What is Siloing?
One of the most effective methods an SEO can use when setting up or updating an existing website is siloing. But what exactly is siloing? Siloing refers to organizing your website into larger categories and using internal linking to manage the overall page rank and theme. The term “siloing” is inspired by the silos you see on a typical farm, where each silo holds a different crop, such as wheat in one and rice in another. Together, they represent the farm as a whole. Similarly, on a website, each silo represents a primary topic or theme, contributing to the overall structure and coherence of the site.
Implementing Siloing: An Example
To illustrate this, let’s create a fictitious site with the overarching theme of “Bend Oregon Vacations.” Our primary keywords might include “Hotels,” “Places,” “Restaurants,” and “Info.” However, upon reviewing these keywords, you might realize that some, like “hotels,” are too competitive. Instead, you could opt for less competitive phrases like “Bend Lodging Reviews” or “Bend Places To See.” These become your top silos, and you should place them prominently in your site’s header or top navigation bar. The pages within these silos would then consist of relevant articles and content related to each primary keyword.
By organizing your links this way, you signal to search engines that your site focuses on four primary topics, guiding them to all your related posts. This approach helps create a more user-friendly navigation system and enhances your site’s sitemap by theming your content into distinct sections.
Steps to Effective Siloing in SEO
- Decide on the Overall Topic for Your Site:
- Begin by determining the main theme or topic that your website will focus on. This overarching topic will guide the structure of your silos.
- Create Primary Silos Using 2-3 Keywords:
- Identify key categories within your main topic, each represented by 2-3 relevant keywords. These categories will serve as your primary silos.
- Refine Keywords If They Are Too Competitive:
- Analyze the competitiveness of your chosen keywords. If a keyword is too competitive, refine it to a more specific, less competitive phrase that still aligns with your content goals.
- Locate the Silos in Your Header (Top Nav):
- Place the primary silos prominently in your site’s header or top navigation bar. This makes them easily accessible to both users and search engines.
- Organize Content Within Each Silo:
- Develop content that falls under each primary silo, linking related articles and resources within the same category to reinforce the silo structure.
- Enhance Silos with High-Quality External Links:
- Focus on creating comprehensive, engaging content within each silo that attracts high-quality backlinks from reputable external sites, as suggested by the Google Algorithm insights.
- Minimize Cross-Linking Between Silos:
- Avoid excessive cross-linking between different silos. If necessary, link to the top-level silo page rather than directly to individual posts in other categories to maintain the integrity of the silo structure.
- Regularly Audit and Update Silos:
- Periodically review and update your silos to ensure they remain relevant and optimized, adjusting keywords and content as necessary to reflect changes in your niche or industry.
Enhancing Silos with External Links
A recent leak of the Google Algorithm suggests that well-organized link silos may be even more beneficial when combined with high-quality external links. When external sites link to your siloed content, it sends a strong signal to Google about the relevance and authority of your entire topic cluster, thereby boosting your overall SEO performance. To maximize the impact, try to focus on building comprehensive silos with rich, engaging content that naturally attracts backlinks from reputable sites. This approach amplifies the importance of your silos and helps them achieve higher rankings, driving more traffic and authority to your site.
Cross-linking to other Silos
Try to minimize cross-linking or linking from one of your articles or posts to another in a different category. If you can need to crosslink, try linking to the top-level silo instead. For example, if your post is about “where to stay” and you want to include a link about the “where to eat” to the top page listing all your restaurants.
Linking more to a specific post in your site than linking to a top silo dilutes the importance of the structure. The more you link to them the more higher ranking you will receive to these top level categories.