Digital content layout encoding techniques for search are described. In these techniques, a layout representation is generated (using machine learning automatically and without user intervention) that describes a layout of elements included within the digital content. In an implementation, the layout representation includes a description of both spatial and structural aspects of the elements in relation to each other. To do so, a two-pathway pipeline that is configured to model layout from both spatial and structural aspects using a spatial pathway, and a structural pathway, respectively. In one example, this is also performed through use of multi-level encoding and fusion to generate a layout representation.