# Site Architecture — Marketing Skill for AI Agents

Good site architecture keeps every important page within three clicks of the homepage and mirrors that hierarchy in clean, readable URLs like /features/analytics — lowercase, hyphenated, no dates or IDs. Header navigation holds four to seven items ordered by priority with a CTA button rightmost; deeper pages live in dropdowns, the footer, or section sidebars. URLs should stay flat where possible, and any URL that changes needs a 301 redirect to preserve backlink equity. Tie it together with internal linking so no page is orphaned: use a hub-and-spoke model where cluster pages link back to a pillar page, descriptive anchor text instead of 'click here,' and breadcrumbs that mirror the URL path. The typical deliverables are an ASCII page-hierarchy tree, a Mermaid visual sitemap, a URL map table, a navigation spec, and an internal linking plan.

> Maintained by Corey Haines · v2.0.0 · Updated 2026-05-13

Install: `npx skills add coreyhaines31/marketingskills`
Source: https://github.com/coreyhaines31/marketingskills/tree/main/skills/site-architecture

## When to use it

- "sitemap,"
- "site map,"
- "visual sitemap,"
- "site structure,"
- "page hierarchy,"
- "information architecture,"
- "IA,"
- "navigation design,"

## What's inside

**The playbook covers:** Before Planning, Site Types and Starting Points, Page Hierarchy Design, Navigation Design, URL Structure, Visual Sitemap Output (Mermaid), Internal Linking Strategy, Output Format, Task-Specific Questions

### Reference library

- [Mermaid Diagram Templates](https://github.com/coreyhaines31/marketingskills/blob/main/skills/site-architecture/references/mermaid-templates.md) — Copy-paste-ready Mermaid diagrams for visual sitemaps. Customize node labels and connections for your site.
- [Navigation Patterns](https://github.com/coreyhaines31/marketingskills/blob/main/skills/site-architecture/references/navigation-patterns.md) — Detailed navigation patterns for different site types and contexts.
- [Site Type Templates](https://github.com/coreyhaines31/marketingskills/blob/main/skills/site-architecture/references/site-type-templates.md) — Full page hierarchy templates with ASCII trees, URL maps, and navigation recommendations for common site types.

## Key data

- Header (6 items + CTA)**: Features | Pricing | Customers | Resources | Integrations | Docs | [Get Started]
- Header (4 items + CTA)**: Blog | Resources | About | Contact | [Subscribe]
- Header (5 items + cart/account)**: Shop (mega menu) | Collections | Sale | Blog | Help | [Cart icon] [Account icon]
- Header (7 items + CTA)**: Product | Solutions | Pricing | Resources | Blog | Docs | Integrations | [Start Free Trial]
- Header (5 items + CTA)**: Services | About | Testimonials | Blog | [Contact Us]

## Example

**Prompt:** Help me plan the site architecture for our new SaaS marketing website. We have a homepage, product page, pricing page, about page, blog, and want to add competitor comparison pages and integration pages.

**Page hierarchy (ASCII tree)**

Homepage (/)
├── Features (/features)
│   ├── Analytics (/features/analytics)
│   └── Automation (/features/automation)
├── Pricing (/pricing)
├── Integrations (/integrations)        ← hub for 200 pSEO pages
│   └── Slack (/integrations/slack)
├── Compare (/compare)                  ← hub for 50 comparison pages
│   └── vs Competitor (/compare/competitor-name)
├── Blog (/blog)
│   └── [Category: SEO] (/blog/category/seo)
└── About (/about)

**URL map (excerpt)**

| Page      | URL                    | Parent   | Nav Location    | Priority |
|-----------|------------------------|----------|-----------------|----------|
| Analytics | /features/analytics    | Features | Header dropdown | Medium   |
| Pricing   | /pricing               | Homepage | Header          | High     |
| Slack     | /integrations/slack    | Integrations | Hub page    | Low      |

## FAQ

### What is the 3-click rule in site architecture?

Users should be able to reach any important page within three clicks from the homepage. It isn't an absolute law, but if critical pages sit four or more levels deep, the structure needs flattening. The goal is to stay as flat as possible while keeping navigation clean — if a nav dropdown grows past 20 items, that's the signal to add a level of hierarchy rather than more depth.

### How should I structure my URLs?

Make them human-readable and reflective of the hierarchy: lowercase, hyphen-separated (not underscores), short but descriptive, with a consistent trailing-slash policy. Prefer /blog/post-name over /resources/blog/2024/01/post-name — skip dates, IDs, and query parameters for content. Keep patterns consistent (don't mix /features/analytics with /product/automation), and always 301-redirect any URL you change.

### Where do programmatic SEO pages fit in the site structure?

Route them under dedicated hub pages — for example /integrations and /compare — rather than cluttering the main navigation. Apply a hub-and-spoke model so each spoke page links back to its hub and the hub links to all spokes, which distributes link equity and keeps hundreds of pages crawlable. Keep them accessible from the hub and footer, not the primary header nav, and watch crawl budget as the count climbs.

## Related skills

- **content-strategy** — For planning what content to create and topic clusters
- **programmatic-seo** — For building SEO pages at scale with templates and data
- **seo-audit** — For technical SEO, on-page optimization, and indexation issues
- **cro** — For optimizing individual pages for conversion
- **schema** — For implementing breadcrumb and site navigation structured data
- **competitors** — For comparison page frameworks and URL patterns

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Canonical: https://marketing-skills.com/skills/site-architecture