Strategy: Website Structure

Guides website structure planning: which pages to build, page priority, and how structure supports UX, SEO, and growth. Structure is the organization and connection of pages; it affects user navigation, Google's understanding of content importance, crawlability, and sitelinks in SERPs. See serp-features for sitelinks and SERP optimization.

When invoking: On first use, if helpful, open with 1–2 sentences on what this skill covers and why it matters, then provide the main output. On subsequent use or when the user asks to skip, go directly to the main output.

Initial Assessment

Check for project context first: If .claude/project-context.md or .cursor/project-context.md exists, read it for product type, audience, and growth goals.

Identify:

1. Website type: Product/SaaS, B2B, E-commerce, Portfolio, Forum, Directory
2. Stage: New site (plan from scratch) vs. existing (extend or audit)
3. Growth strategy: Affiliate, education, multi-language, community, B2B, developer
4. Constraints: Team size, budget, tech stack

Page Priority Framework

Plan pages by priority for development scheduling. See skills-reference §2 Page Taxonomy for full page types and website-type mapping.

Generic Template Structure

Applicable to SaaS, tools, and content sites. Adapt by removing unused nodes (e.g. no API → drop API) and adding specific modules (e.g. industry, region).

Growth Strategy → Structure Mapping

Structure reflects growth strategy. Subdirectories signal channels:

Domain Structure (Multiple Products)

When planning for multiple products or brands, see domain-architecture for subfolder vs subdomain vs independent domain. This skill covers page structure within a single domain. For initial domain choice (Brand vs PMD vs EMD, TLD), see domain-selection.

Planning Workflow

1. Choose template: Start from generic structure; map to skills-reference §2 website types
2. Trim modules: Remove irrelevant nodes (e.g. no API → drop /api, /docs)
3. Add specifics: Industry pages, region, product variants
4. Assign URLs: Per node; follow url-structure (lowercase, hyphens, short, keyword-rich)
5. Export list: "Page type + URL + Priority" for dev scheduling
6. Tech stack: Match page types to services (DNS, auth, CMS, status page, etc.)
7. Iterate: Expand with new features, markets; keep structure clear

Structure Principles

Homepage Module Reference

See homepage-generator for common modules (Headline, Subheadline, CTA, Benefits, Social Proof, etc.), navigation options, and hero-generator for hero design.

Output Format

• Page list with priority (Must Have / Great to Have / Optional)
• URL structure (paths per section)
• Website-type fit (which pages apply per skills-reference §2)
• Growth mapping (which paths support which channels)
• Next steps: url-structure for URL rules; xml-sitemap for submission; site-crawlability for audit

References

• Website structure SEO guide — Alignify: structure importance, page priority, generic template, planning workflow, growth mapping, homepage modules
• skills-reference §2 (docs/skills-reference.md#2-page-taxonomy) — Full page types, website-type matrix, core vs extended; use for page selection

Related Skills

• seo-strategy: SEO workflow order; structure planning fits before Technical phase
• domain-selection: Initial domain choice; do before structure when choosing domain
• domain-architecture: Subfolder vs subdomain vs independent; do before structure if domain decision pending
• url-structure: URL optimization, hierarchy, slugs; apply after structure is defined
• site-crawlability: Crawlability, orphan pages, redirects; audit existing structure
• internal-links: Link strategy, hub-spoke; implement after pages exist
• xml-sitemap: Sitemap creation; include planned URLs
• breadcrumb-generator: Breadcrumb for hierarchy; large sites, e-commerce
• navigation-menu-generator: Nav design; primary, footer, mobile
• content-strategy: Content clusters, pillar pages; complements structure planning