Content silo: the SEO strategy that brings order to your pages

The content silo is a simple yet powerful method for structuring your pages, improving your SEO and showcasing your expertise. We explain it all to you, with method, examples and a dose of web savvy.

What is a content silo?

The content silo is a method of organizing a site’s pages around specific themes.

The silo groups together pages dealing with similar topics and links them strategically. Each pillar page centralizes a main theme and links to secondary pages, called daughter pages, which detail sub-themes.

This hierarchy facilitates navigation and optimizes SEO, as it helps Google to understand and index your content more effectively. Why use a silo structure for your website?

A site without a silo is a bit like an attic without storage: you pile up interesting things, but you can’t find anything else. And above all, nobody wants to stay there.

With a silo structure, everything becomes more fluid.

For SEO, it’s a gold mine

Well-structured content in silos enables Google to clearly identify the main themes of your site, making it easier to index and display relevant pages according to queries.

By creating a hierarchy between anchor pages and daughter pages, you optimize your content to meet specific user expectations, while helping Google to spot essential keywords.

Good internal linking reinforces your site’s authority on specific subjects, improving page relevance.

For your visitors, it’s a comfortable browsing experience

A clear structure facilitates navigation, allowing users to quickly find the information they need without getting lost.

For example, a visitor interested in organic gardening will find all relevant content under the same theme, encouraging further exploration.

This organization reduces bounce rates and improves engagement: factors appreciated by Google.

How do you set up a content silo?

You don’t need to be an SEO expert, you just need a clear vision of your themes, a bit of logic, and method.

Step 1: Identify key content areas

Before creating your silos, start by getting to know your field and your business objectives.

Identify the main themes that meet your customers’ needs. Use keyword research tools to identify popular topics. These themes will serve as the basis for your silos.

For example, for a gardening e-commerce site, the main axes could be :

• organic gardening,
• gardening tools,
• outdoor layout.

Each axis becomes a silo, with a pillar page covering the overall subject, and daughter pages delving into sub-themes.

Step 2: Create pillar pages

The pillar pages are the foundations of your silo.

They provide an overview of a topic, in a detailed and engaging way. A good pillar page answers frequently asked questions and includes links to more specific pages (daughter pages).

For example, an anchor page could be: “Complete guide to starting organic gardening”. Optimize it with keywords for SEO and make sure it’s informative and engaging, to encourage users to explore other pages in the silo.

Step 3: Write the daughter pages

Daughter pages focus on a specific aspect of the subject covered by the main page.

They should provide additional, complementary information. For example, a pillar page on “Gardening tools” could be accompanied by a daughter page on “Choosing the right tools for pruning”.

Each daughter page should offer real added value and reinforce your site’s authority on the subject in question. Don’t forget to add calls to action to encourage visitor engagement.

What’s the difference between physical and semantic silos?

The physical silo is based on the structure of URLs, while the semantic silo is based on internal meshing, i.e. the use of links between pages.

1. The physical silo

The physical silo is a method of organizing pages hierarchically through URLs.

For example, if you have a page dedicated to “gardening tools”, its URL could be www.monsite.com/jardinage/outils. This URL structure allows Google to instantly understand that the page is part of the “Gardening” silo, reinforcing the theme.

The physical silo is a direct and effective way of showing page hierarchy and organizing your content in a way that’s clear to Google.

2. The semantic silo

The semantic silo, on the other hand, is based on internal links.

Here, we’re not talking about a visible hierarchy in URLs, but rather a strategy of linking pages together to show Google the relationship between them.

For example, an anchor page on “organic gardening” could link to daughter pages such as “creating an organic vegetable garden” or “choosing organic seeds”.

The semantic silo is just as important as the physical silo, as it reinforces the relevance of pages to each other, based on their content.

Mistakes to avoid!

Mixing too many subjects in the same silo

It’s crucial to maintain a certain thematic coherence. If you create a silo on organic gardening, avoid tainting it with unrelated topics, such as “computer equipment for the garden”.

This kind of mix disrupts logic and harms your SEO.

Neglecting the pillar page

The pillar page is the central element of each silo.

To neglect it is to risk creating a disorganized structure. Your pillar page needs to be neat, complete and well optimized for SEO.

Overloaded with links without logic

Internal linking is essential, but it must be used strategically.

The aim is to guide the user, not to overwhelm him with useless links. Too many internal links can dilute the value of each page.

Multiplying silos for nothing

The more silos you create, the more you need to maintain consistency.

It’s better to create only relevant, well-developed silos, rather than too many that end up intersecting and getting lost in secondary sub-topics.

What a good silo strategy changes

By applying a silo structure, you bring greater clarity and relevance to your content.

Let’s take the example of a fictitious site in the gardening sector. Thanks to clear organization, the pages are better indexed and achieve higher positions in search results.

On average, after implementing silos, a site saw its positions increase by 40% on long-tail keywords, attracting more qualified traffic.

The final word: structure for better performance

Adopting the content silo is not an option, it’s a winning strategy.

Not only do you improve your SEO, but you also offer your users a smooth browsing experience. With well-structured pages, you add value to your content and become a reference in your field.

Final tip: before producing content, ask yourself this simple question: which silo does it fit into? If you have the answer, you’re on the right track.

What if we helped you build your silos?

At AntheDesign, we don’t just do SEO, we do structured, thoughtful and sustainable SEO.

Need a helping hand to get your content in order? We’ll help you, step by step, to create an architecture that’s solid, readable… and effective.