Click Depth & Page Rank
Click depth and page depth don’t just affect the process of crawling and indexing a site’s content, they also affect users traversing the site. A site’s internal link depth will dictate the consumer journey, which pages people are most likely to visit and navigate to and if they can successfully complete their intended goal for entering the site. This will have a tremendous effect on user engagement and whether the user had a delightful or dreadful experience interacting with the site. With Google putting more of a focus now than ever on user experience and user behavior metrics, site structure is something that should not be taken lightly.
Key Takeaways
- The most important URLs should be included as high up in a site’s architecture as possible.
- What is the Relationship of Click Depth to PageRank?: Click depth affects both user experience and search engine indexing. Pages closer to the homepage (fewer clicks) are more accessible to search engines and users, resulting in better rankings
- Click Depth: Is It a Google Ranking Factor?: Pages with lower click depth (fewer clicks from the homepage) often rank better in Google search results, as Google gives more weight to easily accessible content.
- Click Depth vs. PageRank: While PageRank is more closely tied to a page’s authority via backlinks, click depth also plays a role by ensuring important pages are easily reachable, enhancing both ranking and user experience
What is Site Depth?
Site depth refers to the level search engines crawl and index pages within the site. The further down the URL sits within the site, the more difficult it is for bots to reach and frequently crawl. Therefore, these pages are deemed less important and harder to rank in SERPs.
What is Click Depth?
The level of a page within a site refers to how deep it sits inside the site’s architecture. The depth of a page is denoted by the number of levels inside the site, and these levels are determined by the clicks users have to take starting from the home page. The more clicks it takes to navigate to a page the deeper the level. In this example the homepage URL would be considered the start level, pages that are linked from it would be considered level two, and pages linked to level two pages would be on level three.
Why is Click Depth Important?
Click depth is imperative for SEO because it affects search engines for both crawling and indexing URLs. Search engines take a lot of signals from the way a website is architected, and website content is grouped. Internal link depth affects search engines capabilities to maneuver a website and discover pages to add to its index. It also assists in establishing the significance and topical themes of landing pages, which is influential for keyword rankings in SERPs. A shallow page depth, typically five clicks or fewer, can significantly enhance user experience by making information easily accessible.
The Impact of Click Depth on User Experience
Click depth has a significant impact on user experience. A shallow click depth, typically three clicks or fewer, allows users to quickly and easily find the information they need. This leads to increased user satisfaction, engagement, and conversion rates. On the other hand, a deep click depth can lead to frustration, increased bounce rates, and a negative user experience. A well-structured website with a shallow click depth can improve user experience by providing clear pathways to information and reducing friction.
How Search Engines View Click Depth
Search engines, such as Google, view click depth as an important factor in determining the relevance and importance of a page. Pages with a shallow click depth are considered more important and relevant, as they are more easily accessible to users. Search engines use click depth as a signal to determine the structure and organization of a website, which can impact search engine rankings. A well-structured website with a shallow click depth can improve search engine visibility and rankings.
Great and Poor Site Depth
Great Site Depth
A good rule of thumb is to have a robust number of pages within three clicks from the homepage in comparison to the entire number of pages. These pages should be the most critical to the brand, ensuring that any particular page is easily accessible and aligned with business goals and audience interests. The more prominent and higher level (2, 3, 4) a page sits within the site’s architecture, the more search engines notice and easier it is for them to crawl. A best in class example below showcases the majority of pages are within three clicks for users to navigate to. The highest number of pages are found on level three, with the deepest web crawl level of eight. Pages that fall between level four and level eight are pages that are considered less important to the brand.
Poor Site Depth
An example of a website that has an unhealthy number of pages that fall outside three clicks from the homepage relative to the total amount of pages. There are critical pages that are less prominent and site on a lower level (5,6,7, etc.) of the site’s architecture. An example of a poor crawl depth distribution can be seen below. The bulk of the site’s primary pages take more than three clicks for users. The highest number of pages are found on level six with the deepest web crawl level of sixteen. There are core pages that can be found on level twelve and twenty-two. Important pages that take more than three clicks to reach, should be evaluated on whether or not they need to be moved higher up in the site structure. Maintaining an optimal page depth of five clicks or fewer can prevent critical pages from being buried too deep within the site’s architecture.
What Is The Relationship Of Click Depth to Pagerank?
Click depth significantly impacts PageRank, Google’s system for ranking web pages. Pages requiring fewer clicks from the homepage generally have higher PageRank, as they’re more accessible and likely to receive inbound links. Conversely, pages buried deeper in a site’s structure (more clicks away) typically have lower PageRank, being less visible to search engines and users. Thus, reducing click depth can enhance a page’s PageRank and visibility in search results. A shallow page depth can enhance a page’s PageRank and visibility in search results by making it more accessible to both users and search engines.
How to Improve Click Depth?
Utilize internal linking to lower the depth of a page. This can be done by linking a particular page that sits higher up in the site’s architecture to the lower level page. This is the most effective solution to combat sites with deep page issues method that requires the least amount of effort. Furthermore, adding breadcrumbs to the site if it does not already would help users and search engines alike to navigate deeper seeded pages. If the site has serious click depth issues, an alternative method would be to restructure and overhaul the entire site. The first two solutions should be tried first since this option can be an extremely costly and resource intensive, especially if the site is large.
Tools for Click Depth Visualization
A webpage click depth visualizer maps how many clicks it takes to reach pages from the homepage. Website structure visualization tools like Octopus.do create interactive sitemaps, showing the structure and depth of each page. This helps identify pages that are too far from the homepage, improving SEO and user accessibility.
Internal Linking Strategies
Internal linking is a crucial strategy for improving click depth and user experience. By linking to relevant and important pages, you can guide users deeper into your content and improve engagement. Internal linking can also help search engines understand the structure and organization of your website, which can impact search engine rankings. Some effective internal linking strategies include:
- Using descriptive and keyword-rich anchor text
- Linking to relevant and important pages
- Using breadcrumbs to provide a clear navigation path
- Creating a clear and consistent linking structure
Discover our top 10 list for improving internal linking and your SEO.
How to Measure Success?
So how can you see the fruits of your labor of moving or altering the depth level of a page? This can be achieved by benchmarking data and monitoring the following metrics. These metrics are found in Google Analytics and Moz for the targeted page.
- Page Authority: A Moz metric, that predicts the likelihood that a single page will rank well, regardless of its content. The higher the PA score the more likely the individual page will rank well.
- Keyword Rankings: The position of keywords that search engines associate with a corresponding page.
- Organic Traffic: Visitors entering the page from search engine results.
- Pages per session: The number of pages a user views per visit to your site.
- Frequency: How often people visit the site. If users are continuously coming back to the page, it is considered valuable and easy to navigate to.
- Average Page Depth: The extent to which users scroll down a page before leaving, indicating user engagement and content performance.
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Rick is an SEO Manager, trainer and speaker at TEAM LEWIS who helps global brands increase their organic search visibility, traffic and conversions.
