Content Silos

A large part of the Bruce Clay methodologies is practicing silo architecture for optimized websites. This involves creating content containers for related topics. For the best performance a keyword or phrase that is being targeted through optimization, should be contained in a dedicated content section, or silo, on your website. Basically, a silo is a landing page, or directory index page, further supported by at least 5 content pages. Of course, these are general, or minimum, guidelines for the silo practice.

SEO Friendly CMS Architecture Sample

We can look at this through a brief sample. Taking a website that is being optimized for a set of themed keywords around Dodge Truck performance accessories and parts. What you see below is an illustration of a properly organized website. This example shows the content broken down into related sections, or topics, which in this case are the silos. Most importantly is the structural integrity that is enforced by the internal linking procedures. You can see that the landing pages are linked to their supporting pages, and the supporting pages link to each other, within the silo. Another important aspect is that supporting pages only link up to silo landing pages. Internal linking is what creates an SEO content silo. You can link pages sideways, however it is recommended that you use the REL="NOFOLLOW" attribute in the anchor tag, so that spiders won't follow that link. In general, you don't want to go deeper than 2 silos, which means that you want to keep that in mind when you are strategically organizing your website's content in the optimization campaign.

In this example, the website is selling Dodge performance products and the optimization is targeting the following keyword phrases:

• Dodge Supension
• Dodge Ram Suspension
• Dodge Lift Kits
• Dodge Ram Lift Kits

With the silo organization illustrated above, we can target Dodge Ram Suspension and Lift Kit keywords, phrases and broad match variants, effectively. We have a content silo that has a landing page that will be optimized for "Dodge Suspension" and supporting content pages that would be optimized for keyword variants, such as "Dodge Ram...", etc. The same for "Dodge Lift Kits". This architecture is scalable. Should the client wish to add a performance product for a Dodge and perform SEO, another silo would be added. If there is a tertiary product that is an optimization target, a sub-silo could be added as well.

SEO Friendly Silo Architecture

In order to properly organize an optimized Internet Property, you must narrow the website content into a single theme. This is a strategic process so that you can offer an authoritative information resource. Expecting to rank a website well for "baby books" and "blenders" is unrealistic. Its critical that your optimization start with a parent theme that you will support with related topics, which are then optimized for your keyword phrases. Establishing your theme and maintaining focus is important. The example we are using above is "Dodge Suspension, Lift Kits and Performance Products". Each content section supports the theme with related topics in its own silo.

Standard Architecture Example

Here's a look at a traditional website organizational structure. This, under analysis would look like a wagon wheel. A single page, the homepage, that is linked directly to every single page on the website. And every page is linked to every page... not really all that organized, is it. This is fine if you have a 10 page website or aren't concerned with search engine optimization for competitive keywords. By properly organizing your website under search engine optimization best practices, what you are essentially doing is handing your website's information to a search engine spider on a silver platter. It makes for very effective organization for a robot. A spider hits your site, follows a silo link and is fed every page in the content section, and that's all. This cycle continues until all of your pages are crawled. A website that has pages linked globally has a spider hitting the same content from every page, over and over. Hardly effective architecture for a large scale optimization project. By following the SEO silo practice, your website is organized for a search engine crawl. The SEO Content Management System produces absolute silo architecture by design. This means that simply deploying your content within this CMS, your site's information architecture is optimized according to SEO best practices.

SEO Content Management System Silo Products

One of the first and foremost customizations performed was to have the content management system be seo friendly, in this instance. The CMS automatically silos content. Again, a silo is enforced by internal linking protocol. So by design, each root level folder is an SEO content silo. All of the pages automatically are linked to each other through the silo navigation. Each page has a breadcrumb that links back up through the website structure and each silo is capable of having its own sitemap. This is a practice for larger content silos, over 10-15 pages, we would implement a sitemap for each silo on the site. Looking at the screenshot and you will see a CMS datatype in the menu, "silo sitemap". This will automatically create a page that is a sitemap for the silo you are working in. Another best practice customization. All sitemaps are managed automatically, so adding, publishing and/or removing pages doesn't mean you have to update anything else.

Click for Larger Image

Another custom product was created to give more control over anchor text in the links. Breadcrumbs and silo navigation use the same anchor text, however for even more flexibility, we add another search engine friendly CMS product that allows content administrators to change anchor text for better keyword coverage with the internal linking. When this product is installed, there is an additional admin toolbar item, Silo Navigation, as shown below.

Your website's organizational structure is critical, it must perform for a human visitor as well as a robot. The SEO Content Management System has accomplished this and delivers these characteristics automatically.