Everyone in your org is on board: it’s time for a website redesign. The site needs a new look, new content, and new technology. Thousands of visitors use the site every month. You want a website that’s simple to use, responsive, beautiful, search-optimized, fast, and actually converts.
The team agrees that an optimized content architecture will be crucial to reach these goals. Content architecture refers to the way content is structured on a website and how that content is shown to users. When people talk about the content architecture of a site, they’re often referring to a sitemap.
If you’re about to jump on a website redesign, here’s how to create a content architecture that drives conversions and goes beyond a static list of website pages.
In this article:
Who is this article for?
You may find parts of this article valuable even if your website is built in-house and rarely discussed. However, the article is intended for teams working on large, actively maintained sites.
I’ve redesigned the content architecture of 30+ websites and applications. This article reflects my experience working with websites that:
- are a major source of revenue
- have multiple audiences and desired user actions
- get thousands of unique visitors each month
- drive conversion
- serve as an essential marketing asset
- are frequently updated
- involve multiple stakeholders, often with conflicting goals
- cost over 6 figures
The critical differences between a sitemap and a strategic content architecture
In alignment with your organizational goals, the team has collectively identified the need to revise and update the content architecture.
When people talk about the content architecture of a site, they’re often referring to a sitemap.
A sitemap is the public-facing structure of a website, including the navigational menus (headers and footers) and pages displayed in hierarchical levels. Sitemaps are fine, but they’re not the sole or final deliverable of content architecture.
Don’t get me wrong, you need a sitemap. A sitemap is a step in the right direction for designing a great site. However, if all the content architecture conversations your team has had have been about… a sitemap, it’s worth taking a step back and reassessing your goals. Why do you need a new content architecture? How does the sitemap fit in with those goals?
A sitemap is a static document that doesn’t display some of the most important decisions related to strategic content architecture.
Cross-functional collaboration
A new website includes design, content, and technology changes. To redesign a website, you need people focused on:
- project management
- content
- design
- development
- quality assurance
- strategy
For it to be successful, content architecture needs to involve people from other disciplines. If the sitemap has been created in silos by the design team or information architects, it will lack crucial context from engineering on technical feasibility, marketing on product strategy, and content owners.
Content management
For it to be successful, content architecture work needs to take into consideration the day-to-day realities of the content management team and the amount of content they can realistically edit, publish, and maintain.
Automations and personalized experiences
A static sitemap doesn’t show how the pages and content types will connect and work together to automate content distribution and personalize user experiences.
User pathways
For it to be successful, content architecture needs to demonstrate different ways users can access information on the website. If you have user personas (characters created based on research that help companies empathize with users and take into consideration their unique needs, behaviors, and desired experiences with the product), content architecture needs to consider the desired future experience for them as well as key desired actions for these pathways.
How proper information structure directly impacts user conversion rates
A proper information architecture impacts user conversion rates by increasing findability, scaling content consistently across teams, and validating product direction before heavy engineering investment.
Below, I’ve included some estimates of how proper information structure directly impacts user conversion rates (based on ROI calculations).
A multinational corporation consolidated content from 47 different business units, creating a unified knowledge base that eliminated redundant documentation and saved over $2.3 million in annual content management costs.
After restructuring 10,000+ educational resources, a global learning platform increased course completion rates by 54% by creating intuitive content pathways that matched learner intent and knowledge progression.
A healthcare provider transformed their patient portal from a confusing maze to an intuitive resource, increasing online appointment bookings by 62% after reimagining their digital navigation.
Another healthtech company used strategic content mapping to identify 3 critical user journey gaps, allowing them to pivot their product roadmap before investing in full-scale development and potentially avoiding a $2.4 million misguided engineering effort.
My favorite summer information architecture resources list featured a design ROI calculator and a useful thinking framework for calculating the value of design work.
Techniques for mapping user journeys through content hierarchies
To build a website that’s simple to use and actually converts, content hierarchy should match user intent and business goals.
Example: Company Y offers free image conversions (AVIF to JPG) and a paid API for developer automations.
The “Convert image” button should be immediately visible if most website users visit the website for that reason.
If image conversions aren’t displayed in the navigation and hidden at the end of the homepage under image optimization and new feature updates, the content hierarchy doesn’t match user intent.
Multiple “Download API key” options should be available if the majority of the company’s revenue comes from the API. The website should also demonstrate the advantages of automating compression workflows.
If API key download options are difficult to find, the content hierarchy doesn’t match business goals.
Some activities that contribute to mapping common user journeys through content hierarchies include:
I’ve also identified 11 common issues that contribute to designing content experiences that fail.
Refined content architecture = tangible business improvements. But am I biased?
I’ve audited content architecture, mapped custom automation workflows, and led major overhauls, so I’ve had the privilege to play at least a small part in creating meaningful, lasting positive change through design.
Am I overestimating the value of refined IA? Since my focus is on information architecture and I sell information architecture services, there’s some obvious inherent bias in the importance I place on this type of work.
I don’t say that information architecture work is important because it’s what I do. I do information architecture work because it’s important.
The significance of this work impacted my perspective, not the other way around. Earlier this year, I chose to create Little Language Models, one of the few information architecture consultancies in the world, because I saw firsthand the key role content architecture plays in creating tangible improvements for users and businesses.
Key takeaways
- Proper content structure directly impacts user conversion rates.
- Sitemaps, the public-facing structure of a website, shouldn’t be the sole or final deliverable of content architecture.
- If all the content architecture conversations your team has had have been about a sitemap, it’s time to step back and reassess.
- A sitemap is a static document that doesn’t display some of the most important decisions related to strategic content architecture.
- Important content architecture decisions include those surrounding cross-functional team members, content management realities, content automations, and user pathways.
- To build a website that’s simple to use and actually converts, we should map user journeys through content hierarchies. Helpful user journey activities include stakeholder interviews, analytics review, audits, and content tests.
- Clarifying why you need a new content architecture and how the sitemap fits in with those goals will be essential to designing an effective solution for your company.
AI Policy: I personally write each draft and final copy on this website. All content reflects my own thinking, ideas, style, and craft. I do not use AI such as ChatGPT or other LLMs to generate articles. Occasionally, I ask AI (such as Formalizer or Equativ) to summarize or re-state my own ideas and may restructure sections based on the response.
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