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siloing wordpress question...Yukon or others who know?

by tinknocker
9 replies
  • SEO
    • |
I created a virtual silo structured wordpress site....at least I hope so. What I did was converted one of my MFA EMD sites that got hit in the EMD update. I'm not done yet but... it did take a lot of time for me to get to this point so far, especially trying to map it all out which for me was very confusing at first but then I think I had an ah-ha moment.

I did a lot of reading and contemplating on this for the past month since the EMD update.

I was using clickbump framework but I couldn't seem to get this right (probably me) so I went with a free theme for now till I get this straight in my mind and understand how convert this to clickbump if it's even possible?

Anyway this is what I did so far:
  • I'm using wordpress free 2012 theme
  • I created a static home page with 3 categories to start (I got this from Sue Bell's Youtube video on siloing an existing wordpress site)
  • On the homepage I have an article with most of all the keywords I have used so far on the site (not sure if this is good?) but I did it and I could always delete it.
  • 5 articles per category based on another of Sue Bells Youtube video's about siloing an existing site
  • I did all the same SEO strategies I've learned (H1,H2,bold&underlined target keyword,italics,keyword density 1%-3%
  • I eliminated all the random interlinking of articles
  • I used contextual anchor text links to link the articles to each other in the silo (example: linked post A to post B & post B to post A...B to C, C to B,C to D & D to C etc...I hope this makes sense? (I got that from SEO Design Solututions article on siloing)
  • I have no sidebars or recent posts in the side (2012 doesn't have them)
  • I had to physically go into single.php and edit out the "next/previous article links at the bottom of the posts" to seal the category silo because they were connecting all the articles from all the categories that way. I couldn't find a plugin for this.

That's as far as I got.
So my question is naturally do I have this down correctly?
If I have this correct then how long does it take to start to see some improvement?
  • Any constructive input is welcome as I'm still trying to grasp this method.
  • Should I add a contextual link from each article to the category landing page in addition to my interlinking to each post in the silo?
  • Is it ok to have the category link structure like this (url/category/article)
#questionyukon #siloing #wordpress
  • Profile picture of the author lutherlars
    You deffo want to ad a contextual link on each "child page" linking back to the main category page of the silo it belongs too as that is what gives the landing page such a boost.
    When it comes to interlinking child pages together, I do not think that you need to be as careful as linking A to B, B to C etc but you do have to link out when appropriate to other pages in the silo.
    As for how long it will take to see results, I have no idea. LOL.
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    • Profile picture of the author tinknocker
      Okay that does sound right. I also forgot to add that I also linked out to authority sites like wikipedia etc... with the no follow attribute.
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  • Profile picture of the author xMizzlex
    These are the plugins I found really useful that allows you to silo with wordpress:

    1. Auto Excerpt everywhere - custom excerpts adding unique content to category
    2. Posts from a Category Widget - shows posts only within a selected category
    3. Widget Logic - control which categories, posts and pages you would like specific widgets (sidebars) to be displayed
    4. WP No Category Base
    5. Yet Another Related Posts Plugin (might not need this)

    Also - this little piece of code allows your category description to be visible on the top of the category page - enabling unique content:

    <?php echo category_description( $category_id ); ?>

    Add before the <?php if (is_category()) { ?> in your archive.php.
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    • Profile picture of the author tinknocker
      I will check those out thanks
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  • Profile picture of the author yukon
    Banned
    The simplest way I can explain a silo is, think of each category of pages as it's own mini site. Each page in the category is focused on promoting that specific category landing page.

    Nobody can say how long it will take to rank any of the pages, that's impossible to do with SEO.
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    • Profile picture of the author tinknocker
      Originally Posted by yukon View Post

      The simplest way I can explain a silo is, think of each category of pages as it's own mini site. Each page in the category is focused on promoting that specific category landing page.

      Nobody can say how long it will take to rank any of the pages, that's impossible to do with SEO.




      Is what I've done so far on the right track?
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  • Profile picture of the author yukon
    Banned
    I did all the same SEO strategies I've learned (H1,H2,bold&underlined target keyword,italics,keyword density 1%-3%
    I wouldn't worry about any of that stuff, other than the <h> tags.






    Originally Posted by tinknocker View Post

    Should I add a contextual link from each article to the category landing page in addition to my interlinking to each post in the silo?
    Yes, add the link pointing back to the category landing page.






    Originally Posted by tinknocker View Post

    Is it ok to have the category link structure like this (url/category/article)
    I guess you mean:
    domain.com > Category page > Article page
    That's how I structure my sites, I only nest one category deep on the URL (no sub-categories).
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    • Profile picture of the author tinknocker
      Originally Posted by yukon View Post

      I wouldn't worry about any of that stuff, other than the <h> tags.








      Yes, add the link pointing back to the category landing page.








      I guess you mean:


      That's how I structure my sites, I only nest one category deep on the URL (no sub-categories).




      Cool I really appreciate the breakdown it helps to see it like that.
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  • Profile picture of the author Alex Barboza
    One month old thread but want to ask something. I removed the category base and have breadcrumbs. The problem is that the landing pages are the archive for categories, just an excerpt of each category posts. How can I customize the category pages or create a page that overrides the archive for categories?
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