Click Depth
Definition
Click Depth, also known as Link Depth, refers to the number of clicks required to reach a particular page from the home page or a root domain in a website structure. In simpler terms, it defines the depth of a page on your website. A high click depth means a page is hard to find, while a low click depth means a page is relatively easy to access from the homepage.
Click Depth Relevance For SEO
Click depth is relevant for SEO because it gives search engines an indication of how easy or difficult it is for users to access different pages on a website. Pages that have a lower click depth (fewer clicks from the homepage) tend to be crawled, indexed, and ranked higher by search engines than pages that require more clicks from the homepage to reach. This is because search engines want to surface pages that are easily accessible to users in their search results.
A high overall click depth across a website can indicate issues with site architecture and internal linking that may make it difficult for search engines to properly crawl and index all of the pages. Optimizing click depth involves using proper pagination, site architecture, internal linking, and XML sitemaps to ensure all pages are easily discoverable.
Click Depth Best Practices for SEO
- Link important pages directly from homepage or important category pages: This gives key pages a click depth of 1 which signals importance
- Use pagination for long content lists: Breaks up content while still allowing crawlability
- Implement intuitive site architecture and internal linking: Creates clear path to all pages from homepage
- Provide XML sitemap: Helps search engines discover all pages regardless of click depth