Site Hierarchy
Site hierarchy describes the parent-and-child relationships used to organize pages and sections within a website.
It establishes which information is broad, which information is more specific, and how those levels relate.
What It Means in Practice
A simple hierarchy might look like:
``text Services └── Website Development ├── WordPress └── Ghost ``
Services is the broad parent section.
Website Development is more specific.
WordPress and Ghost represent more specific information beneath it.
Hierarchy gives those pages structural context.
How It Works
Hierarchies are commonly represented in a visual sitemap and exposed through navigation.
They can also influence:
- Breadcrumbs
- URL structure
- Internal links
- Page titles
- Section landing pages
- Taxonomy
Not every relationship needs to be strictly hierarchical. Contextual links can connect related pages across different sections.
Why It Matters
A clear hierarchy helps users build a mental model of the website.
They can understand:
- Where they are
- What broader section they are in
- What more specific information may exist
- How to move back toward broader topics
A clear site hierarchy can also support accessibility by making the website's structure easier to understand and navigate.
Common Problems
Common problems include:
- Important information buried too deeply
- Pages with multiple competing parents
- Sections containing unrelated topics
- Top-level categories that are too broad
- Adding unnecessary hierarchy simply to make the structure symmetrical
- Navigation that does not reflect the underlying hierarchy
How to Improve
Group pages by meaningful relationships rather than aiming for a particular number of levels.
Keep important user tasks reasonably accessible and use clear landing pages when a section needs to introduce several child areas.