Clean URLs are the backbone of any sound website. For years I considered them an afterthought until recently it dawned on me how useful and fundamental they really are. I used to think of them as simply the result of how pages and directories ended up on the server. In actuality they’re far more important.

Typical scenario, a Client and Developer sit down to figure out what needs to go on the site. The Developer creates a graphical site map in Omnigraffle or Illustrator to convey the website in a common tree format that both parties can point at and say, “Oh, we’re missing a page here. Make a new rounded box for it right there.”

There’s really nothing wrong with this approach it’s just that I’ve always felt there was a better way to conceptualize the structure of a website.

Now, what is frustrating about that approach is that eventually someone has to translate that static site map of pseudo-pages and navigation into an actual functioning, clickable, usable, search-engine-friendly interweb site. Basically a waste of time. Yeah, I said it. Why? Because it doesn’t represent the interactive nature of a website and in the end will be scrapped and forgotten anyway. Wouldn’t you rather spend your time creating something that could be built upon? Of course you do!

So what’s the alternative? Scrap the site map and start with the URLs. You can quickly see what you’re dealing with and so can others. They create a relevant roadmap for what needs to be done. Check out the simplified example below.

• Home
  www.example.com/
• About
  www.example.com/about/
  www.example.com/about/history/
  www.example.com/about/widget/
• Products
  www.example.com/products/
  www.example.com/products/search/
  www.example.com/products/[PRODUCT-NAME]/
  www.example.com/products/category/[CATEGORY-NAME]/
• Contact
  www.example.com/contact/
  www.example.com/contact/form/
  www.example.com/contact/directions/
• Account
  www.example.com/register/
  www.example.com/account/
  www.example.com/account/login/
  www.example.com/account/logout/
  www.example.com/account/password-reminder/

It’s pretty clear what pages we need to develop now isn’t it?

Thinking about site organization this way forces you to consider pages that may have accidentally overlooked. In this example, “Products”, “Contact”, “About”, “Account” all need index pages with something on them. Seems obvious huh? Well, it is, unless you are me 4 years ago.

Keep in mind, this structure could easily be translated into a site map that clients are used to if you absolutely must have one.