How to Improve Website Findability with Card Sorting

Difficulty: Beginner to Intermediate
Time Required: 2-4 hours (including preparation and analysis)

Poor website findability is one of the biggest conversion killers. When users can't locate content quickly, they abandon your site—often within 10-15 seconds. Card sorting is a proven UX research method that reveals how your actual users think about and categorize your content, giving you the insights needed to dramatically improve website findability and search UX.

This guide shows you exactly how to use card sorting to transform your website's navigation and content organization, making it intuitive for users to find what they need.

What You'll Need

• List of your website's main content items (20-60 pieces)
• 15-30 target users for your card sort study
• Card sorting tool (Free Card Sort recommended for beginners)
• 2-3 hours for setup, execution, and analysis
• Spreadsheet software for results analysis
• Access to your website's current analytics data (optional but helpful)

Step 1: Audit Your Current Content and Identify Findability Problems

Start by conducting a comprehensive content audit to understand what users are struggling to find on your website.

Review your website analytics to identify pages with high bounce rates, low engagement, or frequent search queries that yield poor results. Export your site's main navigation items, key landing pages, and most important content pieces. Aim for 30-50 content items that represent your site's core offerings.

Example: An e-commerce site might list "Product warranty information," "Size guides," "Return policy," "Customer reviews," "Price matching," and "Live chat support."

This foundational step ensures you're testing the right content—the pieces that actually matter for user success and business goals.

Step 2: Choose Your Card Sorting Method Based on Navigation Goals

Select between open card sorting (users create their own categories) or closed card sorting (users sort into predefined categories) depending on your specific findability challenges.

Use open card sorting when redesigning navigation from scratch or when you suspect your current categories don't match user mental models. Choose closed card sorting when you want to test existing navigation structures or have established categories you need to validate.

Example: If users frequently search for "contact us" but you've labeled it "Get in touch," a closed card sort can test whether your current labels work or need adjustment.

Most findability improvements benefit from starting with open card sorting to understand natural user groupings, then following up with closed sorting to validate proposed changes.

Step 3: Recruit Representative Users and Set Clear Instructions

Recruit 15-25 participants who represent your actual website users, not internal team members who already understand your content structure.

Write clear instructions that explain the task without biasing results. Tell participants: "Group these items in a way that makes sense to you, as if you were looking for them on a website. Create categories and name them however feels natural."

Example instruction: "Imagine you're planning a vacation and need to find information on our travel website. Group these items into categories that would help you quickly find what you need."

Avoid leading language like "organize these logically" or mentioning your current navigation structure, as this can skew results toward existing patterns rather than revealing natural user behavior.

Step 4: Launch Your Card Sort and Monitor Participation

Set up your card sort study using a tool like Free Card Sort, ensuring your content items are clearly labeled and randomly ordered for each participant.

Monitor participation rates and send gentle reminders to boost completion. Aim for at least 80% completion rate to ensure reliable data. Most online card sorts take participants 10-15 minutes to complete.

Example: If you notice participants consistently grouping "FAQ" and "Help Center" separately from "Contact Support," this reveals important distinctions in how users conceptualize getting help.

Track completion times—if participants take much longer than 15 minutes, your content list might be too long or your items unclear.

Step 5: Analyze Results to Identify Content Findability Patterns

Use similarity matrices and dendrograms to identify which content items users consistently group together and how they naturally categorize information.

Look for items that appear together in 60%+ of sorts—these have strong mental model associations and should be grouped in your navigation. Pay special attention to items that participants struggle to categorize, as these often indicate unclear labeling or content that needs better integration.

Example: If "Product specifications," "Technical details," and "Features" consistently group together, but "System requirements" often appears alone, you might need to clarify what belongs in your "Product Information" section.

Create a priority matrix ranking content groupings by both frequency of association and business importance.

Step 6: Design Your New Information Architecture

Transform your card sort insights into concrete navigation improvements that directly address findability issues identified in Step 1.

Create a new site structure that mirrors the mental models revealed in your card sort. Use the category names participants created as inspiration for navigation labels, but refine them for clarity and SEO needs.

Example: If participants created categories like "Getting Help," "Talk to Someone," and "Support Stuff," you might standardize this as "Customer Support" while ensuring all related content appears in this section.

Test your proposed labels with a quick preference test or additional closed card sort to validate improvements before implementation.

Step 7: Implement Changes and Measure Findability Improvements

Roll out navigation changes systematically, starting with your most critical user journeys identified in Step 1.

Update your main navigation, footer links, internal search categories, and any filtering systems to reflect your new information architecture. Implement proper redirects for moved content to maintain SEO value.

Example: After restructuring based on card sort results, measure improvements in task completion rates, time to find information, and search success rates.

Set up tracking for key findability metrics: internal search success rates, navigation click-through rates, and task completion times for critical user flows.

Tips and Best Practices

• Keep content labels neutral: Use actual page titles or content descriptions rather than your internal jargon
• Test mobile considerations: Ask some participants to think about finding content on mobile devices
• Include edge cases: Add a few challenging items that don't fit obviously anywhere to see how users handle them
• Consider seasonal needs: Include content that users seek at different times (like tax forms or holiday policies)
• Plan for hybrid sorting: Some participants work better with digital tools, others prefer physical cards—accommodate both when possible

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Using internal terminology: Don't use company-specific language or acronyms that external users won't understand. If your team calls it "SKU lookup" but users search for "product finder," test "product finder."

Too many cards: More than 60 items overwhelm participants and reduce data quality. If you have extensive content, run multiple focused sorts rather than one massive study.

Ignoring outliers: Participants who sort very differently from others often reveal important user segments or accessibility needs you shouldn't dismiss.

Not validating results: Card sorting shows mental models, but doesn't guarantee navigation success. Always validate proposed changes with usability testing.

Next Steps and Measuring Success

After implementing your card sort-driven improvements, set up ongoing measurement to track findability gains. Monitor internal search queries, navigation analytics, and user feedback for 4-6 weeks to see impact.

Consider running follow-up card sorts quarterly for dynamic content areas, or whenever you add significant new content sections. Website findability isn't a one-time fix—it requires ongoing attention as your content and user needs evolve.

For deeper insights, combine card sorting with other UX research methods like tree testing to validate your navigation structure or first-click testing to optimize individual page layouts.

Transform Your Website's Findability Today

Ready to discover how your users really think about your content? Start your first card sort with Free Card Sort and begin improving your website findability in under 30 minutes. Your users—and your conversion rates—will thank you.

Remember: great website findability isn't about organizing content the way you think it should be organized. It's about matching how your users naturally expect to find information. Card sorting gives you the roadmap to make that match.