Every website requires users to “live” inside that experience for a period of time. Basic real world architecture principles apply to website planning.

• What’s it for?
• What’s good about it?
• What’s bad about it?
• In Sum

A few tips on architecture planning:

• Organize content according to user needs, not an organizational chart or how the client structures their company.
• Give pages clear and succinct names.
• Be sympathetic. Think of your typical users, called personas, and imagine them navigating the website. What would they be looking for?
• Consider creating auxiliary way-finding pages. These pages would lie beyond the main navigation of your website and structure various pages according to specific user needs.
• If you can’t succinctly explain why a page would be useful to someone, omit it.
• Plan the architecture around the content. Don’t write content to fit the architecture.
• When dealing with clients, especially clients at large companies with many departments, keeping egos in check can be tough. Keep everyone on point with constant reminders of the true goals of the website.
• Not everything has to be a page. Use your hierarchy of content as a guide. Some items might work better as an FAQ entry or as sidebar content. Make sure your architecture-planning method does not blind you to this.

Architecture Is The Home, Not The Content Itself

Like the website itself, each of your pages has a structure and hierarchy as well. The architecture helps users find the right page. The hierarchy and semantics help users find the right content on that page. Too often, copywriting is an afterthought in Web development. No matter how attractive, clever or interactive a website is, its main purpose is to convey information. A great website is designed around the content.