To design the best website, you need to take it up a notch and get pretty technical. The best way to do this is with sitemap design. Here’s how to create the best website with sitemapping.
If you want your website to be easy for people to use, you need to think about some of the more technical aspects of your site. One such aspect you need to pay attention to is the design of the sitemap.
A well-thought-out sitemap design ensures key pages on your site are easy to find. But if you have no idea what a sitemap is or how you can even create a good one, you might not know how to get started.
Thankfully, it’s not too hard to create an effective sitemap.
In fact, keep reading, and you’ll learn how to create a website with optimal sitemap design, so that everyone who comes across your site, finds it
easy to use.
What Is a Sitemap?
A sitemap is essentially a ‘map’ of all the different pages on your site. It helps you observe how each of the sections relate to one another.
In some cases, it also helps you identify the structure of your site, helping you to define the ‘child’ and ‘parent’ pages. You can find out more by visiting this site.
How to Create a Sitemap
If you are going to design your sitemap, it helps to sit down with a pen and paper. You then need to list out all the pages you are going to have on your website. You then need to create a ‘tree’ of sorts, that helps you identify how each of these pages is going to link together.
When creating this tree you want to make sure you do not make things too complicated. You need to keep the end user in mind and this means you need to make everything simple. Think about grouping pages that are relevant, with one another.
How to Translate Your Sitemap into a Website
Once you have the sitemap for your website, you are going to need to create a website, using your plans. There are a few things you need to keep in mind here.
For one, if you are using a premade theme for your site, you need to make sure it will allow you to do the things you’ve planned out in your sitemap.
For example, if you want your website menus to list all the relevant pages, within a certain category, check that the theme does this. If it does not, you will need to find another theme that provides you with this functionality.
If you find a theme you really like but you are unable to map your sitemap to the theme, think about hiring a web developer. A web developer might be able to help you adjust your theme so that it works the way you would like it to.
In some cases, they might even be able to redesign a whole new theme for you, to help you create the kind of website you are after.
Get Feedback on Your Sitemap Design
Even though you’ve created a sitemap that seems like it will work well, you will never truly know until you see people using your site. You, therefore, want to seek out feedback from people after they have used your site.
There are many ways you could do this.
The first is to simply ask someone to find something on your site. You can then watch them navigate your website and see how easy it was for them to complete the task.
The other way you can do this is by using a ‘user testing’ service. Such a service gives you the chance to pay people so that they can review your site. This can make it easier for you to observe any usability issues that might take place as a result of a poorly designed sitemap.
Whichever approach you take, try to obtain a large set of data. This will help you figure out what is an anomalous result and what isn’t. Based on what you learn, you will be able to identify what the real issues are with your website, of which are experienced by nearly everyone.
The Importance of a Digital Sitemap
The sitemaps we’ve discussed so far are related to the design of your website. As mentioned, you use this sitemap to map out the various sections of your website so it is easy to use.
But once your website has been built, you will need to think about the digital sitemap of your website. Such sitemaps are often known as XML sitemaps.
These sitemaps help search engines learn about the various pages on your website. It, therefore, becomes easier for Google to index the pages of your website within the search results.
If you have a WordPress website, you should be able to create an XML sitemap with the help of a plugin. There are many plugins on offer, and you should try to find the one with the highest rating. You should be able to source an XML sitemap plugin for free.
If you want to improve the chances of a Google finding your website, you can submit it. You can do this by creating a Search Console account. You can then go to the section within that account, that allows you to submit a sitemap.
Superb Sitemap?
Creating a sitemap is important if you want your website to be easy for people to use. If you want your sitemap design to be good, you need to put yourself in the shoes of the people using your website.
Even after you’ve created your sitemap and you have accordingly designed your website, it still helps to seek out feedback.
In doing so, you will be able to identify just how good your sitemap is. You will also be able to spot sticking points in your sitemap that need to be adjusted so that your site is easy to use, no matter who is using it.
Want to read more about how you can improve your website? Check out our website design section to see some of your latest content!
