Number of pages under a directory

I have a huge site...

[cliffhanger]

Hello Guys,

I have a huge site, and the problem is a few directories in the site have as many as hundred thousand files linked directly under it. I am very confused. Is this standard? Or should I have lower number of files in each directory? Is there an advisable organization pattern when it comes to number of pages I include under each node?

I hope this makes sense. Thanks. Sam.

[Beagle]

What's on those hundred thousand pages? Is it material that would be better put into a database? Levels are usually about navigation, to help a visitor "drill down" to the information being looked for (and giving bots links to follow to that content). If a visitor has to choose from among 100,000 options to get to the next level down, that would definitely be a problem, and a database would probably be a better option than individual static pages.

But it would help to have a general understanding of what you're trying to do. It sounds as if you're more concerned with a visitor getting from a lower level to a higher level than you are with the more common "drilling down" idea. I'm also not sure if you're talking about 100,000 static pages, or some sort of dynamic arrangement.

[cliffhanger]

Hi Beagle,

Thanks for your reply. Let me clarify my situation. The 100,000 pages I am talking about are dynamically arranged. They are not static. For the user, there are drilling down option. However, for the search engine crawler all these 100,000 come at the same URL hierarchy position.

I am worried about the search engine optimization bit. Does having so many pages at one level of navigation, reflect badly on the structure of my website?

I know several websites, say for instance dictionaries, need this kind of a structure where they have an increased number of entries at the second level of drill down. However, I am not certain that this is standard-- and extremely worried that this arrangement can be detrimental for my PR.

Thanks. Sam.