Simplifying Website Structure: Exclusive Tips By John Mueller

Google’s John Mueller shares tips for simplifying website structure on a Reddit thread. It is essential to know the effect of modifying website structure on search ranking and user-friendliness.

He talks about the impact of changing site structure on search engine optimization. In the Reddit thread, Mueller also talks about subdirectories and whether shifting them is beneficial or not to simplify site structure.

With Muller’s recommendation, you can try modifying or simplifying the structure of your website without having adverse effects on the SEO of the website. To learn more about the same, keep on reading.

Simplifying Website Structure

Given below is the list of methods to help modify your website structure.

Removing Subdirectories

On Reddit, an anonymous person suggested he would like to streamline his website structure by retiring /fr and /de subdirectories. He also indicated that later he could reroute the European digital traffic to the /eu subdirectory.

He asked John Mueller if this was a good idea and whether it would affect search engine optimization and rankings. 

What Was The Reply Of John Mueller?

Mueller said that though it was a good idea, it was not worth the effort. He said it would take a lot of work to retire the /fr and /de subdirectories and shift everything to the /eu subdirectory. Also, this doesn’t give the website any search engine optimization benefits.

Instead, he came up with another idea. The idea was to shift “/” (en-us) into a “/us” folder. This will give accurate and precise separation of elements, making “/us/” all US and “/fr/*” all French.

This will also make monitoring the site much more accessible and also make the site structure and sections simpler to recognize for search engines such as Google.

Mueller also suggests adding hreflang to every page instead of sections in the site structure. 

Why Is X-Default Necessary?

In the thread, Mueller emphasizes the necessity of x-default. This is especially true in the case of performing geo-IP redirects. He suggests setting the root homepage as x-default and that it correctly redirects to the version of the homepage specified by the user. 

If the x-default is not specified, search engines such as Google can mistake the root homepage as different from others. Search engines can show you two or more homepages for the same site.

Hence Mueller suggests setting the root homepage as x-default to avoid search engines such as google making the above mistake. 

Mueller also makes a point to clarify that this is to be done only for the homepage. He specifies that he won’t do this for other website pages as managing them would be challenging and complex. 

He also mentions that setting the x-default will only work efficiently for the homepage because the page has a high probability of getting search impressions.

Mueller’s Thought On Geo Redirects

In the thread, Mueller emphasizes using geo redirects only on the root homepage, not other website pages.

This is to simplify the process of finding the closest match of the domain typed by the user in the search engine at a specific location. It will also be easier for the user to access the different site versions for other countries. 

Mueller also mentions that there are alternatives to geo redirects, and one of them is dynamically changing the language of the homepage. But he warns that this approach may complicate the site structure rather than simplify it.

Another alternative may be using a country selector. But this will be impractical if you have many options to choose from. 

Conclusion

These suggestions given by John Mueller help you in simplifying the structure of your website without having adverse effects on the SEO and functionality of the website.