Strategy & Planning
Sitemap: Old vs. New
A side-by-side comparison of the current learn.apmex.com architecture and the proposed rebuild structure - showing what we retain, what we restructure, and what gaps we fill.
01 - At a Glance
The current site has good bones but shallow depth. Six top-level sections exist, but two are missing entirely (Storage, Glossary), Q&A articles are scattered with no aggregation layer, and there is no news or analysis section. The proposed architecture adds four new top-level sections, deepens the guide taxonomy, and introduces a Glossary and FAQ that anchor long-tail search traffic.
6
Current top-level sections
learn.apmex.com today
10
Proposed top-level sections
rebuilt architecture
4
New sections added
Storage, Encyclopedia, News, Glossary
2
Content gaps filled
FAQ aggregation, author attribution
New section or page (does not exist today)
Improved (exists but restructured or expanded)
Retained as-is
Problem or gap in current site
02 - Current Sitemap (learn.apmex.com)
Audited October 2026. Cloudflare Bot Management blocks automated crawlers, so depth was mapped from manual navigation, category page scans, and search index analysis. URL slugs shown are approximations based on page titles - actual WordPress slugs may vary.
learn.apmex.com
Current Architecture
6 top-level sections · ~200 estimated articles
Homepage /
Investing Guide
/investing-guide/
Gold Investing/gold-investing/
Silver Investing/silver-investing/
Platinum Investing/platinum-investing/
Palladium Investing/palladium-investing/
Portfolio Diversification/portfolio-diversification/
Precious Metals IRA/precious-metals-ira/
Gold-to-Silver Ratio/gold-silver-ratio/
Market Analysis/market-analysis/
Buying Guide
/buying-guide/
How to Buy Gold/how-to-buy-gold/
Gold Coins/gold-coins/
Gold Bars/gold-bars/
Silver Coins/silver-coins/
Silver Bars/silver-bars/
Platinum Products/platinum/
Palladium Products/palladium/
Numismatic Coins/numismatic/
Selling Guide
/selling-guide/
How to Sell/how-to-sell/
When to Sell/when-to-sell/
Sell Gold to APMEX/sell-gold/
Sell Silver to APMEX/sell-silver/
Price Calculation/price-calculation/
Video Center
/video-center/
Educational Videos/educational/
Market Update Videos/market-updates/
APMEX Series/apmex-series/
Tools & Calculators
/tools/
Spot Price Calculator/spot-price/
Melt Value Calculator/melt-value/
Historical Price Charts/historical-prices/
Dollar Cost Averaging/dca-calculator/
Gaps in current architecture
⚠ No storage / vault guide
⚠ No glossary or terminology reference
⚠ No news or market commentary section
⚠ No FAQ aggregation - Q&As scattered across all guides
⚠ No author bylines or publish dates on articles
⚠ No Metal Encyclopedia (reference vs. guide content mixed)
apmex.com/learn/ → proposed
Rebuilt Architecture
10 top-level sections · 300+ articles target
Knowledge Center Homepage /learn/
Guides Restructured
/learn/guides/
Investing Guide improved/learn/guides/investing/
Getting Started
Gold Investing
Silver Investing
Platinum & Palladium
Portfolio Strategy
IRAs & Tax-Advantaged Accounts
Buying Guide/learn/guides/buying/
Selling Guide/learn/guides/selling/
Storage Guide new/learn/guides/storage/
Home Storage Safety
Professional Vault Services
IRA Custodian Storage
Insurance Considerations
Metal Encyclopedia New
/learn/encyclopedia/
Gold/learn/encyclopedia/gold/
Silver/learn/encyclopedia/silver/
Platinum/learn/encyclopedia/platinum/
Palladium/learn/encyclopedia/palladium/
Bullion vs. Numismatic/learn/encyclopedia/bullion-vs-numismatic/
Video Center Restructured
/learn/videos/
Tutorials/learn/videos/tutorials/
Market Updates/learn/videos/market/
Expert Interviews new/learn/videos/interviews/
Product Spotlights new/learn/videos/products/
Tools & Calculators Expanded
/learn/tools/
Spot Price Calculator/learn/tools/spot-price/
Melt Value Calculator/learn/tools/melt-value/
DCA Calculator enhanced/learn/tools/dca/
IRA Calculator new/learn/tools/ira/
Portfolio Builder new/learn/tools/portfolio/
News & Analysis New
/learn/news/
Market Commentary/learn/news/market/
Price Analysis/learn/news/prices/
Industry Reports/learn/news/reports/
FAQ New
/learn/faq/
Buying FAQ/learn/faq/buying/
Investing FAQ/learn/faq/investing/
Account & Order FAQ/learn/faq/account/
Glossary New
/learn/glossary/
A–Z terms with cross-links to related articles
03 - What Changes and Why
Section-by-section delta
| Section | Status | What changes | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Investing Guide | Improved | IRAs promoted to their own subsection; Getting Started added as entry point; content reorganized by reader intent rather than metal type | IRA buyers are APMEX's highest-value customers and currently have to hunt for the content |
| Buying Guide | Retained | Existing structure works - minor URL cleanup for SEO, product category pages stay the same | Current URLs rank for "how to buy gold" searches - preserve them with 301s |
| Selling Guide | Retained | Moves under /learn/guides/selling/; content unchanged | Low volume but important for trust - keep as-is |
| Storage Guide | New | Entirely new section: home storage, vault storage, IRA custodian storage, insurance - 10–15 articles | Storage is one of the top concerns new buyers have and is completely absent from the current site |
| Metal Encyclopedia | New | Reference section separate from guides - definitional content, history, industrial uses, market context for each metal | Separates "how do I invest in gold" (guide) from "what is gold" (encyclopedia) - better SEO targeting and cleaner IA |
| Video Center | Improved | Four subcategories instead of one flat list; Expert Interviews and Product Spotlights added as new series | Videos are high engagement but currently undiscoverable - no filters, no taxonomy |
| Tools & Calculators | Improved | IRA Calculator and Portfolio Builder added; DCA calculator gets allocations by metal and interactive chart | Tools drive repeat visits and email capture - highest ROI content type on precious metals sites |
| News & Analysis | New | Dedicated section for market commentary and price analysis; weekly cadence target | Gives buyers a reason to return; price analysis articles are high-intent search traffic |
| FAQ | New | Aggregates Q&A articles that currently live scattered across all guides; structured data markup for Google featured snippets | Q&A format already works on the current site - centralizing it captures featured snippet opportunities |
| Glossary | New | A–Z precious metals terminology with cross-links; structured data for Knowledge Panel eligibility | Long-tail SEO, trust signal for new buyers who don't know the terminology |
| Author Bylines | New (site-wide) | Every article gets author name, credentials, and publish/updated dates | Current site has no bylines - a major trust gap for a financial content site; Google E-E-A-T requires this for ranking |
| Related Articles | New (site-wide) | Algorithmic related content at the bottom of every article, cross-linking guides and encyclopedia entries | Reduces bounce rate and increases pages-per-session; currently each article is a dead end |
04 - URL & Migration Strategy
Key URL changes
High-ranking current URLs must 301-redirect to new paths. Low-traffic URLs can be migrated without redirects. WordPress slugs will need cleanup regardless.
learn.apmex.com/
→
apmex.com/learn/
merge into main domain
/investing-guide/gold-investing/
→
/learn/guides/investing/gold/
/video-center/
→
/learn/videos/
/tools/melt-value/
→
/learn/tools/melt-value/
301
Recommended: Merge into main domain
The current site runs on a subdomain (learn.apmex.com). Moving educational content to apmex.com/learn/ pools all domain authority into one root domain - a significant SEO advantage.
+All backlinks to learn.apmex.com pass equity to apmex.com after 301
+Internal links between shop pages and KC articles count as same-domain signals
+E-E-A-T signals amplified when financial content and commerce live on the same domain
!Requires coordination with apmex.com dev team - not a knowledge center decision alone