Understanding the concept of silo: definition and uses in SEO

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Silo

The organisation and structuring of information on a website are essential for improving natural referencing and gaining better visibility on search engines, such as Google. One of the key concepts for achieving this is silo.

In this article, we will define what a silo is, how it works and its relevance to SEO.

Silo: a hierarchical organisation

The word silo "refers to the structure used by farmers to store cereals, fruit or vegetables in pits dug in the ground, where the plant products are kept protected from the air and the weather.

In the digital domain, and more specifically in SEO, a silo is a method of organising the content of a website in a coherent and hierarchical way. It involves grouping pages and articles dealing with the same theme in a precise and logical structure.

Why adopt a silo structure?

Above all, this organisation makes it easier for users to navigate and keeps their attention on your site. By discovering content that is closely related to their interests, visitors will be more inclined to consult several pages on your site and thus generate qualified traffic.

The silo structure also makes it easier for search engines such as Google to understand and index your site. A clear organisation makes it easier for the indexing robots that scan and analyse web pages to read. It is then easier for these robots to identify the themes covered on your site and to give it a better ranking in the search results.

The different stages in implementing a silo strategy

To implement this organisational strategy, a number of steps need to be taken:

Identify the site's main themes
Structure each silo with a main page (often called the "mother page") and secondary pages ("daughter pages").
Writing relevant and complementary content for each silo
Set up internal links between pages in the same silo
Avoid links between pages in different silos, unless this is necessary for the sense of the content.

1. Identify the main themes of the site

This first step involves determining the main subjects you want to cover on your site. The aim here is to create coherent, well-defined content categories. You can group these broad themes around keywords that are representative of your business or sector.

2. Structure each silo with a main page and sub-pages

Each theme (or silo) should be made up of a set of pages that are closely linked, both in terms of content and technical aspects. The parent page, which is the main page of the silo, should present rich, relevant content related to the chosen theme. The daughter pages will complement this presentation by addressing sub-themes or specific aspects of the main theme.

3. Write relevant and complementary content within each silo

The quality of the content you offer is crucial to the effectiveness of your silo strategy. You therefore need to write texts that are informative, interesting and complete for visitors to your site, while taking into account the SEO requirements of search engines.

4. Set up internal links between pages in the same silo

It is essential to establish links between pages in the same silo in order to guide users through their navigation and to show search engines that these pages are linked together. Links must therefore be established between the parent page and the child pages, and vice versa.

5. Avoid links between pages in different silos

The logic of silos implies not mixing themes and therefore not creating links between pages belonging to different silos. This approach helps to maintain consistency in your organisation and to reinforce the relevance of each silo in the eyes of the search engines.

Advantages that make all the difference in SEO

By adopting a silo strategy to structure the content on your site, you can benefit from a number of advantages to improve your natural referencing:

- Better understanding of your site by search engines
- Better positioning in search results thanks to coherent, hierarchical organisation

Richer, more relevant content for users

Easier navigation for visitors, encouraging them to explore your pages
A netlinking optimised, with relevant and effective internal links

The silo concept represents a real lever for optimising the visibility of your website on the Internet and generating qualified traffic. By following the steps outlined in this article, you can put in place a rigorous silo organisation that's tailored to your business.