Usability, Findability and Discoverability
There are two concepts you should be aware of regarding site architecture:
- Efficient crawling and indexing. This refers to the technical architecture or TA.
- Classifying, labeling and organizing content. This refers to information architecture > or IA.
Together, information and technical architecture form the site architecture (SA). A good understanding of these two concepts will help you build search engine optimized websites that are search-engine and user-friendly.
It is important to differentiate between information and technical architecture:
- Information architecture is the process of classifying and organizing content on a website while providing user-friendly access to that content, via navigation. This process is done (or should be done) by information architects.
- Technical architecture is the process of designing the technical and functional aspects of a site. This is mostly done by web developers.
Keep in mind that SEO involves both information and technical architecture knowledge.