SEO Silos: How to Rank for More Keywords Without Building Links [5 Ways]

[@MattDiggity]

Want more Onsite SEO tips? Download my Evergreen Onsite SEO Guide for FREE: diggitymarketing.com/onsite-seo-guide/

[@voyager137]

Matt, could you put it into the Lab? Great vid as always.

[@MattDiggity]

@@voyager137 the silo video in the Affiliate Lab is superior.

[@udintbh453]

ok ok ok ok ok

[@allthingsusama4229]

I need your business email address for promotion

[@allthingsusama4229]

I need your business email address for promotion

[@RobertOHaver]

Matt, I have been doing SEO for 21 years and came across this video on internal linking. This has been the best example I have seen on internal linking and silo pages. I highly recommend if your new to SEO you need to watch this video, save it for reference. There is so much bad SEO advice and information on the web it's nice to see some good stuff especially on this topic cuz it's so important.

[@JatinP10]

Hello sir, if can you provide me any of your social media handle where I can reach you out. I want some advice from you Thanks ❤️

[@dianestraney441]

Great video

[@Rio_Akram_Miiro]

You deserve the power of seo master, you inspire me alot

[@chapterme]

Chapters (Powered by ChapterMe) - 00:00 - Intro 00:05 - What is an SEO Silo? 00:21 - Benefits of a planned site architecture 01:47 - Keyword Research 03:42 - Internal Linking 04:05 - 1 Top-Down Recycle 06:54 - 2 Reverse Silo 08:44 - 3 Serial Silo 10:29 - 4 YOLO Silo (Every Page) 11:22 - 5 Priority Silo (Advanced) 13:09 - The Best SILO Configuration 13:57 - FAQs - Difference Between Hard and a Soft Silo? 15:05 - What Kind of Anchor Text Should you Use? 16:18 - How Relevant do Pages Need to be to Link Them? 17:13 - Most Important Page to Link from? 17:40 - Pitfalls to Think About? 18:42 - Three Main Goals on Interlinking

[@slavkodesik855]

I've been doing SEO for 10 years, and it took a while to learn the best practices governing silo structures and interlinking in general. Your video is by far the best summary on the concept that I've ever seen, and an excellent educational resource for someone who is transitioning from an entry position to a more serious SEO role. Short, concise, and to the point, with excellent examples to illustrate the underpinning theory. Thank you!

[@MattDiggity]

Fantastic!

[@joshternyak8752]

This is by far the best SEO silos tutorial video I've watched. Matt Diggity, I'm digging your content. Pun intended.

[@jmurrayathletics]

I second this

[@asim8705]

The most detailed and well-covered tutorial I've ever seen on any SEO topic. Thanks, Matt.

[@anantawasthy7189]

The best videl on topic clusters I've seen. Thank you Matt

[@dameanvil]

00:00 📚 An SEO silo is a standardized structure of a website where certain pages link to each other based on relevance and thoughtful patterns. - Topical relevance can be achieved by linking related pages, which helps Google understand the website's focus and improves rankings. - Internal linking spreads link juice from high-authority pages to other pages on the site, increasing their rankings. - Well-structured silos can make it easier to rank for long-tail keywords without external link building. 02:21 📚 Foundational keyword research is crucial for organizing website pages in an SEO silo structure. - Main keywords should be broken down into subtopics, which can be further divided into more specific categories. - Higher-level keywords are often more commercial and challenging to rank for, while lower-level keywords are typically easier and more informational. - Categorizing pages based on targeted keywords supports a well-organized and focused website structure. 03:49 📚 Contextual linking is essential for effective SEO siloing, using links within the body of the article or page. - Contextual links are more impactful than links in sidebars, navigation bars, or footers. - One configuration example is the "top-down recycle SEO silo," where contextual links flow from the top page to subpages and back to the top page, completing the linking loop. - This configuration allows link juice to distribute across pages, increasing their rankings and topical relevance. 05:47 📚 The "reverse silo" configuration is one of the most popular SEO silo structures. - The top page links to subpages, while the subpages also link back to the top page, creating a reciprocal linking pattern. - This configuration helps guide users from long-tail keyword pages to more general and commercial intent pages. - The reverse silo offers better topical relevance and allows for easier navigation through the website's content. 07:13 💡 Reverse Silo Configuration - Link juice flows from the top page to subpages and back to the top page. - Increases topical relevance and helps guide users from long-tail keyword pages to more general and commercial intent pages. 08:13 💡 Serial Silo Configuration - Links flow in a sequential manner, with each page linking to the page below it and back to the top page. - Offers limited topical relevance and not recommended for establishing strong link connections. 09:42 💡 Yellow Silo Configuration - Every page links to every other page on the website, resulting in non-topical relevance and an equilibrium spread of link juice. - Lacks strategic advantage and differentiation between pages. 11:37 💡 Priority Silo Configuration - Combines the foundation of the reverse silo with manually interlinking relevant priority pages. - Provides excellent topical relevance, prioritizes important pages for ranking and monetization. 13:31 💡 Recommended Configurations - For beginners: Reverse Silo Configuration offers simplicity, good link juice flow, and decent topical relevance. - For advanced SEOs: Priority Silo Configuration excels in topical relevance and link juice flow, but requires more management. 14:01 💡 Difference between Hard and Soft Silos - Soft silos are built through interlinking pages within a website. - Hard silos are built based on directory structures. 14:28 🏗️ Siloing and Directory Structures - Interlinking is necessary for hard siloing to establish link juice flow and topical relevance. - Directory structures help users navigate different sections of the website. 15:27 ⚓ Anchor Text Diversity - Using varied target anchor texts for internal links produces the best result for SEO. - Diversifying anchor texts helps avoid over-optimization and potential penalties. 16:24 🤝 Relevance of Linked Pages - For new sites, it is crucial to maintain strong relevance between linked pages. - Established authority sites have more flexibility in linking to less relevant pages. 17:21 🏠 Importance of Homepage Link - The homepage is the most important page to link from due to its relevance and high link juice. - Linking from the homepage should prioritize the most important pages on the website. 17:50 ⚠ Pitfalls to Avoid - Over-optimizing by sending exact match anchor texts repeatedly can harm rankings. - Not closing the loop and having dead-end pages restrict link juice flow and topical relevance. 18:47 👥 Main Goals of Interlinking - Link to relevant pages, prioritize pages for ranking, and give extra emphasis to important pages. - Stick to these three concepts for effective interlinking strategies.

[@bilalsardar260]

Wow...!!! This is what I was searching for, for the past 5 6 months...!!! This is the super explaination...!!! Thank you sir Matt...!!! Thank you...!!! This solved my all questions...!!!

[@ianlewis9923]

Hands down the best video I've seen on Internal linking and silos. Amazing mate.

[@benjf.harvey872]

Thanks Matt. I will add silo building to my morning routine and meditate on this for my niche.

[@macadamianutz1857]

The best video about silos in the whole internet! Thank you very much. The FAQ part was also very helpful.

[@JohnMacau-mt7wc]

The most impressive Interlinking Guide. Thanks Matt!

[@MattDiggity]

Glad you think so!

[@juanaltredo2974]

best video about silos hands down, clear, in depth, useful, amazing, thanks matt!

[@yousportshd6058]

This is one of the best videos I've ever seen related to this topic. The information is very helpful and is pure gold 🥇 Thanks a lot Matt 🙏🙂

[@MattDiggity]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@Cool121976]

Good stuff. Liked the way you presented adding the sense of humour. Since I'm a beginner, I'd like it if you explain more in details and vividly so I can actually do it step by step taking the baby steps.

[@michelguyfortin]

Great video. This is also the preferred architecture for Google. John Mueller said it himself in a Q&A where someone asked about flat vs silo architectures, and Mueller said "Pyramid."

[@steveiws]

Quite simply the best SEO Silo video I've seen on the Net, dogs bollocks Matt 👍

[@czsuman]

Everybody was SEO gangstar until Matt start making videos 🔥

[@maivishnaaz3117]

Thanks . For your comment on last video . I just need to work more to understand this configuration. Its little tricky.

[@BrettBurky]

Your content is the best SEO guides on YT, keep it up.

[@MattDiggity]

Appreciate that

[@GriffinThomasMFCEO]

Great video, started paying attention to site structure for our local business and after less than a week already seeing big changes in rankings

[@MattDiggity]

Glad it was helpful!

[@joejones8810]

Your brain is a well focused oiled machine Diggity. Thanks for the videos little brother.

[@MattDiggity]

I appreciate that

[@henrythomas7112]

I am learning so much from watching your videos. Thank you so much for sharing this amazing source of information. This one is quite helpful.

[@MattDiggity]

Wonderful!

[@goldretirementsolutions]

I keep coming back to this video since this is a more difficult concept for me to grasp for some reason.

[@catdogandanimallover3236]

Best information about link i've ever seen. Go on bray..

[@salztoaster2316]

Bro y are the king of seo!

[@kolakoded]

Love your content Matt. From 🇳🇬

[@AKordyban]

Awesome video Matt. Really cleared up some questions I had about siloing. Keep up the awesome content.

[@peopledrawing648]

Great video Matt. Thanks! I'd love to see a video on Search Console.

[@muhammadkamran4566]

Thanks, Matt, It really cleared my concept for interlinking.

[@MikeKollin]

I actually liked this video... made it really clear! Thanks!

[@footyboysmedia7108]

This is a great video. Your videos have always been helpful. Sold my first website for $7500 on flippa two weeks ago and all I did is follow your videos. I know you sell links but not all of us can afford them. Can you have a video on how you do outreach for backlinks? Maybe using infographics as bait or something like that?

[@tobi13297eee]

Hey Matt, Definitely recognizing improvements in the quality of your youtube videos!

[@MattDiggity]

Glad you think so!

[@NarayanaSwamyNS]

Thanks Matt for giving such a premium content. I really mean it!😍

[@MattDiggity]

My pleasure!

[@anilaggarwal6773]

Again firing video on KZbin. You explained everything in a very simple way. Love to follow you.

[@deel6233]

Brilliant and clear video, thank you. This has encouraged me to map out my new sites structure before I start writing.

[@MattDiggity]

Fantastic!

[@CrypticO22]

Great breakdown and informational video

[@MattDiggity]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@masumakseo]

Well explained, May be the best one regarding SILO. Thanks, Matt

[@salztoaster2316]

Can you do a video on affiliate home page design with some examples and also articel design?;)

[@MattDiggity]

It's already coming.

[@productpromotions1736]

Wow NYC question I also wanted this. If it's possible to use, Guttenberg, to create the home page would appreciate more

[@Buyseech]

Great stuff as always buddy. I do have one "problem" and that's the background music...I kept reaching for my mouse trying to figure out where the heck its coming from. Could be the senior SEO citizen in me being grumpy :D

[@ijojan]

I kept pausing thinking my dog was barking

[@ijazkhan3552]

You are Mrbeast of SEO

[@JL-iw5kx]

This was a really good introduction, thanks!

[@elegance81]

Thank you so much for your video! It was perfect and helpfully!

[@nvb888]

Thank you very much! Great tutorial!

[@ryanbrown1181]

Thanks for the amazing breakdown!

[@rahim712]

Thanks for all the wonderful tips. Can you please let me know what do you mean by linking your homepage to the most important pages?

[@MattDiggity]

Link from your homepage to the pages you most want to rank.

[@markuselias6017]

Hi Matt, thanks for the great explanation. It's very useful! One thing I wanted to ask: in all your structure examples, you show one main topic at the top. How does it work when you have several main topics (categories) on a site? I guess many of us have several categories (silos) that are relevant to each other.

[@MattDiggity]

Expand the silo. This is just a small example.

[@markuselias6017]

@@MattDiggity Thanks for responding! Do you mean that I should add more main topics next to each other at the top row (the green boxes for main topics)?

[@mutasimeltayeb]

You amaze me by the day

[@shubhamyewale5389]

Thank you for the great stuff, Matt. I have been looking for exactly this since I decided to do a technical SEO audit for my website. Your latest videos suggest you are doing a technical SEO sprint. Will be waiting for the next one. Keep being awesome.

[@MattDiggity]

I like to mix it up based on whatever mood I’m in, to be honest. YT = therapy.

[@shubhamyewale5389]

@@MattDiggity Providing quality stuff to an eager audience seems like the constant mood 😃🙌 We love your content!!

[@salmankhan004]

Hi...Can you please mention the latest video of technical SEO as you discussed in the comment... Thank You

[@MarkMarino10]

Unbelievable information. Thanks for sharing!

[@FlorianElbers]

Great video! 2 questions: Do you just count content links? Or do breadcrumb and navigation links count as well? And aren't links dependent on what is linkable in the content in the first place?

[@MattDiggity]

Contextual links are the focus here.

[@bogdanmihaipantelimon1074]

Hi Matt! I started watching all the videos on your channel and now I found this one. Can you please tell me the difference between a silo and a topic cluster. It seems about the same to me.

[@MattDiggity]

Same same

[@bonniehoke-scedrov4906]

Great video! Thanks!

[@MattDiggity]

Glad you liked it!

[@aneskovsted2555]

Thank you so much, Matt, great video! How do I best do siloing at scale for large webshops. Let's say a category of rings that have 500+ products. Which of the products should link back to the category page and how do I interlink between each product?

[@MattDiggity]

I got you: diggitymarketing.com/sneakers-ecommerce-case-study/

[@NickCordeau]

Super helpful video Matt! While implementing the reverse silo, would it hurt my SEO rank to add a Main topic link to my sub-sub topics? The best of both, top down recycle and the reverse silo. Thanks for the video!

[@MikeKollin]

17:54 what do you mean exact match Anchor? Thanks!

[@MattDiggity]

If the keyword you're targetting on a page is "best wireless router" and you send an anchor "best wireless router" to it.

[@joannejensen4369]

Great content Matt🤗🇨🇦

[@Graham94]

Amazing video! How many outbound links would you recommend from a page to say the home page? Also does it help to Link from words in Heading 1 for example?

[@troels4554]

Thanks a ton, Matt!

[@MattDiggity]

No worries!

[@thenilblue1]

Thanks the detailed explanation. Really like your video. Thanks. 😊

[@kyleboerner3727]

this is one of the best content silo videos I've watched! well done, Matt! quick question-when we're internally linking product pages (not blog articles), should we still focus on hyperlinking text, or can we use buttons, etc.?

[@jonathanrice2568]

Excellent, thanks. Are/should category pages included in silo configurations?

[@xMrMusicax]

Great video Matt, thanks a lot!

[@MattBanks-wb4my]

Hi Matt, thanks for sharing. Should Anchor text be matched to the H1 of the page you are linking to?

[@MattDiggity]

No. Make it look natural and contextual.

[@chrisinasia1997]

Great tips. Very clear. Ty.

[@dawkaX07]

Really well explained, thanks Matt! I have a question about silos and sitewide links - how do you approach that? I mean links from menu / sidebar / maybe footer. Let's say silo looks like this: Best Cars - > Best Mercedes Cars - > Mercedes AMG GT Review If I want to focus on Mercedes AMG GT Review page (because it has a lot of volume and rather small competition) should I add it to the main manu or sidebar or footer? Or it will make silo weaker and less effective?

[@MattDiggity]

Assume that links from menu's, sidebars, and footers are ignored. They're not, but in the case of silos, assume they are.

[@moo0160]

hey Matt, thanks for your awesome video, Is link whsiper tool for internal linking good to do silo practice or should i do manually?

[@MattDiggity]

We do it manually. That said link whisper is a great tool.

[@seomadhur]

Thank you so much for the valuable information

[@zakaria_chana]

Smashed the like button brother. One series you have probably read (it's about some Wheel and Time) have been adapted into a live action series just recently. Making a blog about it could be interesting. Would writing about it be ok, but sharing screenshots from the show violate trademarks? I know you're not a lawyer Matt, but maybe you have some first hand info or a ressource about this, thanks.

[@MattDiggity]

Sorry bro. I wouldn’t know. But thanks for the mention about the series!

[@bluesquaremanagement]

Great video. With topic relevancy and silos, should these be pages or posts? Or doesn't it make any difference?

[@MattDiggity]

No difference.

[@bluesquaremanagement]

@@MattDiggity Can you mix them up, create both pages and posts or should you just use one or the other?

[@abhipatil4844]

Good one Matt

[@JudyHelmWright]

Matt, thanks so much for your clear and understandable method of teaching. I will enjoy learning and earning with you. Judy Helm Wright--Author/Historian/IntuitiveWiseWoman PS: Thanks for asking people to post the "like button"

[@dougison]

Thanks for the excellent training. With WordPress do you make the top tier pages to be pages and all others to be post or do pages using the parent setting for the page to the main category page?

[@MattDiggity]

The former.

[@chrisng9868]

Hi I'm new to SEO, when you mention link juice, what sort of fruit does this juice come from? I'm struggling to buy this from the grocery store, which aisle should I look for? Thx!

[@MattDiggity]

Over the counter.

[@melvinhollenberg]

Hi Matt, great video. Could you please elaborate a bit on what you'd do if you used the reverse silo and had tons of informational ToFu content? Obviously, you can't link to 30 different articles in your sub-sub-topic. Likewise, it's also nearly impossible to come up with 24 different anchor texts.

[@wealthyhair93]

I know it has been a while, but do you have an example of an actual page or website that does topical linking well? That would really help, thanks for the helpful info

[@rahmancivilengr]

Excellent

[@MattDiggity]

Thanks

[@dealsflow8703]

Amazing content, Matt. Do you suggest any specific tools to create and monitor such structures (in addition to the regular SEO tools)? Thanks 👏🏼

[@MattDiggity]

Not really

[@deel6233]

@@MattDiggity ....so my retro pin board and string isn't that crazy then?! 😝

[@natalianatalya4432]

do you use ai product description generator?

[@andruadams7554]

You do not need text rewriter. Existing utilities do not allow to get high-quality boost. Find excellent articles of the king to enhance your presence at Textscout right now

[@meejaan3883]

Hi Matt Thanks for this awesome video. I have some questions. As we keep a blog category where we publish all the information articles. How should we silo these articles? Could you please give me an example website for better understanding? I need to understand a few things, specially menu and other structure. Thanks in advance.

[@matthewclark820]

Hey Matt great video, curious your thoughts on adding internal links to the homepage from these pages in the silos. There's a lot of opinions out there curious what your thoughts are?

[@MattDiggity]

Depends on if you plan to rank your homepage. Do you?

[@matthewclark820]

@@MattDiggity For some niches yes, for others no, certain niches I only worry about ranking my money pages. I just ask because some SEO's say every page in the site should link back to the home page but I don't necessarily agree with that for every situation.

[@MattDiggity]

@@matthewclark820 I put a macro summary at the end of the video. One of the criteria is “link to pages you want to rank”

[@bojanmaric7139]

Yeah, this is gold.

[@tomamine]

Really amazing!!

[@robsleep8776]

Hi Matt, Im relatively new to your content but love the insight you are offering, thanks. I have a small site (6 months, 30 posts) with some pages starting to rank but I now realize I have made some mistakes with my URL's (too long and descriptive). Would you suggest I go and change them? or just change/improve the SEO title and H1?

[@MattDiggity]

Only change you're URLs if they're absolutely horrible.

[@arinzeewuzie]

Quality as usual

[@helmutweinberger4971]

Should this also reflect in the URL structure /best-diets/keto-diet/meal-plan/breakfast ? Or is flat better?

[@NationFirstAlways-qp9xx]

Thankyou Sir for such brilliant guidance. One Question. In reference to Reverse Silo structure, Can the long tail at the bottom end also link to the main topic ?

[@NewkFritz]

Is there a way to automatically do this? I'm creating a ton of posts and I'm wondering if there's an easier way to intermal link

[@johnflannery83]

Hey man, how do you suggest ranking on diet and nutrition without a nutritionist cert?

[@johnflannery83]

I have one, but is it too late/hard to join this niche?

[@MattDiggity]

We're in that niche and we have no certifications.

[@johnflannery83]

Nice, thanks for letting me know! Do you think someone who is beginner to intermediate skill level like me stands a chance in the niche?

[@zakaria_chana]

Hey Matt I don't think you've made a video about content yet. How to make it, how to be efficient and fast, maybe even dive into Black Hat methods to get good content/articles quick and easy. Please consider this for your next video.

[@MattDiggity]

I'll add it to the queue.

[@KevinFoulds]

Matt Do you explain in the lab version HOW you should link there and back between a post and another article. It is alright saying it with an arrow pointing to either end. However, I can see how you link one way by adding that to the post in your link with the keywords. How are you linking back? Simply by adding a context link somewhere from your other article. Could this not lead your money article to have hundreds of links in and out? Do you have a video on the priority concept as an arrow does not show how you are linking.

[@thechrisverhoeven]

Hi Matt, this was a super interesting video. Thanks man. Although I was wondering, where do you see the difference between creating a page vs. a blog post around something. Does it matter if you create blog posts and link between them, vs. creating a specific page for a keyword and link between pages. And/or do a mix between blog posts and pages. I hope you can clarify this a bit. Thanks, Chris

[@MattDiggity]

You can link between them at will. Google doesn't see them different. They're all URLs in their mind.

[@thechrisverhoeven]

@@MattDiggity thanks.

[@dr.ryanlutz6688]

Hey Matt. Great Video. Thank you However, I have a question. If images use alt text at the anchor text, and I have the same image links embedded across 10, or 100 pages across my site, am I shooting myself in the foot? Specifically images pointing to blog posts.. I have pages with listings for events. Hundreds of them. And I have alot of internal links that are the same. And I also have similar links within silos. Eg. My Miami art pages have the same image links and text links to all 4 pertinet Miami pages. Is that shooting me in the foot as well?

[@MattDiggity]

Dont worry about it

[@sorosfox3801]

This is great! Thanks

[@MattDiggity]

Glad you liked it!

[@hangeldiyevseovereklamajan915]

Hey Matt, great video. I have a question... What if all sub pages link to their parent pages (one way link)? So, link juice will be gathered on main pages that are optimized for high volume keywords. Thanks

[@MattDiggity]

Yes, that's a good thing to do. Just dont ingore giving love to sub pages if you should want to rank them.

[@igormysen4296]

For an ecommerce site, should the reverse silo go all the way down to single product pages? And if yes, does it make more sense only to link one way from product to category?

[@alwaysthelegend9984]

Great video. I been using silos for quite a bit. But now I’m starting to get beaten by big websites with lots of pages and lots of blog pages that are related to a target keyword. Any strategy you’d recommend other than writing more content than them?

[@MattDiggity]

Better single page onsite optimization. And better links.

[@alwaysthelegend9984]

@@MattDiggity thanks Matt. what do you mean by better links?

[@MattDiggity]

@@alwaysthelegend9984 better links than whoever you’re talking about has.

[@gracelikerain5039]

Damn I'm learning a lot I guess I can officially call myself a geek