silo structure

by 17 replies
20
Ok

On silo structure. Was going to use a plugin, but kind of buggy with my Theme. I also have another one P1TM but wanted to try and do this manually.

So I kind of know about silo structure. Sorry for the art work



Is this seem ok?

Now next question. If I do this manually. Do I just put a link from home page to the 4 PKW pages (or is nav bar ok) and then attach a link in each related post to the PKW and also a link to a related Post in that PKW category?

Or is there much more to it than that?

Maybe a widget on the side easier?

I know on a plugin I have it has the nav bar change when I click on the Page to all the 4 relevant posts in that silo . Not sure if I do it this way it will act right.

Thanks

Sorry for all the questions. I know I am sucking up some knowledge, and will sure to return it when I can. Still new, but learning...
#search engine optimization #silo #structure
  • The links have to be contextual links (within the content of the homepage) for maximum link juice distribution because contextual links are the most powerful types of links.
    • [1] reply
    • Banned
      That's not necessarily true, especially If you own the site/domain & have 100% control over all links/pages.

      Google will follow the link regardless, so If there's zero contextual links the nav links will do the job. It doesn't matter If the nav. links are in the header, sidebar, or footer.

      In the end the link is still in the HTML source code & as always will show in the Google cache text version (If it's an HTML link). Assumes there's decent followed link site structure & no unnecessary fluff links on the page.

      I have no idea what's going on in OPs image, the image is too small.
  • Dang it. I tried to upload it Jpeg. Any other way to make it picture bigger? Guess I should have asked this question instead

    SEO Power, everything is all relevant to my niche (service business) It just has 4 main silo pages, and about 5 posts under each. I guess I can do a contextual link from each post pointing to the page it is under and also to another relevant post in the same category.
  • Well here is a screenshot from Jing..

    silo - accessted's library
  • Banned
    I looked at the Jing image.

    My advice is link every single page in each individual silo. If there's 7 pages in your silo, put 6 links on each page connecting the series of pages.

    Having a breadcrumb at the top of the content helps If you want to use that as an internal link back to the top of the silo (category page).

    BTW, I use tinypic.com for posting images on Warrior Forum, scale the image down to about 650px wide or it messes up the forum thread page.
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
  • Thanks Yukon

    I guess I don't know much about silos

    So to make sure i got this right

    Page (color)
    |
    Post 1 (brown)
    Post 2 (yellow)
    Post 3 (green)
    Post 4 (Blue)

    So the top Page needs to have all 4 silo post link in it.

    Also each silo post should have the respective 3 other silo page links in it.

    Also the silo posts should have a link pointing to the top Page (breadcrumb)

    I think this is how you explained it right?

    I thought Breadcrumbs were no good to use, but I guess that will automatically give a top Page link.

    In the posts linking out should I use an anchor text link with respective keyword to the other posts? or is there a better way to link out to those.

    Thanks for the help and the tinypic info
  • It's difficult to explain a silo structure on forums, really.. I'll have a go...

    Homepage
    |
    Food Processor Reviews
    Deep Fryer Reviews

    Food Processor Reviews
    |
    Review 1
    Review 2
    Review 3
    Review 4
    Review 5

    Deep Fryer Reviews
    |
    Review 1
    Review 2
    Review 3
    Review 4
    Review 5

    All of the deep fryer reviews would link to each other.

    At the top, there would be a breadcrumb:

    Home > Deep Fryer Reviews > Review 1

    The URL structure would be:

    aaa.com/deep-fryer-reviews/review-1

    It's OK to have a central menu navigation that links to top categories. So your main nav bar could have:

    Home | Deep Fryers | Food Processors | Contact | About

    However, you can only access the deep fryer review articles by actually visiting:

    aa.com/deep-fryer-reviews/

    Because the reviews are sitting on the /deep-fryer-reviews/ extension, and are only linked to from deep fryer related pages, Google is able to detect the relevancy of the content much better, without associating deep fryers with food processors.

    Bare in mind that a silo structure is only needed when the website contains different categories of content, as explained above. If your website ONLY TARGETS deep fryers, then a silo structure is pointless and you'd be doing more harm than good, since you would want every page fed with juice (as they are all relevant to one another). So in that case, linking to all articles/reviews from the homepage would be preferred to get juice flowing through the whole site.

    For a live example of a silo, visit toptenreviews.com or Amazon.com.
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
    • [1] reply
    • So if you have a service business targeting the services and service areas would you need a silo structure?

      Say for instance Plummer

      Service areas
      |
      Plumber NY
      Plumber CA
      Plumber AL

      residential plumber
      |
      leaky pipes
      hot water heaters
      faucets

      Commercial plumber
      |
      sprinkler systems
      hot water valve


      I see what you are saying with the example as above. i had it about the same way. Although Yukon said to link all related posts in each post to each other instead of just one to another and so on to make a singular link.

      Also on another question. Is it ok to build these as pages/posts? I mean if you have like 4 pages with 5 posts under each is that ok? or should I be doing this under category? Still confused with the 2.
      • [1] reply
  • Thanks Icematikx

    I didn't know about just using pages instead of posts/categories.. Wish I would have known to do it that way. Would have been a bit easier. Guess that's why I am still a newb

    I think I got what you are saying. As Yukon said each Page/Post needs to link out to all of the related posts in that category.

    So how do we actually link out. I guess the internal structure is made by the way you describe,. I am thinking using a hyperlink on a related keyword to the next page. Is that correct?
    • [2] replies
    • It sounds like you're doing it really manually, sprinkling in related internal links in the articles?

      All I do is have a list of related posts either in the sidebar or below the main content. Give every post a category and it's quite easy to make a query to display all related posts.
    • I use a unique sidebar for every page. There are Wordpress plugins that allow you to have a different sidebar showing on different pages. It's also a good idea to combine the sidebar navigational structure with in-content links.

      So, on /deep-fryer-reviews/, your sidebar may look like:

      REVIEWS
      Product1 Review
      Product2 Review
      Product3 Review
      Product4 Review
      Product5 Review

      ARTICLES
      My favorite Deep Fryer Recipes
      Deep Fryer Buying Guide
      Deep Fryer Comparison Chart
  • Ok, I got a silo Plugin installed. I now have a sidebar with all related posts in that category. My main menu stays the same, but I guess not that big of a deal as long as the structure is there

    Thanks for all the info guys on this.

    I guess basic silos can seem a bit complex, but in reality if you know what to do it is not that bad. I tend to over think things that seem easy and make them hard ..
  • Banned
    If all your doing is adding more links to the page it's still not as strong of a link structure than removing any fluff links from the page. Obviously user experience is important but you can have both user ex. & SEO If you take the time to remove unnecessary links.

    Always look at the text version of a webpage to get an idea what links are fluff. Either use Google cache (text version) or a web/dev plugin:

    [source]
    I'm sure most people would be very surprised If they're ever seen the text version of webpages, there's usually a bunch of unnecessary links on the page/s.
    • [1] reply

    • Thanks for the plugin Yukon. Wow, your right, I have never seen a site in Text version.

      I do see some links in there That I can remove. I guess if I remove the "fluff" links then my main links are ok even if not contextual.

      Real quick, I have 2 questions on this. I have an recent article that has 3 articles on home page with ream more pointing back to the actual top silo page. all 3 links are the same Will that hurt to have the same link in there 4 times all together?

      Also on a Google maps widget now that I seen the text version I see two links for that. There an easy way to remove these links.

      Great Tip on this..
      Thanks

      I guess you need to think streamline when it comes to silos without unnecessary links pointing all over.
  • Who would like to take a look at one of my sites to see if I am on the right track? I really hate to post it here.

    Someone who knows much about siloing.

  • Another quick question on another site I am helping my brother with..

    I will be making a new site in a few months for him with a silo structure.

    But for now He has a site with about 10 pages.

    5 are menu bars (service provided)

    the other 5 are service areas with a drop down menu.

    Should I link all those pages to each other with a contextual link?

    Like in the 5 service areas each one talks about a different location. Should I link back to the other ones to try and mimic a silo structure?

    Then also on the other 5 pages have a link to each other?

    Basically making a circle with these linking to each other?

    I know this is not a silo structure but wanted to know if it would help keep link juice for the time being.
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    silo structure

    Ok On silo structure. Was going to use a plugin, but kind of buggy with my Theme. I also have another one P1TM but wanted to try and do this manually.