Website taxonomy—if you find this term confusing, just know you are not alone. When we say the word “taxonomy”, people have different ideas. It is also possible that you are entirely clueless as to what it is. Many people even in the website development industry still get confused on this one. Therefore, today, we are going to talk about website taxonomy.
Alright, so let’s break down this term. First, let’s understand what “taxonomy” means.
If you search this term one Google, it will give you following definitions:
- the branch of science concerned with classification, especially of organisms; systematics.
- the classification of something, especially organisms.
- a scheme of classification.
So basically, “taxonomy” is classification. Or you may call it a system for labelling/naming and organizing things into groups based on similar characteristics.
As you must know, classification helps categorize things in a logical manner. This then makes it easier to understand those things. Well, site taxonomy works in the similar way. So, since, we are clear with the meaning of the term “taxonomy”, let’s find out how it works with website.
Definition of Website Taxonomy
Simply put, website taxonomy is a classification system for a website. It is a structure that organizes content on a website in a logical manner. This then helps users navigate the site and understand its purpose with ease. Hence, it is an important part of website development.
Website taxonomy helps organize, arrange, rearrange, search, and distribute content in various ways.
What does Website Taxonomy look like?
Visually, different categories within a blog or sections and pages within a website may define website taxonomy. For example, and E-Commerce website may have different pages like Log in, Shop, News/Blog, and so on. And then these pages may further be divided into different categories and sections.
This is how website taxonomy be understood visually.
What is the Goal of Website Taxonomy?
The reason behind practicing website taxonomy is to help both humans and machines interpret website content silos properly. It is aimed at making it easier find content via browsing, searching and asking on a website.
The Goals of website taxonomies can be defined in the following ways:
Content: Defining the type(s), operational purpose, etc. of the content can be one of the key goals of website taxonomy.
Business: Improvement of content management and/or document management is some of the common goals of website taxonomy.
User: Site taxonomy is also commonly used to get clear information about one’s target audience such as user profiles, information usage, and suitable content.
Search engine: Although Google focuses more on separate webpages and will rank you based on that. However, it also likes to have a sense of the bigger picture of a website as whole.
Why is Website Taxonomy Important?
Website taxonomy has an important role to play in website development. Moreover, it is important for content marketing since it organizes content in a way that it becomes easy to find. Listed below are some of the key reasons why website taxonomy is important:
# It helps present related content to the visitors
When your website content is properly organized, it becomes easier to show related items with content. Hence, it is important present related content to the visitors.
# It helps connect people with their interest
When you effectively implement taxonomy on your website, it helps make sure that users continue to see content/items they may be interested in (based on their activities on the website).
# It helps boost search experience
Enabling a great search experience is also an important function of website development. When your content is categorized and distributed logically, it naturally makes it easier for visitors to search the desired items.
# It helps create concept density for search bots
Strong content concept and relationships on a website are important to help search bots understand how content relates. It is so since they use semantic analysis to understand a website. Hence, it helps create concept density for search bots and eventually helps your site get indexed and ranked better.
# It helps improve communication
When you implement a well-planned taxonomy on your website, it helps improve communication with your clients. It is so since it packs information in a way that it aligns with your users’ expectations.
With the importance of website taxonomy understood, let’s talk about a few ways to create an effective taxonomy.
Tips to create effective taxonomy
# Have your main purpose clear
With whatever you begin, it is important have your main purpose clear first. Why are you implementing taxonomy on your website? Do you want to improve content management or are you doing his for operational purposes? There can be a various reasons.
# Think about your website visitors’ needs
One of the basic objectives is to improve the UX of your website. Therefore, it is important to keep the users in mind primarily when implementing taxonomy on your website.
# Do keyword research
Perform keyword research for different taxonomies in your website. This will help you ensure that your visitors get the most relevant results for their keywords.
# Understand different taxonomy structures and see what works the best for you
There is a number of taxonomy structures like:
- Flat taxonomy
- Hierarchical taxonomy
- Network taxonomy
- Facet taxonomy
Different taxonomies are suited for different purposes. Hence, it is important to identify your requirements and match them with the characteristics of different taxonomy structures. It will help you find what suits you best.
Final Word
Website Taxonomy is an important aspect of website development. It helps with logical classification of content in a way that users and bots can easily find and understand it. Hence, for anyone in E-Commerce, it is important to understand how it works. Moreover, with the tips given above, you will not only be able to understand it properly but you will also learn to implement it in the best way.
