Rank the category pages of an eCommerce Shop

Selected answers from the Dumb SEO Questions Facebook & G+ community.

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  Michael Martinez: If you think this will help the visitors to the site, then do it. Search engines will take whatever signals you give them and make of them what they will. I`ve been cross-linking related pages for over 20 years. It`s very standard, basic stuff for some of us, the newest thing for others. The bottom line is that you should do whatever you think makes the site easier for visitors to use.
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  Timm Bernhardt: Thanks for your feedback!
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  Michael Stricker: Agreed, something like URL Structure 1 seems more logically appropriate... proximity of related topics, in same ‘section’ of website. Some of the best ‘related pages’ are so obvious once you see them... how to tie a tie, ring size template, how to accessorize an outfit, what batteries...I’m unsure about the wisdom in linking to blog posts, when someone is in a buying mood. The Gbot may not blink, but that would draw the shoppers further from Conversion. A blog, though, with potentially greater readership than cat or sub-cat pp, is a great source from which to build relevant internal links.
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  Jennifer Antoun: Content is important on a category page, just be certain it is relevant to the buyer. As for Silos, if this is a category page then there should be sub categories already linking? As Michael Stricker said above, I`m not sure if I would move customers away from a product category page to a blog post - unless perhaps it included information on how to use the product. Also be aware of link juice. If you have a mega menu, footer, products and other product categories all linking from the page, adding more unnecessary links can be harmful.
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  Timm Bernhardt: Thanks to you and Michael Stricker for the great input as well. Indeed there are sub categories already linking (it`s a wine shop so main categories are wine type and sub categories wine-growing areas)Too, there are around 280 internal links on category pages due to the mega menu, products etc. which to me is already quite a lot. Within the extra content I`ll probably barely use new internal links then, only when there is a great benefit for the user. (for instance popular winemakers of the given category).