --> “Enroll in an LAS course”
• MCB homepage: “Drive research innovations”
• College site / Liberal arts & sciences majors / “commonly asked questions” 

Number of links 

While there are no official guidelines on how many links a website should have, a good rule of thumb across web development in general is to have one link per 500 words (web.dev.co). Use your best judgement—if almost all the text on a single webpage is accompanied by a link, that would be considered too excessive. On the other hand, no links at all would not be enough. Internal linking (linking webpages within your site) is critical to SEO and user experience and the best practice is to have 3-4 internal links per page (Wildcat digital).