Intro
Data on any website might get flustered if not arranged properly. Moreover, if the website contains data of various kinds and purposes, organizing them as per their niche is even more important. Siloing a website helps with this in any recognized niche. Articles that deal with the same issues are clubbed together. Hence, a hierarchy is created.
Learn how you can utilize a hard silo structure in the automobile niche to build a properly SEO-optimized website.
Hard SILO Structure: Overview 2023
Hard SILOs are physical SILOs that are already there in the structure of the website. So, these include the URL structures and the directory structure. As against this, one can create a soft SILO by simply interlinking pages. One must be able to review it from their sitemap page.
One can incorporate hard SILOs by implementing the hierarchy to:
- the folder structure
- URL structure
- XML sitemap of the site.
What Is A SILO Structure?
A SILO structure gives a planned structure to any site that one is working on. It connects different pages via internal linking. This is done in a very scientific way such that related content is grouped together. The site gets a proper hierarchical structure out of this. The process starts with the parent pages that contain the basic information of any topic. For instance, a page discussing vehicle insurance could integrate a total loss calculator to provide additional value to readers, enhancing their understanding of insurance claims in case of severe vehicle damage.
Further, there are supporting pages. These include content that covers the minute details of topics one comes across on the parent pages. Therefore, these are primarily guides and blogs.
Now, when there is an internal link to create a navigation path between these pages, a SILO is formed. It can help transfer link juice as well as topical relevance to the supporting pages. The main purpose of creating the SILO is to allow the flow of the link juice through the entire site. It does not just stop at the parent page.
How Does It Help Boost Website Ranking?
A SILO structure helps a website in many ways and changes its impact completely. The reasons are mentioned in detail in the next section.
But, one thing becomes easy to grasp. Due to this clubbing-up process, it becomes very easy for the users to do complete research on any particular idea. It is possible because SILOing helps gather all relevant pages through internal linking. Therefore, the site provides complete authority on any topic to the user. Simply, navigation through the concerned topic becomes easy. The user does not have to check out different pages from scratch. You create a flow with this process.
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Therefore, with the enhanced engagement, it is directly reflected in the SEO ranking of your page which gets higher and higher.
Why Does SILO Structure Matter? What Is The Importance?
Here are 4 points that tell the importance of SILO Structure:
- Maximizes The Crawlability Of The Website
- Maximizes Topical Authority Of The Website
- Funnels Link Equity As Efficiently As Possible
- More Navigability For The User Of The Website
1. Maximizes The Crawlability Of The Website
Since every page is attached to a parent page and all the pages on the site are connected via internal links, the accessibility becomes very high. Along with this, the search engine optimization ranking also gets boosted. Therefore, one loses minimum time to traffic in the webpages or other technical problems that hinder the flow.
2. Maximizes Topical Authority Of The Website
A SILOed structure helps one to build content around relevant topics. Therefore, one gets quick authority over a particular topic. These articles within the same structure help each other and together develop a topical authority.
3. Funnels Link Equity As Efficiently As Possible
Linking child pages becomes very easy and affordable once one has established the link with the parent page. One has to check the target keywords and rankings of the child pages. And then, one can get more than just linking with the parent page.
4. More Navigability For The User Of The Website
Once the website gets into the SILO structure, it becomes very organized. Therefore, it becomes effortless for users to get what they are looking for. They can easily jump from one page to another for relevant information. Hence, the site received increased engagement. This directly boosts the SEO ranking of the site.
When To Use SILO Structure?
There are certain things that one must remember if one wants to use the SILO structure. Given below is a list of those. One should use the SILO structure only if one abides by all of these and is ready.
- There should be a strong plan for all the parent pages. They will be crucial in creating equity through all the interlinked supporting pages.
- The hierarchy should not be deeper than 3 levels. Otherwise, navigation might become very difficult. The user will lose patience and get baffled. The site compensates with the equity of the parent page.
- The URL structure must be made final. Changing it after the SILO structuring will break internal links and mess up the system.
- For a similar reason, incomplete child pages should also not be published.
- Constant checking of competing SILOs is important. This will give one an idea of what is happening in their niche.
Who Can Use SILO Structure?
Anyone working with a website that wants to boost its engagement and ranking without spending too much money can use the SILO structure. Moreover, it also makes them more competitive against the bigger publishers and content creators.
If one has scattered data that needs to be categorized, this is the best option to go for. SILO helps to structure the site through internal linking, navigational, or URL structures.
How To Plan & Implement Hard SEO SILO Structure?
There are a few steps that you need to plan and implement a hard SEO SILO structure:
- Planning is always the first step. The most essential part here is to know the niche that one wants to work on. Then, one has to research extensively.
- It leads to an idea of what the richest keywords are in that niche. The pages and the constituent SILO will be built based on this. Because the users will navigate using these words.
- The parent topic needs to be covered on a page. Then, for further details, it should be broken into several supporting child pages. These pages should be SILOed together.
- The sub-topics should be further broken down into long-tail keyword phrases.
The link structure is the most important part of creating any SILO. It determines the hierarchy, the path through which link juice travels, and the ultimate topical authority the site wants to achieve.
SILO Structure Case Studies: Automobile Insurance Niche
Let us see how websites are taking advantages of SILO Structure and their working in Automobile Insurance sector**
1. Insurify
Insurify is one of the best insurance websites that provides bundle insurance like auto, health, life, and much more. Let us see, how they use SILO structure on their website.
Here is one example where the URL Structure is:
URL -> car-insurance/companies/state-farm/
- In this case, Insurance is the primary page, car insurance is the sub-page followed by the company and then the company name.
- In other images, you will see how the URL keeps on changing serving the user's query and at the same time how they are targeting the keywords too in the URL itself.
- They are also giving an example of how GEO Location can be targeted using SILO Structure where the sub-pages are categorized by CITY.
- If you will search for how to cancel geico insurance, their URL will be like this:
https://insurify.com/car-insurance/companies/geico/cancel-geico/
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2. Investopedia.com
Investopedia is one of the largest and most trusted financial websites that caters to millions of queries. It’s amazing to see how they have developed a complex platform but users can easily find their solutions.
They have so well structured their website that one can learn so much from them. It’s interlinking techniques, how they are arranging their URLs in ascending order A to Z and by special characters too, and each page is linked to each other providing the link juice that helps in ranking on search engines. Their interlinking features have numbers too [1], [2], [3], and so on that gives us the feeling of using Wikipedia.
3. Nerdwallet
Nerdwallet is our personal favorite as they are such complex but one never feels they are using a complex website just like Investopedia. You can easily compare quotes, companies, different plans, companies, cities and the list goes on and on.
4. Whatcar.com
From whatar.com we can learn how to structure a website, work on targeted keywords and provide deals. Look at the keyword “BEST SMALL CARS” + “Year” and then the URL. You will notice “domain/best/small-cars”. Similarly, if the keyword is “Best Cheap Small Cars” + “Year”, the URL will change accordingly. In this way, 100s of small cars can be categorized, and pass on the link juice to each page, give a better user experience, and earn more revenue by working on CTA that actually converts into leads.
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Behind every successful business is a strong SEO campaign. But with countless optimization tools and techniques out there to choose from, it can be hard to know where to start. Well, fear no more, cause I've got just the thing to help. Presenting the Ranktracker all-in-one platform for effective SEO
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There are other websites too which can be taken as for reference and learn how to implement SILO Structure on their website. Few of them are:
- Bankrate
- Finder.com
- WalletHub
Pros And Cons Of SILO Structure?
Pros:
- Easy accessibility
- More engagement
- High SEO ranking
- Streamlined experience through topical authority
Cons:
There is every reason to implement the SILO structure, but one aspect defeats the purpose: banning internal links. A little change in internal links can break down the entire structure. As per experts, it takes away autonomy from the user while navigating. The chain suddenly breaks if the user wants something outside the pattern.
Conclusion
If one wants to organize the content on their website, a SILO structure is the best option. It does need a lot of planning before one can implement it. However, once done, it can boost the website rankings and topical authority. With SILOing, it becomes easier for users to search for a particular topic in a standard pattern.