Do you have orphan pages on your website? If you do not optimize a website’s structure, you are making navigation difficult for humans and search engines.
Solution—creating a silo structure!
It can take your on-page SEO game to the next level by helping search engine bots index and rank your content. User experience is also many times better for websites with a logical silo structure.
But how can you implement a silo structure to increase organic traffic to your website. Let’s break it down. This guide will walk you through:
- Silo structure meaning
- Why it matters for technical SEO and on-page SEO
- How to design it for WordPress silos
- Tips to organize related pages and content
- Best practices for internal linking and preserving link juice
- Increasing Google rankings, crawl and index, and decreasing the bounce rate
Let’s dive in!
Silo Structure Meaning (A Deeper Dive)
The word “silo” comes from agriculture where grains are stored separately to maintain quality. The same logic applies to silo structure in SEO.
This framework of the SEO website design involves organizing website pages so that similar content is grouped. You categorize related pages under common themes to make your content more relevant and easier for search engines to understand your site’s structure. This is the heart of siloing in SEO.
By organizing website pages into silos, you:
- Establish thematic authority aka. topical authority
- Improve technical SEO, crawlability, and internal linking
- Help search engines identify your most relevant content.
So , if you’re ever wondering how to balance user needs with SEO website design. The answer is: siloing in SEO.
Visual Example of Silo Structure:
| MAIN CATEGORY PAGE | SUPPORTING SUBPAGES |
| SEO | On-page SEO, Technical SEO, Link Juice |
| Blogging | Content Writing, Keyword Research |
| WordPress | Themes, Plugins, WordPress Silos |
SEO Silos vs. Traditional Structure
| FEATURE | TRADITIONAL STRUCTURE | SEO SILO STRUCTURE |
| Navigation | Mixed | Thematically Grouped |
| Internal Linking | Random | Strategic |
| Focus | General | Highly Relevant |
| User Experience | Confusing | Streamlined |
| Crawling and Indexing | Less efficient | Highly optimized[2] |
Topical Clusters vs. Content Silos
You can organize your website content either by making topical clusters or content silos.
What’s the difference between the two?
Well!…think of a Topical Cluster as a web of related articles connected to one main topic, called a pillar page.
The content is linked together through internal links, but it doesn’t follow a strict hierarchy.
On the other hand, a content Silo is more like a tree structure. It organizes content into clear, separate categories and subcategories. This method focuses more on creating a structured layout for your website.
| Feature | Topical Clusters | Content Silos |
| Link Structure | Flexible | Hierarchical |
| URL Structure | Flat or varied | Category-based |
| SEO Focus | Topic Relevance | Keyword + Structure |
| Best for | Blogs, Content Hubs | Full Websites, SEO Architecture |
Why You Should Implement Silo Structure?
Does your website really need content silos? Or should you build it just because it’s trendy? Not at all. While it’s become more popular in recent years, silo structure serves a real purpose—and it can be a game-changer for your website’s performance.
Here are some solid reasons to implement a silo structure:
- Improve website rankings by reinforcing keyword themes
- Enhance user experience with logical navigation
- Maximize link juice across important pages
- Speed up crawling and indexing by bots
- Reduce bounce rate with focused content clusters
- Create an SEO friendly website architecture
Is Silo Structure Mandatory for Google SEO?
Short answer: No, it’s not mandatory—but it’s highly recommended.
Google doesn’t require a silo structure to rank your site. Its algorithms are smart enough to understand content without perfect organization. However, using silos gives you a major advantage.
What Happens If You Don’t Use a Silo Structure?
But without a silo structure:
- Crawl depth increases, making indexing slower
- Link equity gets diluted across unrelated pages
- Topical relevance becomes unclear
Why is It So Recommended?
Clarity matters—to both search engines and users.
Siloing helps organize your content into topic-focused sections, making it easier for crawlers to understand and for users to navigate.
When visitors find related content grouped under one theme, they’re more likely to stick around, click deeper, and engage, boosting dwell time and reducing bounce rate.
So while Google won’t penalize you for skipping silos, but its absence can weaken the SEO signals.
According to a detailed analysis by Brian Dean at Backlinko, organized site structure and internal linking are among the top factors influencing Google search rankings.
Hence, siloing helps you increase organic traffic and keep visitors engaged.
Does Silo Structure Strengthen On-Page SEO?
A well-planned silo structure is a proven on-page SEO technique as it:
- Helps create keyword-rich, targeted URLs
- Supports relevant use of H1–H6 heading tags
- Encourages alt text that aligns with the topic
- Enables clean, intuitive internal navigation
By reinforcing topical themes, silos guide you in creating the most relevant and SEO-friendly content for your audience.
Types of SEO Silos
Below are a few types of silos:
- Physical Silos – These are based on your site’s folder structure and URLs
e.g., yoursite.com/blog/seo/on-page-seo
- Virtual Silos – These rely on internal links, tags, and navigation menus rather than folder paths. Content is connected through context and links, not URL structure.
- Hybrid Silos – A mix of physical and virtual silos. These silos comb the URL structure of physical silos with the internal linking for maximum flexibility.
How to Optimize Your SEO Silo Structure?
A well-organized silo structure can take your SEO from average to high-performing. Here’s how to do it right:
1. Audit Existing Site Structure
Before building a silo structure, understand how your current site is organized:
- Crawl your site with something such as Screaming Frog or Site bulb
- Detect the orphan pages and internal links of no value
- Analyze the category depth. Is the structure too shallow or unnecessarily deep? Adjust for balance.
- Review the existing internal anchor text
- Spot content gaps
2. Define Core Topics (Top-Level Silos)
ind 4-6 major categories to which your business or niche can be covered. These become the basis of the silos.
3. Group Related Contents
Put blog posts, service pages, or products under the most relevant silo. One post should not work under two or more silos.
4. Keyword-rich URLs
Use keywords in URLs for clarity in your silo path.
Example: example.com/seo/on-page-optimization
5. Relevant Internal Linking
Link pages generously within the same silo to strengthen topic relevance. Only link across silos when it’s absolutely necessary and contextually relevant.
6. Optimize Anchor Text
Use internal links to reinforce your topical authority by using contextual, keyword-based anchor text.
- Add descriptive terms like “on-page SEO techniques” instead of generic phrases like “click here.
- Keep your anchor text consistent with the silo’s theme, but vary the wording slightly to avoid keyword stuffing.
- Place links early in the content where possible—they get crawled more effectively.
- Link with purpose, not out of habit. Every link should add value or context.
When done right, anchor text reinforces your silo structure and improves internal navigation.
Technical SEO Factors
A silo is only effective if it’s crawlable, indexable, and logically structured at the technical level. Here is your checklist for best technical practices when creating silos:
1. Use Clear, Folder-Like URLs
Each page should live under a relevant category in the URL. For example;
- /seo/
- /seo/on-page-seo/
- /seo/technical-seo/
Avoid URLs that don’t show what topic the content belongs to.
❌Flat structures like /blog-post-title
❌Dynamic URLs like /index.php?id=123
2. Eliminate Orphan and Low-Value Pages
Orphan pages are pages on your website that aren’t linked to any other web page. Search engines can’t easily find them and might not even know they exist. That’s why all pages included in your content silos must be linked at least once from another webpage.
How to fix them:
Scan your website using tools like Screaming Frog (Orphan Pages report), Sitebulb, or Ahrefs (No inlinks). These will show you which pages have zero internal links.
- If the page is useful
Add it to a relevant silo and link to it from a related page
- If it’s outdated or low-quality
Delete it or merge it with another page
3. Keep Clicks to a Minimum
Important pages shouldn’t be buried deep. A visitor (or search engine bot) should be able to get to any page in 3 clicks or fewer from your homepage. This keeps your content easily accessible and fast to crawl.
4. Configure XML Sitemaps by Silo
Google reads your sitemap to understand your website. Hence, make sure your sitemap includes your silos and subpages
For larger sites, you can even split them by category:
- /sitemap-seo.xml
- /sitemap-wordpress.xml
- sitemap-content.xml
For WordPress, you can use plugins to create customized sitemaps.
- Yoast SEO → Sitemaps → Add custom sitemap paths
- RankMath → Sitemap Settings → Include categories/taxonomies
5. Ensure Robots.txt Is Crawl-Friendly
Robots.txt file tells search engines what they’re allowed to crawl. Use it to allow crawler access to your silo structure.
Make sure you’re not blocking important folders like/category/ or /content/ in your robots.txt file. Doing so can prevent search engines from crawling your silo pages. Always double-check what you’re disallowing.
Following basic setup allows bots to crawl everything useful and follow your silos.
User-agent: *
Disallow: /wp-admin/
Disallow: /tags/
Allow: /
Sitemap: https://example.com/sitemap.xml
6. Match Navigation to Silo Structure
To make your silo structure work effectively, design your site’s navigation accordingly.
- Show only the main silo categories (e.g., SEO, Blogging, WordPress). Don’t clutter it with every subpage.
- Use a sidebar menu or internal table of contents to help users explore subtopics within each silo.
- Add breadcrumb navigation (like Home > SEO > On-Page SEO) to show where each page sits in the hierarchy.
Use schema markup to help Google understand and display breadcrumbs in search results.
8. Use Canonical Tags if Needed
If two pages are similar (say, two articles about the same topic in different silos), use a canonical tag to tell Google which one is the main version.
Ask your developer or use a plugin like Yoast SEO to add it. This avoids duplicate content issues.
- <link rel=”canonical” href=”https://example.com/silo-topic/primary-page/“>
9. Test Your Silos with Mobile Emulators
Use Chrome DevTools or tools like BrowserStack to preview silo navigation on different screen sizes. Ensure that menus, breadcrumbs, and internal links are all accessible and usable on smaller devices.
How to Build SEO Silos for WordPress?
Step 1: Plan Your Site Architecture
For optimizing a website’s structure, the steps are nearly the same as described above. First, define your top-level silo topics.
Example:
- Digital Marketing
- SEO
- WordPress
- Content Writing
Step 2: Organize and Interlink Related Pages
Organize your blogs and your subpages into these top silos. Use logical hierarchies to ensure relevance and human and search engine-friendly navigation.
Example Structure:
- yoursite.com/seo/on-page-techniques
- yoursite.com/seo/internal-linking
Link related pages frequently within the silos. But limit internal linking across the silos. This helps maintain link juice and content focus.
Pro Tip: Use anchor text with targeted keywords or their variations.
Step 3: Use WordPress Silos Tools
WordPress makes silo implementation easier with the user-friendly tools:
| PLUGIN NAME | USE CASE |
| Yoast SEO | SEO and breadcrumb structuring (Yoast) |
| RankMath | Advanced SEO fields (RankMath) |
| Elementor Pro | Page structure design (Elementor) |
| Custom Post Type UI | Creating topic-specific areas (Custom Post Type UI) |
Silo Structure for E-Commerce Sites
Siloing for e-commerce works a bit differently due to product variety, seasonal updates, and frequent inventory changes
Tips:
- Group products under main categories
Example: Men > Shoes > Sneakers.
Keep categories broad at the top, then narrow them down based on product types or user intent.
- Use subcategories for specific search intents
Break down categories to match how users search. For example, “Running Sneakers” or “Casual Sneakers.”
- Add supporting content hubs
Include blog posts, buying guides, and style tips that reinforce your product categories and improve topical relevance.
- Internally link strategically
Connect product pages to:- Category guides
- FAQ pages
- Reviews and comparisons
This strategy enhances the crawling, indexation, and conversion routes.
Common Mistakes When Building SEO Silos
Even with the best intentions, silo structures can go wrong. Watch out for these common pitfalls:
- Linking across silos too frequently
This weakens topical focus and confuses search engines.
- Using vague silo names
Generic terms dilute clarity and hurt keyword relevance.
- Neglecting internal linking
Missed links = missed SEO opportunities and poor user flow.
- Creating duplicate content
Confuses search engines and hurts rankings.
- Having too many shallow categories
Many silos but only a few content pieces in each make your site look thin.
Avoiding these mistakes helps you build a stronger, more SEO-friendly site architecture.
Case Study (From Messy to SEO Mastery)
Problem:
A blogging site that contained more than 250+ posts lacked any form of structure. Rankings were falling.
Solution:
Organization of the site into 5 main silos, old pages redirected, and the internal links updated accordingly.
Results:
- Bounce rate dropped by 38%
- Sessions increased by 60%
- Page views per session increased to 3.2
(Fictitious example based on principles shared by experts in Search Engine Journal).
Final Thoughts
When you organize website pages in a systematic way, you are making the task easier for both the human and the search engine. It’s not just about SEO. It is all about creating a website that pleases the audience and being tech-optimized at the same time.
So if you’re serious about improving Google rankings, it’s time to build silos.
Ready to take your SEO to the next level? It is time to get your site in order as a professional, achieve higher rankings, and generate a better user experience all that, one silo at a time.
Contact us today or explore our SEO audit services to get started!
FAQs
Q1: What is the best way to silo an existing website?
Start by auditing your current content. Analyze what you have at present. Group similar topics into logical categories and improve internal linking using relevant anchor text (e.g., keyword phrases that describe the linked page).
Q2: Will siloing be useful in reducing the bounce rate and conversions?
Yes, siloing makes it easier for users to find information on your website and keeps them engaged. This way it reduces the bounce rate and builds trust, which eventually brings conversions.
Q3: How long does it take to see SEO results after implementing a silo structure?
It depends on your site size and domain authority, but typically, you may start noticing improvements in crawlability and engagement within 4 to 8 weeks.
Q4: Should every page on my site be part of a silo?
Pages like About, Contact, or Privacy Policy don’t need to belong to a content silo, but you should add blog posts, services, and product pages to proper silos.
Q5. How Do I Optimize My Silo Structure for Mobile Devices?
For mobile silo optimization, avoid clutter and ensure fast load times. Use a mobile-friendly menu that shows only main silos, with expandable submenus for subpages. Keep clicks to 3 or fewer. Enable breadcrumb navigation and responsive design.