Guide to Ecommerce Website Architecture: Why You Should Care About It

There are many factors contributing to a successful eCommerce business, like high-quality products, timely shipping, and efficient SEO. These elements play a crucial role, but you cannot achieve success in online sales without a strong website foundation — eCommerce architecture.

Website architecture is the backbone of both the front-end and back-end of your platform. A perfectly elaborated eCommerce website architecture will make your online store flexible and scalable. It ensures a positive user experience and high search engine results. 

In this article, we will explore why you should pay attention to the structure of your site. Whether you Create a New eCommerce Platform or want to optimize the existing one, this guide will help you reach heights in online sales. 

What Is eCommerce Website Architecture 

The first thing to consider about ecommerce architecture is the definition of this concept. How can you know you need to work on the architecture of your online store if you are unaware of what it’s and what role it plays? Here we will try to explain e Commerce architecture. 

Speaking in simple terms, a website architecture is its structure that facilitates the site navigation for users and services machines. A good ecommerce site architecture is intuitive, meaning people use and search engines understand it easily. Data blocks are well structured and there’s no disorganized pages. 

There are traditional and modern website architectures. In modern conditions, you should always choose platforms that are designed to scale fast and easily. It’s challenging to upgrade and maintain old architecture. With a cutting-edge site structure, you can adapt your platform to new trends and demands and add new features seamlessly. 

Importance of eCommerce Website Architecture 

ECommerce sales are growing increasingly over the last few years, and statistics say online retail sales will reach $7,385 Tn by 2025. A high demand contributes to massive supply, and merchants worldwide try to attract customers and stand out. That is why in addition to excellent SEO optimization and expensive marketing campaigns, your website should have a good structure. 

Your website performance is quite important for high conversions. According to the statistics, the first five seconds have the highest impact on conversion rates. And if the load time takes longer, website visitors leave the page. Moreover, 70% of consumers admit that page speed impacts their willingness to buy from an online retailer.

A solid web store structure is vital for your business’s success. If your site is hard to navigate, chances are low that people will spend time on your platform and make a purchase. Once you are familiar with the definition, let’s explore the advantages of good eCommerce architecture design.

Ranking and Indexing

Search engines will index your website appropriately and rank it higher if you have a solid architecture. They consider your data block structure and their connectivity as well as how scannable the site is organized. Customers may not find your website if some pages are unindexed because of poor structure. 

Scalability

With a strong eCommerce system design, you can upgrade your platform and add new functionalities without creating a site from scratch. It’s important you know what website structures are needed to modify. 

Easy Navigation 

The satisfaction rate of your customers will boost if they can navigate your website fast and easily. Structure your platform properly so that people find what they need immediately and smoothly follow the search bar and menu. 

Sitelinks 

Another great advantage of site architecture is that additional internal links are displayed properly in search engine results. It enables users to find the necessary page below the link to your homepage on Google on the fly.

Google Featured Snippets

Google Featured Snippets show short fragments of information in Google search results so that a person reads the definition without visiting a site. Your well-structured eCommerce site and properly indexed snippets will get on the top.

SEO

And finally, the reason to develop a good architecture of e Commerce is search engine optimization. Having a clear structure will rank high as engines understand what your page is about and how its pages are connected. Customers will browse your site easily and get a seamless shopping experience. 

Types of eCommerce Architecture

Now let’s explore the main types of eCommerce architecture so you can make a well-thought-out platform. Knowing that you will promote your business effectively and benefit from high indexing and ranking. We will look at two-tier, three-tier, microservices, and SaaS architectures and their benefits and functions for you to select the best type for your online web store. 

Two-Tier Architecture

A two-tier architecture means that your site has two components: client side and server side. The first maintains the user interface, and the second contains database data. There are also two web applications used for customer convenience and business logic. The business application logic may run on either side of the architecture. And the customer-side application runs on the client’s computer. It allows the creation of a consistent interaction as the application gathers data from the customer and communicates it back to the database server. There is no mediator between the client and server that ensures fast operation. Another advantage is easy maintenance and modification. 

Three-Tier Architecture

Three-tier eCommerce architecture means there are three layers: presentation (client), application (business logic), and database. It allows business owners to handle many processes with more functionality. This architecture type offers great flexibility, better data integrity and a higher level of security. It’s very convenient that each layer has its own infrastructure and can be updated separately. Today three-tier architecture requires cloud migration. Consider that it should be mostly managed manually, and communication between layers is quite complicated. 

Microservices Architecture

The microservices approach gains more popularity these days as it improves the user experience with third-party solutions. So you can benefit from a set of independent services. Multiple services are less dependent on each other. If one service goes down, you can handle the issue, and the whole system won’t be affected. This type of architecture helps with scalability. It looks like a perfect choice for enterprises due to fault isolation, flexibility, scalability, fast deployment, and the possibility to debug locally. Startup companies may find it challenging to manage all resources and handle complex server communication.

SaaS

SaaS (Software as a Service) is a cloud service connecting software and applications over the internet. It hosts software and data in the cloud, and you can access it through various web browsers. SaaS is easy to use, cost-efficient, and quite scalable. Small businesses and startups should consider this architecture type. Using SaaS architecture, businesses benefit from provider services that are in charge of maintenance, hosting and site performance. Besides, retailers can quickly upgrade their web stores. This e Commerce architecture diagram will give you a better understanding of SaaS structure. 

Tips on how to Develop a Scalable eCommerce Architecture

You can Sell Shoes or other Trending Products online, but a scalable eCommerce site is a must for a successful operation on the market. And with the proper architecture eCommerce, you will never fail and build a solid online presence. Read these tips to build a strong eCommerce architecture design.

Review Your eCommerce Architecture

If you have a site structure, the first step is to review your existing eCommerce architecture. You will see the available resources and things you are missing out on. It’ll be great if you find a good developer or web designer to upgrade your platform. 

Set the Architectural Goal

Now you should identify what your architecture capabilities have to meet your client’s needs. Do consider combining base components with essential add-ons. These components should be flexible and modular so that the entire system is not affected when you remove or add something. 

Identify Interventions 

You cannot implement the architecture smoothly if not define your pain points. Your entire business should be ready for changes so that each architecture component runs efficiently. As a result, you will get a fit-for-purpose architecture meeting the strategic priorities and the necessary technical capabilities. 

Choose Technologies and Applications 

At this stage, you have to determine what technologies and applications can satisfy your business’s needs and technical requirements. So, consider their functionalities, fitting the architecture, alignment with the overall strategy, as well as user experi­ence and dependence on third-party services. These services should be bundled into transitioning blocks to define a path for reaching an organization’s goals. 

Build the Proper Team

With the right people in your team having expertise in strategy, operations, and IT service delivery, you will have a top-notch eCommerce website architecture. They will not only launch the system but maintain and upgrade it continuously. Your team members should have different backgrounds to be responsible for a variety of architectural setup aspects like eCommerce Website Design, delivery, and quality. 

Create eCommerce Microservices

Now think about creating separate microservice programs for different parts of your site. One page feature should not rely much on the other page feature so that if one of them goes down, the rest of the site is stable. Make sure your product pages do not rely on a single API database and products and inventory are separated into their microservice. Another option is to buy pre-configured eCommerce microservices to save your time and effort. All the necessary integrations and support are in one place, and you don’t have to look for them and set them up on your own. 

Deconstruct Monolithic Architecture

Want to scale your eCommerce architecture successfully? There is a solution to modify your monolithic architecture. So you can add the needed elements and features easily at a specific point. A separate module, compared to a monolithic ecommerce system design, is fast and easy to maintain. You can avoid time-consuming and expensive substantial modifications with modules interacting without any dependencies.

How to Optimize Your eCommerce Architecture 

Once we are over with the guidelines for creating a scalable architecture of eCommerce, it’s time to learn the best optimization practices. Let’s explore tactics to boost your website structure. 

Find Your Target Keywords 

It’s crucial you define and distribute the appropriate keywords across your site so that search engines connect the target audience with your platform. This process comes before architecture planning as you need to understand the purpose of eCommerce site architecture building. These are phrases or single words highlighting your page content. 

You should analyze search queries to see how users look for the information you can provide them with. It’s possible to use special tools like Google Keyword Planner or Ahrefs to find relevant keywords. Do not forget to check competitors to identify their practices of keyword implementation. It’s recommended to map website pages, match keywords with proper pages, titles and URLs, and then optimize all elements with the selected keywords. 

Use Internal Links Carefully 

Working on the architecture of eCommerce, you should also care about internal links. You need to connect pages through hyperlinks, thus creating internal links. It’s a great solution to enhance the customer experience. It enables retailers to introduce many search-related products, not interrupting the buying process. 

There are many benefits of internal links, like user-friendly site navigation and high SEO ranking. You can integrate keywords into the anchor text of your internal links. It will help search engines match that keyword to a specific page on your site. Leverage internal linking with the help of breadcrumbs and relevant links in the blog posts. Every page on your eCommerce website should have a link pointing to it. 

Plan Out Your Site Navigation

One of the key aspects of content organization and site structure is proper navigation. Creating intuitive site navigation is a must for a positive customer experience and high conversions. Map your site structure to visualize all components. Once you have a clear idea of what main pages to include, think also about links connecting your site pages. Prepare for expanding inventory for efficient scalability. 

You can develop a hierarchical structure of your website with the homepage and the subcategory pages. It’d advised limiting the number of categories and subcategories on your eCommerce website to up to ten. Also, stick to habit principles and leave main site elements in familiar places for intuitive navigation. 

Use Breadcrumbs

Do not forget to use breadcrumbs on your site that will help to navigate your site easily with the help of links. They are logic of navigation links that trace the path to a specific page from the root of the site. Breadcrumb is a good example of website architecture’s importance. 

They are widely used for informing users of where they are in the store and showing the resource structure. Your website users will be able to go from one category to the other, and search engines will know what is on your pages. Clients will search for products, compare them, and return to previous pages in one click without searching again. 

Make a CTA Visible 

Call-to-action buttons should be placed properly so that customers see them easily on the page. It’s your key to achieving the eCommerce goal. A CTA should contrast the background and attract site visitors’ attention. Create a motivating text that would make people buy or explore more. 

Visible and easily accessible CTA buttons are good, but it’s important to build a logical chain of sequential actions. The first-order action button should have an individual style and differ from the lower-level action button. 

Optimize Your Product Pages

People visiting your site, come not to enjoy the attractive homepage, smooth internal like and site navigation. They are undoubtedly crucial, but the main goal of an eCommerce site visitor is a product page. So work on your eCommerce system design, optimizing Product and Category pages. 

Make sure your clients easily find the item they need, and there are no issues with selecting the right product variable. Categories should be well-organized, and people could easily sort and filter products. A navigation bar is vital for exploring more products. Include eye-catching photos, detailed descriptions, characteristics, and reviews. Include a product catalog on your homepage with a strong call to action. 

Final Thoughts 

With an effective eCommerce site architecture, your customers will benefit from the highest level of service. A proper site structure will help you rank high in search engine results and get more clients. As you see, optimizing the architecture is quite beneficial for your platform, and these tips enable you to scale properly. We hope you will achieve success in the future thanks to a good eCommerce system design. If there are any questions, our team of experienced designers and developers can assist you at any time to reach the best results.