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Site Architecture

  • 83 installs
  • 451 repo stars
  • Updated July 21, 2026
  • borghei/claude-skills

Site Architecture is a Claude skill for designing SEO-focused website information architecture: URL hierarchy, navigation, silo structure, internal linking and crawl-equity management.

About

Site Architecture & Internal Linking is a framework for website information architecture aimed at SEO. It covers URL hierarchy design, navigation architecture, silo structure and topic clusters, internal linking strategy and crawl-equity management. It provides depth guidelines, URL construction rules, per-site-type URL patterns and a navigation-zone model. It runs in four modes: auditing an existing site, planning a new architecture, optimizing internal linking, and URL restructuring with redirect maps. Developers and SEOs use it to structure sites so crawl equity flows to the pages that matter.

  • Designs URL hierarchy, navigation, silo structure and internal linking for SEO
  • Includes depth guidelines, URL construction rules and site-type URL patterns
  • Four operating modes: audit, new-site planning, internal-linking optimization and URL restructuring

Site Architecture by the numbers

  • 83 all-time installs (skills.sh)
  • Ranked #1,174 of 1,879 Marketing & SEO skills by installs in the Skillselion catalog
  • Data as of Aug 5, 2026 (Skillselion catalog sync)
At a glance

site-architecture capabilities & compatibility

Free; a guidance framework, no API keys.

Capabilities
seo audit
Use cases
seo · web design
Pricing
Free
From the docs

What site-architecture says it does

Information architecture, URL hierarchy, internal linking strategy, navigation design, and silo structure for websites.
SKILL.md
Production-grade website architecture framework covering URL hierarchy design, internal linking strategy, navigation optimization, silo structure, and crawl equity management.
SKILL.md
Flat is better than empty hierarchy.
SKILL.md
npx skills add https://github.com/borghei/claude-skills --skill site-architecture

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Installs83
repo stars451
Last updatedJuly 21, 2026
Repositoryborghei/claude-skills

What it does

Design URL hierarchy, navigation, silos and internal linking so crawl equity flows to key pages.

Who is it for?

Auditing site structure, planning a new site's architecture, improving internal linking, or restructuring URLs.

When should I use this skill?

You are designing or restructuring a site's URL hierarchy, navigation, silos or internal linking for SEO.

What you get

A URL hierarchy, navigation and internal-linking plan (with redirect maps when restructuring) that concentrates crawl equity on rankable pages.

  • URL hierarchy design
  • Navigation architecture
  • Silo/topic-cluster map

By the numbers

  • 4 operating modes
  • 6 navigation zones
  • primary nav capped at 5-8 items

Files

SKILL.mdMarkdownGitHub ↗

Site Architecture & Internal Linking

Production-grade website architecture framework covering URL hierarchy design, internal linking strategy, navigation optimization, silo structure, and crawl equity management. Handles architecture audits, new site planning, and restructuring existing sites.

---

Table of Contents

---

Operating Modes

Mode 1: Audit Current Architecture

Existing site needs structural assessment. Analyze depth distribution, orphan pages, link equity flow, and navigation effectiveness.

Mode 2: Plan New Architecture

Building from scratch or full redesign. Map business goals to site sections, design URL hierarchy, plan navigation, and define content silos.

Mode 3: Internal Linking Optimization

Structure is fine but link equity flow needs improvement. Identify hub pages, map spoke content, fix orphans, and optimize anchor text.

Mode 4: URL Restructuring

Changing URLs on an existing site. Plan the new structure, build redirect maps, and manage the migration.

---

URL Structure Design

Depth Guidelines

DepthExampleUse WhenSEO Impact
1 level (flat)/cold-email-tipsBlog posts, standalone pagesBest crawl equity per page
2 levels/email-marketing/cold-email-tipsCategory is a rankable page itselfGood, category page accumulates authority
3 levels/solutions/marketing/email-automationProduct families, nested servicesAcceptable if each level has content
4+ levels/a/b/c/d/pageNeverDiluted equity, poor UX, crawl issues

Decision rule: If the intermediate directory URL (/email-marketing/) will NOT be a real page with its own content and ranking target, do not create the directory. Flat is better than empty hierarchy.

URL Construction Rules

RuleGoodBadWhy
Use hyphens/seo-audit/seo_auditUnderscores are not word separators for Google
Be descriptive/pricing/pricing-pageRedundant suffixes add nothing
Keep short/guides/technical-seo/guides/technical-seo-audit-checklist-complete-guideReadability matters
Include keyword/guides/seo-audit/guides/article?id=4827Descriptive URLs rank better
Be consistent with trailing slashesPick one: /about or /about/Mix of bothInconsistency creates duplicate content
Use lowercase/about-us/About-UsCase sensitivity varies by server

URL Patterns by Site Type

Site TypePatternExample
SaaS/features/[feature], /solutions/[use-case], /integrations/[partner]/features/analytics, /solutions/marketing, /integrations/slack
E-commerce/[category]/[subcategory]/[product]/mens/shoes/running-shoes-pro
Blog/Content/blog/[slug] or /blog/[category]/[slug]/blog/seo-audit-guide
Local business/[service]/[location]/plumbing/austin-tx
Documentation/docs/[section]/[page]/docs/api/authentication
Marketplace/[category]/[listing]/designers/john-smith

---

Navigation Architecture

Navigation Zones

Every site has 6 navigation zones. Each serves a different purpose and carries different SEO weight.

ZoneItemsSEO WeightDesign Rule
Primary nav5-8 items maxHigh (sitewide equity)Only pages you want to rank for. Never "Resources" without a landing page.
Secondary nav3-7 per sectionMediumSub-navigation within a section/silo
BreadcrumbsDynamicHigh (upward equity)Every non-homepage page. Each segment must be a real link.
Footer nav8-15 items maxLow-MediumKey pages only. Not a dumping ground for every page.
Contextual (in-content)3-5 per pageHighestMost powerful signal. Natural editorial links within body content.
Sidebar5-10 itemsLow-MediumRelated content, category listing

Primary Navigation Design

Rules:

  • 5-8 items maximum. Cognitive overload starts at 9+ items.
  • Every nav item links to a page you actively want to rank.
  • Dropdown menus are fine, but the parent item must be a clickable, crawlable link (not just a hover trigger).
  • Do not put utility pages (Contact, Privacy, Terms) in primary nav -- they belong in the footer.
  • Mobile nav must expose the same structure as desktop nav (no hidden critical pages).

Breadcrumb Implementation

Add breadcrumbs to every non-homepage page. They serve three functions:

1. UX: Show users their location in the hierarchy 2. SEO: Create sitewide upward internal links to hub/category pages 3. Rich results: Enable BreadcrumbList schema for SERP breadcrumbs

Format: Home > Category > Subcategory > Current Page

Rules:

  • Every breadcrumb segment must be a real, crawlable link
  • Never use breadcrumbs as styled text without links
  • Add BreadcrumbList schema markup alongside visible breadcrumbs
  • Breadcrumb hierarchy should match URL hierarchy

---

Silo Structure and Topic Clusters

Hub-and-Spoke Model

A silo is a self-contained cluster of content about one topic, where all pages link to each other and to a central hub page.

                    ┌──────────────────┐
                    │     HUB PAGE     │
                    │   /seo/          │
                    │   (Pillar content)│
                    └────────┬─────────┘
            ┌────────────────┼────────────────┐
       ┌────┴────┐      ┌───┴────┐      ┌────┴────┐
       │ SPOKE 1 │      │ SPOKE 2│      │ SPOKE 3 │
       │technical│      │on-page │      │  link   │
       │  seo    │      │  seo   │      │building │
       └────┬────┘      └───┬────┘      └────┬────┘
            │                │                │
       Cross-links     Cross-links      Cross-links
       between         between          between
       related         related          related
       spokes          spokes           spokes

Building Topic Clusters

Step 1: Identify 3-7 core topics for your site (these become your silos)

Step 2: For each topic, create one pillar page (the hub) that covers the topic broadly

Step 3: Create spoke content for each major sub-question or sub-topic

Step 4: Implement linking:

  • Hub links DOWN to every spoke
  • Every spoke links UP to the hub (with keyword-rich anchor text)
  • Spokes link ACROSS to related spokes within the same silo
  • Cross-silo links are fine when contextually genuine

Step 5: Build the content before building the links. Links to non-existent content are useless.

Silo Depth Guidelines

Silo SizeRecommended DepthStructure
3-5 spokesFlatHub + spokes, all at same level
6-15 spokesShallow nestedHub > Sub-hubs > Spokes
16-50 spokesTwo-levelHub > Category sub-hubs > Individual spokes
50+ spokesPaginatedHub > Category sub-hubs > Paginated spoke listings

---

Internal Linking Strategy

Link Equity Power Stack

Not all internal links carry equal weight. From most to least powerful:

RankLink TypeWeightWhen to Use
1In-content contextual linkHighestNatural editorial links within body copy
2Hub page linkHighPillar page linking to all its spokes
3Navigation linkMediumSitewide, consistent, but diluted by ubiquity
4Breadcrumb linkMediumUpward equity flow, consistent
5Footer linkLowSitewide, Google discounts these
6Sidebar linkLowOften not in main content flow

Anchor Text Strategy

TypeExampleUsageSignal Strength
Partial match"effective cold email strategies"Primary approach (60-70% of links)Strong
Exact match"cold email templates"Use sparingly (10-15% of links)Strong but risky if overused
Branded"our email guide"Natural variation (10-15%)Moderate
Descriptive"this comprehensive guide"Natural variation (5-10%)Weak but natural
Generic"click here", "learn more"Avoid (< 5%)None -- wasted signal
Naked URLhttps://example.com/guideNever for internal linksNone

Orphan Page Detection and Resolution

An orphan page is indexed in Google but has zero inbound internal links. It is invisible to the site's link graph.

Detection method: 1. Export all indexed URLs (GSC Coverage or site: query) 2. Export all internal link targets (crawl tool or link extraction) 3. Pages in set A but not set B are orphans

Resolution actions:

Orphan TypeAction
Valuable content, belongs in a siloAdd contextual links from 3+ related pages
Old content, still relevantLink from hub page and 1-2 spokes
Outdated content, no valueRedirect to relevant page or noindex
Utility page (shouldn't be indexed)Add noindex

Internal Linking Audit Checklist

CheckPass Criteria
Every content page has 3-5 outbound internal linksNo page links only to itself or navigation
Every target page has 3+ inbound internal linksNo orphans in the indexed set
Hub pages link to all their spokesComplete coverage
Anchor text is descriptive and variedNo > 30% exact match for any keyword
No broken internal links0 broken links
Link depth from homepage < 4 clicks95%+ of pages within 3 clicks

---

Crawl Equity Management

Homepage Equity Distribution

The homepage is your highest-equity page. Use it wisely.

Homepage Link TargetPriority
Hub/pillar pages (top of each silo)Highest -- link from homepage content area
Key product/service pagesHigh -- link from homepage or primary nav
Top-performing contentMedium -- link if contextually relevant
Utility pages (contact, about)Low -- footer links only
Blog indexMedium -- primary or secondary nav

Crawl Budget Allocation

Page Category% of Crawl BudgetOptimization
Money pages (product, pricing, features)20-30%Internal link from homepage + nav
Pillar content (hub pages)20-30%Extensive internal linking
Spoke content (blog, guides)30-40%Linked from hubs + contextual
Utility pages (about, contact, legal)5-10%Footer links only, minimal crawl
Tag/archive/pagination< 5%Noindex if thin, limit crawling

---

Architecture Audit Framework

Audit Scorecard

DimensionWeightCheck
Crawl depth20%95%+ pages within 3 clicks of homepage
Orphan pages20%0 orphan pages in indexed set
URL cleanliness15%Clean, descriptive, consistent URLs
Navigation completeness15%All key pages accessible via primary/secondary nav
Internal link coverage15%Every page has 3+ inbound internal links
Silo coherence10%Topic clusters are well-defined with clear hub-spoke relationships
Breadcrumb implementation5%Present on all non-homepage pages with schema

Red Flag Indicators

SignalSeverityAction
Pages > 3 clicks from homepageHighCreate shortcuts via nav or hub page links
Hub page has no content (just links)HighAdd pillar content to all hub pages
Generic anchor text dominant (> 30%)MediumRewrite anchor text to be descriptive
No breadcrumbs on deep pagesMediumImplement breadcrumbs with BreadcrumbList schema
Sitemap includes noindex pagesMediumFilter sitemap to only indexable pages
Primary nav links to utility pagesLowMove Contact/Privacy to footer
Footer contains 50+ linksLowReduce to 8-15 key pages

---

Restructuring Playbook

When to Restructure

SignalRestructure?Alternative
Complete URL overhaul neededYes--
Adding 3 new sectionsPartial -- new sections only--
Fixing orphan pagesNoAdd internal links, no URL changes needed
Improving navNoUpdate navigation, keep URLs
Moving to new CMSYes (usually)Keep URL structure if CMS supports it

Restructuring Steps

1. Crawl current site -- Export all URLs, internal links, and rankings 2. Map current to new -- Create 1:1 URL redirect mapping 3. Build redirect rules -- 301 redirects for every changed URL 4. Chain existing redirects -- Update old redirects to point to final destination 5. Update internal links -- Point to new URLs (do not rely on redirects for internal links) 6. Update sitemap -- Reflect new URL structure 7. Monitor for 60 days -- Watch for crawl errors, ranking changes, traffic impact

---

Architecture Patterns by Site Type

SaaS Website

/                           Homepage
├── /features/              Features hub
│   ├── /features/analytics Analytics feature
│   └── /features/reporting Reporting feature
├── /solutions/             Solutions hub (by use case)
│   ├── /solutions/marketing Marketing use case
│   └── /solutions/sales    Sales use case
├── /integrations/          Integrations hub
│   ├── /integrations/slack Slack integration
│   └── /integrations/salesforce Salesforce integration
├── /pricing                Pricing page
├── /blog/                  Blog index
│   ├── /blog/seo-guide     Blog post
│   └── /blog/growth-tips   Blog post
├── /docs/                  Documentation
└── /about                  About page

E-commerce Site

/                           Homepage
├── /[category]/            Category page (with content)
│   ├── /[category]/[subcategory]/ Subcategory (with content)
│   │   └── /[category]/[subcategory]/[product] Product page
│   └── /[category]/[product]      Product (if no subcategory)
├── /brands/                Brand hub
│   └── /brands/[brand]     Brand page
├── /blog/                  Content hub
└── /sale/                  Promotions hub

Content/Media Site

/                           Homepage
├── /[topic]/               Topic hub (pillar content)
│   ├── /[topic]/[subtopic] Subtopic article
│   └── /[topic]/[guide]    In-depth guide
├── /authors/               Author hub
│   └── /authors/[name]     Author page
├── /tools/                 Free tools hub
│   └── /tools/[tool]       Individual tool
└── /newsletter             Newsletter signup

---

Common Mistakes

MistakeWhy It HurtsFix
Orphan pagesNo equity flows in, Google deprioritizesAdd contextual internal links from related content
URL changes without redirectsLost link equity and broken backlinksAlways 301 redirect old URLs
Deep nesting (4+ levels)Diluted crawl equity, confusing UXFlatten structure
Empty category pagesThin pages do not rankAdd pillar content to all category/hub pages
Homepage linking to nothingWastes highest-equity pageLink from home to all hub pages
Footer with 100+ linksDilutes equity across too many targetsLimit footer to 8-15 key pages
Navigation not matching user mental modelUsers leave, engagement dropsRun card-sort testing with real users
Dynamic parameter URLsCreates duplicate contentCanonicalize or block with robots.txt
Sitewide sidebar links to every postDiluted equity, adds noiseRemove or limit to "popular" posts

---

Output Artifacts

ArtifactFormatDescription
Architecture Audit ScorecardWeighted score tablePer-dimension scores with red flag indicators
Site Tree DiagramText-based hierarchyVisual URL structure with annotations
URL Specification TableTableURL pattern, title template, parent page, schema type per section
Internal Linking PlanHub-spoke mapTopic cluster map with anchor text guidelines and orphan fix list
Redirect MapBefore/after URL table1:1 mapping for URL restructuring with 301 implementation
Navigation SpecZone-by-zone designPrimary, secondary, breadcrumb, footer, and contextual nav plans

---

Related Skills

  • seo-audit -- For comprehensive SEO audits where architecture is one of several problem areas. Use seo-audit for the full picture, site-architecture for deep structural work.
  • schema-markup -- For adding BreadcrumbList and other structured data after architecture decisions are finalized.
  • programmatic-seo -- For hub-and-spoke structures at scale when generating hundreds of template-based pages.
  • content-creator -- For creating the pillar content that hub pages need to rank effectively.

---

Troubleshooting

ProblemLikely CauseFix
Orphan pages appearing in Google indexPages exist in sitemap or have external links but no internal links pointing to themAdd contextual internal links from 3+ related pages; update hub pages to include them
Crawl depth exceeds 4+ clicks for key pagesFlat navigation missing or hub pages not linking to spokesCreate shortcut links via primary nav, hub page content blocks, or featured sections
Category/hub pages ranking poorlyHub pages have no substantive content — just link listsAdd 800+ words of pillar content to every hub page; they must rank on their own merit
Redirect chains after site migrationOld redirects not updated to point to final destination; chains accumulate over multiple migrationsAudit all existing redirects; collapse chains so every redirect points directly to the final URL
Internal links using generic anchor text"Click here" and "learn more" anchor text dominating internal linksRewrite anchors to be descriptive with partial-match keywords; aim for 60-70% partial match
New sections not getting crawledNo internal links from existing high-authority pages to new sectionAdd contextual links from homepage and related hub pages; submit new section sitemap

---

Success Criteria

  • Crawl depth: 95%+ of indexable pages reachable within 3 clicks from homepage
  • Zero orphan pages: No indexed pages without at least 3 inbound internal links
  • URL cleanliness: 100% of URLs follow the established pattern — lowercase, hyphenated, descriptive, consistent trailing slash policy
  • Navigation coverage: All key revenue and pillar pages accessible via primary or secondary navigation
  • Internal link density: Every content page has 3-5 outbound contextual internal links with descriptive anchor text
  • Silo coherence: Each topic cluster has a defined hub page with bidirectional links to all spokes
  • Breadcrumb coverage: BreadcrumbList schema present on 100% of non-homepage pages

---

Scope & Limitations

In scope:

  • URL hierarchy design and restructuring
  • Navigation architecture (primary, secondary, breadcrumb, footer, contextual, sidebar)
  • Silo structure and topic cluster planning
  • Internal linking strategy and optimization
  • Crawl equity analysis and optimization
  • Architecture audits with scored reports
  • URL migration planning with redirect mapping

Out of scope:

  • Content creation for hub pages (use Content Production)
  • Schema markup implementation (use Schema Markup)
  • Technical SEO beyond architecture (use SEO Audit)
  • Visual design or UX design of navigation
  • CMS development or template coding
  • External link building

Known limitations:

  • Crawl equity distribution is estimated — Google does not publish exact PageRank flow data
  • Architecture changes on large sites (10K+ pages) require careful phased migration to avoid traffic loss
  • Navigation testing (card sorts, tree tests) requires user research tools and participants
  • Cross-silo linking recommendations are qualitative — no deterministic formula exists for optimal cross-linking density

---

Scripts

# Analyze sitemap for depth and structure issues
python scripts/sitemap_analyzer.py --file sitemap.xml --json

# Check URLs for redirect chains and patterns
python scripts/redirect_checker.py --file urls.txt --json

# Map internal link structure from a sitemap
python scripts/link_mapper.py --sitemap sitemap.xml --json

Related skills

FAQ

How deep should URLs be?

It recommends staying flat where possible and never going beyond 4 levels, and not creating a directory unless the intermediate URL will be a real ranking page.

What operating modes does it have?

Audit current architecture, plan new architecture, internal linking optimization, and URL restructuring.

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