What does ‘click depth’ mean?
Click depth refers to how many clicks it takes to reach a certain page, from your home page.
So, for example, if you click on ‘Blog’ in the navigation menu, and then click ‘Older Articles’ twice to reveal a specific blog post, and then click on it to reveal the page, that is a click depth of 4 (which will be subject to change as additional blog posts are added).
However, if that specific blog post is linked to internally from your FAQ page, it could also have a click depth of 2 (1 click to visit the FAQ page, 2 clicks to follow the internal link to that specific blog post).
How does ‘click depth’ impact your SEO?
Click depth is an important factor in SEO. This is because it is one of the ways in which Google differentiates one page from another in terms of importance.
According to John Mueller of Google from a talk in 2018:
“What does matter for us… is how easy it is to actually find the content. So especially if your homepage is generally the strongest page on your website, and from the homepage, it takes multiple clicks to actually get to one of these stores, then that makes it a lot harder for us to understand that these stores are actually pretty important.”
In other words, the lower the click depth, the more likely Google will be to recognise a page as an authoritative resource.
So, if you wish to draw more attention to a specific page, you should ensure that it can be reached in as few clicks as possible.
This is why quality internal linking is so important. Don’t neglect it if you have important information you want more eyes on!
Click depth impacts the user experience
But it’s not just your SEO that you should be concerned with. Click depth is also very useful for creating a more positive user experience on your website.
The idea is: you want your users to be able to find the information they need as easily as possible. By creating the path of least resistance, you are delivering a more positive UX for your customers, which can benefit you in a number of different ways.
When attracting more, relevant traffic to your website, you need to provide them with a seamless on-page experience – especially if you want them to keep coming back for more!
What is the optimal click depth?
You should aim for a click depth of about 2 or 3, capping out at 4. Obviously, there will be certain pages and blog posts within your website that will be buried deeper, but so long as the bulk of your ‘critical information’ has a lower click depth, you’ll be on the right path.
Remember, any deeper than 4 and Google is going to struggle to crawl and index that page, which means less visibility for your SEO.
Final thoughts: Click depth is an important ranking factor
In conclusion, click depth is an important ranking factor and deserves careful consideration. For the best results you should create a site map so you can easily plan your content structure – and indeed create an intuitive internal linking system as well.
If you feel out of your depth and don’t have time to be thinking about such things, we recommend hiring a professional digital marketing agency to assist you. This SEO specialists in Dallas will certainly make light work of these technical, back-end tasks.
