SEO Reverse Silo Content
Heather Cumens
Last Update 24 hari yang lalu
If you're looking to shake things up in your SEO strategy, reverse content silos might just be the game-changer you need. In addition to providing structure and organization to your site, this internal linking and content strategy can help to move pages that have been stuck on page 2, or are in a competitive niche.
Content silos for SEO are a way to organize your website’s content, boost traffic, establish authority, and improve rankings. They involve grouping related content into categories or "silos" that focus on a specific topic or keyword. This structured approach creates clear, hierarchical connections between pages, making it easier for search engines to understand the relevance and authority of your site on particular subjects.
Silos typically invoice three key components:
Main Pillar or Top-Level Page
Supporting Pages
Internal Linking
With traditional silos, the main Top-Level page might be a comprehensive page that covers the topic in length. In a reverse silo approach, the Top-Level page is the page that we want to pass the authority or “link juice” to. This is sometimes referred to as a “money page” and can be a conversion oriented sales page, a product page, or another key page of the website that needs a boost in authority.
These Top-Level Pages often target higher competition keywords and so the need for authority signals may be higher. Internal linking from the supporting posts can be used throughout the posts to send these signals to Google that the Top-Level Page is important and relevant.
Supporting content often comes in the form of a post that addresses a specific topic or answers specific questions around the main topic. While there’s a wide range of tools that can generate different topics to use, PageOptimizer Pro’s new Keyword Strategy / Keyword Insight tool offers proprietary data lie the keyword score and SEO Competitiveness Index in addition to the Keyword Golden Ratio. With the advanced AI Analysis all of this data is used to give you a succinct list of keywords around your topic that should be used for both Top Level / Topic Pages and Supporting Pages.
People Also Ask questions are a great resource as well. So, if we were looking to write an article on seo tools for keyword research, we may create supporting content that addresses topics such as “Which is the best tool for SEO keyword research?”, “Which of the following tools is commonly used for keyword research in SEO?” or "How to do SEO and keyword research?”.
These three posts would all link to the next supporting post, while also having a link to your main Top-Level Page: keyword research tool’s sales page. This helps boost your main page’s Authority rating in the eyes of Google.
Here’s why we call it a ‘Reverse’ silo – the Top-Level Page sits at the bottom instead of the top, flipping the usual content silo structure.
Take a look at the diagram – the arrows show how each supporting article links internally. You’ll notice three supporting posts, all linking to each other and, most importantly, to the Top-Level Page.
Each page links to the next, but not in a daisy-chain. Post 1 links to Post 2 (and the Top-Level Page), but it skips linking directly to Post 3. This way, the focus stays sharp and streamlined.
All supporting posts within the silo link directly back to the Top-Level Page.
Important Note: These links live within the body content, and the supporting posts don’t contain any other outbound links.
That’s what makes this a ‘virtual silo’ – it’s not part of your site’s actual architecture but rather a strategic internal linking method.
The magic happens as each supporting post passes link juice to the Top-Level Page. The flow heads downward, not back and forth – hence the name “Reverse Silo.”
This approach helps give that Top-Level Page a serious ranking boost.
The best part? This silo setup can live anywhere on your site. What really matters is how you interlink the pages within the body content, using anchor text that makes sense for your topic and keywords.
When building out your supporting articles make sure they only link to – and stay closely tied topically to – the main Top-Level Page you want to rank.
If you start linking those supporting articles to different Top-Level Pages, the silo structure breaks, and you disrupt the flow of relevance and authority.
A reverse content silo takes the traditional method of organizing content by broad categories and starts from the bottom up. Instead of building out from a general topic, you begin with highly focused, niche content with long tail keyword phrases and work your way toward broader subjects. Think of it like planting seeds (small, specific topics) and letting them grow into a flourishing tree (a comprehensive resource on the subject).
The terms for these supporting pages are typically easier to rank for and have less competition, but may also not be as valuable in terms of either search intent or conversion rates.
The siloing comes in through the way that we link each of those posts and pages to build authority to the main Top-Level page.
Google loves relevance and expertise. By creating detailed, laser-focused content on subtopics first, you establish authority in those areas. As you connect the dots and link that content to broader topics, search engines start to recognize your site as a go-to source for valuable information. Plus, users get the answers they’re looking for faster, which is always a win!
Identify or build your Top-Level page. These are usually higher converting pages like product categories or sales pages.
Select or create your support pages.
Use 1 link at the top of each supporting page to link to the Top-Level page
Use 1-2 links (see diagram) to the other supporting topic pages
Use clear, descriptive anchor text for links
You can build a silo with any number of supporting content pieces – the more difficult the keyword your Top-Level Page is trying to rank for, the more Supporting Posts you’ll need to be effective.
Faster Rankings – Targeting less competitive, specific keywords often leads to quicker wins.
Enhanced User Experience – Users find exactly what they need without wading through overly broad content.
Stronger Topical Authority – By mastering subtopics first, you build credibility and authority in your niche.
Reverse content silos might feel a little unconventional at first, but the payoff speaks for itself. This bottom-up strategy allows you to create a user-friendly, SEO-optimized site that stands out in search results. So, why not give it a try?
If you’ve got an existing post that doesn’t link out to a bunch of other pages, it’s a great candidate for a content silo. For posts with just one link (or none at all), siloing is super simple.
Older pages that still get traffic but don’t link anywhere are prime material for silos – as long as they relate to your Top-Level Page.
All you need to do is add a link in the top section of the post, using relevant anchor text that points to your Top-Level Page. Easy as that!
If the post does have a lot of outbound links, you can either skip using it as part of the silo or remove those links – especially if the post would add more value as part of a silo than standing alone.
Yes, some pages just aren’t meant to be part of a content silo – and that’s okay! When building out your silo, stick to posts, blog articles, or informational pages. In other words, avoid siloing essential pages like your homepage, about, or contact pages.
You’ll also want to steer clear of using sales pages, product pages, opt-in landing pages, or any pages that are optimized for conversions as supporting posts. These pages play a critical role in driving results and might serve as Top-Level Pages for silos.
The goal of a silo is clear – to strengthen and boost the ranking of your Top-Level Page.
You can check by asking yourself three questions:
Does your silo page link to only one Top-Level Page? (Yes)
Does your silo page link out to only one or two other silo pages? (Yes)
Are there links in the body of your silo content to pages other than your Top-Level Page and one or two other silo pages? (No)
If you answered Yes, Yes, No – congrats, you’ve correctly built a reverse content silo!
Easy, right?