How we approach website planning
Key article takeaways:
A well-structured website starts with planning—not design or copy
Your site should reflect both your business and how people actually search
New websites require a full SEO and site architecture from scratch
Existing sites often need restructuring, not just rewriting
When a website isn’t quite working, it can be tempting to blame the design. Or the copywriting style.
But sometimes, the root of the issue lies in the underlying structure.
Pages are created in isolation. Navigation is added as an afterthought. Content is written without a clear sense of hierarchy or purpose. The result is a site that may look polished on the surface, but feels disjointed, unclear, or difficult to navigate once you start using it.
This is where strategic website planning comes in.
At its core, this work is about defining how your website should be organized before anything is designed or written. It draws on keyword research, content strategy, and structural thinking to ensure that your site reflects both how your business operates and how your audience actually searches.
Every project starts from a different place. Some clients are building a website from scratch. Others are working with an existing site that needs to be restructured, expanded, or clarified. The approach adapts accordingly.
Nonetheless, the goal in both cases is the same: to define a clear, search-informed structure that supports visibility, usability, and long-term performance.
“Every project starts from a different place. Some clients are building a website from scratch. Others are working with an existing site that needs to be restructured, expanded, or clarified.”
New websites or full redesigns
When there’s no existing structure to work from, the process is both simpler and more involved.
Simpler, because we’re not constrained by what already exists. There’s more freedom. We don’t have to invest time and part of your budget examining the current state—how the website is performing now and where things are working well.
More involved, because everything needs to be defined from the ground up.
This is where we step in to build your website architecture from scratch.
1) A deep dive into your business & brand
Every project begins with a thorough onboarding process. Through a series of conversations and a detailed questionnaire, we develop a clear understanding of your business—your offerings, your priorities, and the nuances that set you apart. We also use this stage to surface key questions, recurring themes, and areas that may need to be clarified or better expressed on your site.
This ensures that the structure we propose is not only informed by search data but also grounded in a strong understanding of your business.
2) SEO keyword research & actual demand
Following the onboarding process, we start by identifying the right pages to create based on SEO keyword research and actual search demand. This ensures that your site isn’t just a reflection of what you think should be there, but is grounded in how people are actively looking for your services.
3) Determine the connectivities.
From there, we define how those pages relate to one another. This includes establishing a clear site structure, organizing pages into logical groupings, and determining what should sit at the top level versus what should support it behind the scenes.
4) Highly detailed mapping
Each page is then mapped out at a high level. We outline key sections, content direction, and how information should flow—so that when it comes time to write or design, there’s already a strong foundation in place.
5) Keyword placement
We also provide guidance on how keywords should be incorporated across pages and sections, ensuring that content aligns with search intent without feeling forced or overly optimized.
6) Internal linking strategy
Finally, we outline internal linking between pages. This helps support both navigation (for users) and structure (for search engines), reinforcing the relationships between your core pages and supporting content.
The result is a complete blueprint of your website—one that can guide copywriting, design, and development with clarity and intent.
“When there’s no existing structure to work from, the process is both simpler and more involved.”
Existing websites (audit and restructuring)
When a website already exists, the process begins with evaluation. The goal is to understand what’s there, how it’s performing, and where refinement, restructuring, or new pages may be needed.
1) Initial audit and discovery
We begin with a high-level audit of your existing website. The scope of this review varies depending on the state of the site, but typically includes an assessment of your current pages, structure, and overall user experience.
Where relevant, we also look at available data, such as Google Search Console and Google Analytics, to understand how your site is currently performing in search and how users are interacting with it once they arrive. This may include reviewing:
Which queries your site appears for
Which pages are generating visibility or traction
Where users are engaging—or dropping off
The goal here is not to conduct an exhaustive audit, but to build a clearer picture of what’s working, what may be underperforming, and where there are opportunities to strengthen the site.
2) Business and brand deep dive
As with new builds, we spend ample time with you to understand your business, services, positioning, customer challenges and needs, and frequently asked questions.
This context is essential. It allows us to interpret what’s already on the site more accurately, and ensures that any recommendations reflect how your business actually operates today—not just how it’s currently presented online.
3) SEO keyword and competitor analysis
We then incorporate SEO keyword research and light competitor analysis to better understand how your audience is searching for your services.
This isn’t about chasing high-volume terms. It’s about identifying relevant opportunities, understanding search intent, and ensuring your site is aligned with how people are actually looking for what you offer.
4) Structural review
With that context in place, we assess your current site architecture and page hierarchy.
This helps us evaluate:
How information is organized
Whether pages are clearly positioned
Whether the overall structure supports both usability and search visibility
5) Identifying gaps and opportunities
From there, we look for:
Gaps in coverage
Overlapping or competing pages
Missed opportunities to better support your services
In some cases, the issue is structural. In others, it’s about positioning or clarity.
6) Alignment and recommendations
Finally, we bring everything together—your business context, structural insights, and search data—to determine what changes are needed.
This may include:
New pages to introduce
Existing pages to consolidate or reposition
Structural changes to improve clarity and flow
The outcome is a clear, evidence-based plan to restructure and strengthen your website—without starting from scratch unless it’s truly necessary.
Grow on solid foundations
A well-structured website is easier to navigate, build, and expand on over time. When the foundation is clear, everything that follows tends to make more sense.
If you’re planning a new site—or reconsidering an existing one—we can help you define a structure that’s grounded, coherent, and built to support what you’re actually trying to do.
Write to us at info@simileagency.com for more information.
