What is a Silo Structure?
A silo structure is a type of website architecture wherein you only link internally to content on the same topic and do not link to content on a different topic.
For example, a health site may publish articles on exercise and supplements. If it follows a silo structure, then an article about a supplement will only link to other articles on supplements. Similarly, an article about an exercise will only link to other articles on exercising.
The silo website architecture is a hot topic in SEO. While some SEOs claim it works, others insist it limits the potential of a site and may even affect its rankings on search results pages.
Example of a Silo Structure
Let us assume we have a fitness site that publishes content on two topics: workouts and nutrition plans. Our site contains six posts, three on workouts and another three on nutrition plans.
Nutrition
- Meals for stronger bones
- Healthy breakfast recipes
- Best diets for larger muscles
Workouts
- Cardio tips for beginners
- What to do after working out
- Introduction to strength training
Now, when we publish an article like “Meals for stronger bones,” we can include internal links that point to “Healthy breakfast recipes” and “Best diets for larger muscles” since they are all about nutrition. However, we will never use links that point to workout topics like “Cardio tips for beginners” since they are on a different topic.
For more examples, you can refer to our detailed video guide on creating silos.
Importance of the Silo Structure
Bloggers use the silo structure to organize the content they publish on their sites. This helps create a clear hierarchy and indicates how their content is related to one another.
Bloggers that use the silo structure believe it makes it easier for visitors and search engines to navigate and understand the relationships between the content they publish. This supposedly helps to create a clear hierarchy that allows search engines to crawl and index the site more efficiently.
In the case of visitors, they believe it encourages them to explore related content within the same silo, ultimately increasing the time they spend on the site and reducing its bounce rate.
Silo Structure Issues
The benefits of the silo structure remain disputed. While some believe it is helpful for SEO, others insist otherwise and have raised concerns that it is irrelevant or may even be harmful to SEO.
1 It Reduces Flexibility
While the silo structure may work for a small site, it may cause the site to become rigid as it becomes larger. At this point, the original categorization may become fixed, making it hard to include topics that do not fit into the predefined silos.
Bloggers could counter this by creating new topics, which would make the site more complex, or avoid publishing the content, meaning they would forgo any traffic benefits they earned.
2 It Causes Duplicate Content Issues
Sites that use the silo structure could end up with duplicate content, especially when they create similar content that is relevant to multiple topics.
This can confuse search engines as they may struggle to decide on which content to rank for the keyword. This would affect the rankings of the affected content as their PageRank and link equity will be split across multiple pages, preventing them from achieving their full potential.
3 It Complicates Navigation
Siloed sites are less intuitive and more complicated to navigate than non-siloed sites. The bloggers put a lot of work into keeping the content apart. Sometimes, it is even impossible to navigate between content on separate topics.
From the visitor’s perspective, this leads to a poor user experience since they would have to navigate multiple pages or categories to find relevant content. This makes navigating through the site a complex endeavor.
Silo Structure Best Practices
Some bloggers use the silo website architecture because of the benefits they believe it provides to their site. If you decide to use the silo structure, then it would be a good idea to follow the best practices below.
1 Create Clear Categories
Create well-defined categories that accurately represent the main topics of your content. Ensure their names and descriptions are broad enough to contain all related content and subtopics you want to include.
2 Use Descriptive Names
Choose clear and descriptive names for your silo categories and subcategories. This helps to improve navigation for visitors. It also allows visitors and search engines to understand your content’s hierarchy.
3 Limit the Number of Silos
Multiple silos can quickly become challenging to manage. It also increases the chances of duplicate content. So, focus on creating a manageable number of silos. This makes the hierarchy more straightforward and does not overwhelm visitors.
4 Cross-Reference Content
While the silo structure is all about keeping content on different topics apart, it is recommended to use internal links when relevant, even if the pages are on different topics. This is particularly crucial in certain situations, such as when you want to prevent duplicate content issues.
5 Optimize Your URLs
Structure your URLs so that they reflect the presence of the silo and hierarchy of the content on your site. Ensure to use a clear and descriptive URL structure and include relevant keywords.
6 Utilize Breadcrumb Navigation
Include a breadcrumb navigation on your site. This reduces confusion and allows visitors to identify their location within the silo. This makes it easier for visitors to navigate to the categories and subcategories of the silo and homepage of the site.