How to plan your website structure

Website structure is the way your pages relate to one another. It determines where information belongs, how a reader reaches it, and what they can do next. A navigation menu expresses part of that structure, but links within a page, search results, and shared URLs also bring people into the site.

Planning those relationships helps you avoid an overloaded homepage or a collection of pages that leave visitors unsure where to go.

This guide uses an imaginary local cooking school. Its visitors want to find a suitable class, understand what happens there, and ask about attending. Your own plan should begin with equally concrete tasks.

Write down what visitors need to know in their own language. For the cooking school, questions might include:

• Is this class suitable for someone who has never baked bread?
• What will I make, and how long does the class last?
• Where is the school, and what should I bring?
• Can I arrange a session for a private group?
• How do I ask about a place?

Use these questions to organize the site, rather than following your internal departments. Visitors should not have to learn how your organization works first.

Look at actual enquiries, conversations, or support messages where available. If you are making assumptions, mark them as assumptions and check them with a prospective visitor. This gives you a reason for each page beyond filling a standard menu.

Collect the material that can answer those questions: class descriptions, photographs, dates you can confirm, location details, contact methods, and any conditions people need before enquiring.

Group related information. Several questions about one breadmaking class may belong on a single class page. Private group enquiries may need a different explanation because the audience, arrangements, and next step differ.

Do not create an empty page simply because another website has one. If you have one short paragraph about the school, it may fit on the homepage. If you have teaching philosophy, tutor biographies, and a useful account of the space, a separate About page may help.

Keep missing material visible in your working notes. Ask for it or reduce the scope before publishing; invented dates and qualifications are not a substitute.

Create a compact page plan. It should explain what the page helps someone decide, not just name its layout.

Adapt the plan to your material. A school offering one class might combine pages; a larger programme might need class categories.

Write a short purpose for each proposed page. If two purposes are almost identical, consider combining them. If one purpose contains several unrelated decisions, consider separating them.

Choose a simple hierarchy. In this example, Classes is the parent of individual class pages. Private groups can sit alongside it because it serves a different enquiry. The main navigation could contain Classes, Private groups, and Visit and contact.

Then add links within the content. A breadmaking page might link to directions beside its location details and to a related class near the end. These links should answer the question someone is likely to have at that point.

Plan readable URLs alongside the pages, such as /classes/breadmaking. Keep related pages consistently named. If you are reorganizing an existing site, record current URLs before changing them and arrange redirects for pages that move.

A page can be useful without appearing in the main menu. Individual class pages, enquiry confirmations, and detailed policies have different roles and do not need equal prominence.

Imagine someone opening the breadmaking page from a message or search result. Can they identify the school, understand the class, find practical details, and reach the enquiry action without starting again at Home?

Now try a different visitor: someone arranging a group event. Their route should lead to group information, not force them through individual class descriptions first.

Sketch these paths on paper or in a simple document. You do not need a polished diagram. Read each path aloud as a sequence of decisions: choose a class, check the level, check the location, enquire. Where you cannot name the next decision, reconsider the link or page.

Clear titles help readers recognize the page they have reached. The website titles guide explains how to write them for individual pages.

Bring the page plan and your content into Mythos. If the structure still needs discussion, use Plan mode to review the pages and main journeys before approving a Build.

In the first Preview, check the structure with actual headings, photographs, and descriptions. Long class names and practical details often reveal problems that short placeholders hide. Check the navigation on a narrow screen as well as a wide one.

Give another person a task, such as finding a beginner class and its location, without telling them which menu item to choose. Watch where they hesitate. Change the label, grouping, or link responsible for that hesitation, then try again.

For the full build process, continue with How to build a website with AI. Keep the page plan nearby as the site grows; it helps you decide whether new content belongs on an existing page or needs a new one.

Does every service need its own page? Give a service a separate page when it has enough distinct information and a useful visitor journey. Several closely related services with short descriptions may work better together.

Do all pages belong in the main navigation? No. Keep the main menu focused on common visitor tasks. Use relevant links within pages and appropriate footer links for supporting information. Make sure useful pages remain reachable somewhere on the site.