SMX Now: Optimize site architecture for SEO, AI, and users
▼ Summary
– The SMX Now event on July 15 features Shari Thurow, who will explain advanced architecture and common workflow shortcomings in AI, SEO, and site development.
– Thurow’s five-phase framework, tested with clients like Microsoft and Google Cloud, shows how architecture affects labeling, wayfinding, taxonomy, wireframes, and AI content access.
– The session challenges myths such as the three-click rule, that taxonomy is only a hierarchy, and that AI can create effective wireframes without a deeper model.
– Advanced architecture now determines if content is found and understood by search engines and AI systems.
– Attendees will receive a practical framework for building sites that communicate clearly with users, search engines, and human-centered AI.
Advanced site architecture has evolved far beyond simple technical scaffolding. Today, it functions as the backbone of discoverability , determining whether search engines, AI platforms, and real users can actually find, interpret, and surface your content.
On July 15, the next SMX Now session welcomes Shari Thurow, co-founder, information scientist, and search director at the Information Architecture Gateway. She will break down how advanced architecture truly operates and pinpoint where most AI workflows, SEO strategies, and site development processes routinely miss the mark.
Thurow will present a five-phase framework she has refined over decades of client engagements with major organizations such as Microsoft, Google Cloud, Abbott Laboratories, CVS Pharmacy, WebMD, Sony Music, the Library of Congress, Best Buy, and Merriam-Webster. Attendees will see firsthand how architecture decisions directly influence labeling systems, wayfinding networks, taxonomy structures, wireframe development, and AI access to high-value content.
This session also tackles persistent myths that continue to mislead the industry. Thurow will challenge the outdated three-click rule, the misconception that taxonomy is merely a hierarchy, and the flawed assumption that AI can produce effective wireframes without a deeper architectural model guiding it.
By the end, you will walk away with a practical, repeatable framework for building websites that communicate more effectively with users, search engines, and human-centered AI systems alike.
Reserve your spot now.
(Source: Search Engine Land)