By Dawn Rowlett
Search Engine Positioning Specialist

If a search engine spider can not access your pages because of poor site structure and navigation, they can not index your pages. If your pages don't get indexed, they are not going to have a chance at high search engine rankings. By following a few helpful hints, you will be able to provide many access points to your important pages so that a search engine spider will be able to find them and index them.

Search Engine Spider Friendly Site Structure

Keep Important Pages At The Top Level
Keep all of your important pages in the root directory. Don't make a spider dig deeper than they have to or they will think that these pages are not as important.

• Site Maps
  Include a site map that includes links to all of your pages. Include a keyword rich description for each link that is relevant to the page you are linking to. The page is going to serve as a general map of your web site for the search engine spider to get around.
  
• Customized 404 Pages
  Create a customized 404 page that fits the design of your main pages and includes links to all of your important pages -- especially your home page. The custom 404 page will be served when a search engine spider or visitor comes to a page that is no longer on your site, has been moved or is a broken link within the site. Allowing important pages to be accessed when this error page is given will prompt a spider to continue through your site as opposed to leaving completely.

Search Engine Spider Friendly Navigation Structure

• Simplicity
  Navigation should be simple, easy to understand and hard to get lost within your site.
  
• Text Links
  Text links make it easier for a spider to read and associate your keyword relevancy with as opposed to using image links.
  
• Stress Importance
  Heavily cross link all of your important pages.
  
• Don't Forget Your Home Page!
  Include a link to your home page on all of your pages.
  
• Repeat
  Repeat links to your most important pages at the bottom of all of your pages.
  
• Avoid Broken Links
  A search engine spider will be very critical of this and broken links will also deter your visitors.
  
• Do Not Use JavaScript Links
  A search engine spider can not follow links coded in JavaScript.
  
• Do Not Use Image Maps
  Spiders can not follow them.

Following the above tips will give your site one more added boost to increasing the accessibility of your pages for better indexing and ranking potential.