Siloing With Categories

by randerson

Posted: 15 years ago 15 replies

Hi guys,

I am trying to get a basic WP website set up with a free theme, just to get a blog online. Real SEO and architecture will come later, but I want to make sure I don't do anything blatantly stupid right now.

I was about to use my Google Wonderwheel keywords as my categories, and have a list of the categories in the sidebar. That way, when someone clicks on a category, they get the posts that I've assigned that category.

Is it in line with this basic siloing advice I'm trying to follow?

http://www.warriorforum.com/adsense-...te-google.html

My categories are similar to what he recommends for the masthead, they all start with my seed keyword. I was worried my categories would seem redundant and too obviously trying to get Google rankings, like his example:

Disney World Hotel Reviews
Disney World Vacations
Disney World Travel Tips
Disney World Information

I don't really have a masthead with the free theme, so that's why I was using the categories in a menu. Any advice would be appreciated.:confused:

#categories #siloing

JasonValens

15 years ago

Well, I wouldn't argue with Michael but I don't use the main keyword repetitively in the links. It looks too spammy. HOWEVER I do use the main keyword repetitively in the category permalink.

Thanks
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randerson

15 years ago

Originally Posted by JasonValens

Well, I wouldn't argue with Michael but I don't use the main keyword repetitively in the links. It looks too spammy. HOWEVER I do use the main keyword repetitively in the category permalink.

OK, I think I did that...I have my permalink set to %category%Postname--is that what you mean?

My concern is that I'm not just doing this to make money, although I really will make alot from it. It has to be really organic, because it's a subject I care about. Definitely don't want to ruin the honesty of it by being spammy!! Thanks for that, Jason.

Thanks

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randerson

15 years ago

Oh Jason--do you stick to just assigning the best possible category to each post? Is more than one category overdoing it, and/or hurt SEO that you know of?

Thanks
1 reply

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JasonValens

15 years ago

OK, I think I did that...I have my permalink set to %category%Postname--is that what you mean?

Yep, that's the one

do you stick to just assigning the best possible category to each post? Is more than one category overdoing it, and/or hurt SEO that you know of?

Stick to the best category and whatever number of categories make sense to a human reader. So if I did a blog on reviewing PC's then I'd have a category for each brand maybe. HP, dell, etc. In that case I would have the anchor text of the category link saying "Dell PC Reviews" "HP PC Reviews" because it wouldn't be repetitive (I'd also have that in the category url). I suppose the the test of overdoing it is a) does it read naturally (this would depend on your categories, for disneyworld it would be too repetitive, for pc brands it wouldn't) and b) does the category target a keyword phrase that's at a higher level than the post.
So the silo would be PC Reviews > PC "whatever brand" Review > PC Model. Too many people make a category for something that's too specific. And don't even get me started on tags, I've seen people use a tag for every second word in their post.

Thanks
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randerson

15 years ago

Originally Posted by JasonValens

Yep, that's the one

Stick to the best category and whatever number of categories make sense to a human reader. So if I did a blog on reviewing PC's then I'd have a category for each brand maybe. HP, dell, etc. In that case I would have the anchor text of the category link saying "Dell PC Reviews" "HP PC Reviews" because it wouldn't be repetitive (I'd also have that in the category url). I suppose the the test of overdoing it is a) does it read naturally (this would depend on your categories, for disneyworld it would be too repetitive, for pc brands it wouldn't) and b) does the category target a keyword phrase that's at a higher level than the post.
So the silo would be PC Reviews > PC "whatever brand" Review > PC Model. Too many people make a category for something that's too specific. And don't even get me started on tags, I've seen people use a tag for every second word in their post.

I'm out to create great content out of years of my own experience, and the answers I get here always confirm that what comes naturally to me in that context is the right way. I guess that is what Google looks for.

Anyway, I was wondering if the parent category options in WP would solve some of this. So, my Google Wonderwheel includes stuff like this:

help desk management skills
help desk management tips
help desk management courses
help desk management seminars
help desk management certifications

Why couldn't I just create a parent category of Help Desk Management, then have subcategories of "Tips", "Courses", "Seminars", "Software", etc....without repeating "help desk management"?

Thanks
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randerson

15 years ago

Originally Posted by randerson

Anyone got any advice on this? I definitely don't like the spammy-ness of trying to use my Google Wonderwheel keyword phrases as categories like that, but I'm not sure what to do with them since that's what Google thinks is relevant. Should just going with very plain categories be OK, then just sprinkle the wonder wheel phrases throughout the content?

Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

Thanks

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COBSolutions

15 years ago

Originally Posted by JasonValens

Well, I wouldn't argue with Michael but I don't use the main keyword repetitively in the links. It looks too spammy. HOWEVER I do use the main keyword repetitively in the category permalink.

I have experimented this particular thing (using the main keyword in the category repetitively) on one of my site which was ranking at first spot in google for its primary keyword and guess what the rankings started dropping slowly but steadily over a period of 3 months, then when i put back the old page without the primary keywords in the category headings, rankings went back to normal, but of course this factor i feel is counted when the keyword dentisty of the whole page is considered, may be you can keep the keyword density in the content lesser and do this

Thanks

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InitialEffort 15 years ago

I dropped /%category%/%post%/ and went with just /%post%/ or whatever the exact code is. It seemed to be a lot easier to SEO with backlinks.
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yukon Banned 15 years ago

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- JasonValens 15 years ago
  
  Yukons post made me feel all warm and tingly inside...
  
  Thanks
  
  1 reply
  
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  randerson 15 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by JasonValens
  
  Yukons post made me feel all warm and tingly inside...
  
  I love that there is a solution...this is similar to something Michael Gray recommended in that blog I linked to in my first post. Until I figure out how to do that (or hire someone...Yukon? ) I will just set my categories up so that my audience does not feel spammied.
  
  What does that mean for my URL/permalink stuff later, though? Should I not do %category%/%postname% for now?
  
  Thanks
  
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yukon Banned 15 years ago

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- randerson 15 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by yukon
  
  I would suggest to make the category names to whatever makes sense to the reader.
  
  Meaning, for example, that if my keyword I want to optimize for is "help desk management training courses", I could just put "training" as my category (theoretically).
  
  So...I'm trying to wrap my head around this....I could also theoretically take "help desk ticket management" and hide it behind "improving metrics", because "improving metrics" is shorter and suits the style of my blog better.
  
  Could I do two in one: hide "help desk ticket management" AND "maximizing help desk ROI" behind "improving metrics" (improving metrics could be related to either of those two things for my purposes)--or is that taking it too far?
  
  Thanks
  
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Siloing With Categories

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