Site Architecture: Cross Linking vs. Siloing

[AlanBleiweiss]

Having all listed and linked is ideal for SEO, however you rapidly cross into usability problems if there are more than a handful. (Would you want 50 or hundred links in a sidebar nav? ) When a site is so big that there are more than a handful that could be linked from that sidebar, it's actually best practice to NOT have any others linked from the sidebar, else you confuse users even more (listing only some, but not all). User Experience is paramount when making these decisions. Even at the expense of SEO in some cases. And if that happens, other tactics need to be employed. Like having a separate, dedicated funnel for "featured properties". Which requires even more unique content in that funnel. But it at least boosts the ranking value for those properties included.

[DonnieCooper]

I think you're right Alan, that makes great sense. Thanks. Do you think Etsy's sidebar is a good compromise between the two? I'm sure testing each site is the best way to figure out what users prefer on that specific site. But in general, do you think that's a good balance to use in order to keep too many links off the page, yet still keep detail pages within a category linking to each other?

[dignan99]

I found a relatively "ghetto" approach to silo using wordpress, since I don't have the time or technical skill to implement it perfectly.  Using a specific plugin, it will compare posts and reference a set number of related at the bottom, creating a link structure similar to a silo.  It's not perfect but it is easy.

[AlanBleiweiss]

Etsy's got a good structure with their category and sub-category sidebar that balances SEO and user experience.  note though that when you get deep into the individual Etsy stores, that's gone, because it would dilute the individual store owner's account focus and distract users.

[DonnieCooper]

Yeah, your right. I would image those links aren't relevant when on store pages, and would definitely distract some people

On their product pages though, they use some cross linking to relevant topics. But I'm sure it's at the bottom- out of site- as to not distract people. So I would image those are mostly there for SEO. Would you agree?

[dignan99]

I found a relatively "ghetto" approach to silo using wordpress, since I don't have the time or technical skill to implement it perfectly.  Using a specific plugin, it will compare posts and reference a set number of related at the bottom, creating a link structure similar to a silo.  It's not perfect but it is easy.

[AlanBleiweiss]

exactly.  "Tags" and "materials" are not exactly top level category stuff

[DonnieCooper]

Anyone have anything else they'd like to toss into the discussion?

Any examples you'd like to share of detail page linking vs. silos?

[edit] Just found this (old) blog post by Google about the importance of (internal) link architecture... I quote:

Q: Let's say my website is about my favorite hobbies: biking and camping. Should I keep my internal linking architecture "themed" and not cross-link between the two?

A: We haven't found a case where a webmaster would benefit by intentionally "theming" their link architecture for search engines. And, keep-in-mind, if a visitor to one part of your site can't easily reach other parts of your site, that may be a problem for search engines as well.

[toddmumford]

I agree with Alan, and would like to add that I believe that using the silo method can increase the proximity of closely connected clusters of keywords better. In other words, by nature, in a silo structure, tightly knit keywords support each other and pass theme and relevance value to each other by default when a strong supportive breadcrumb is in place. Often with a flat site architecture extra programming needs to be done to establish those relationships as they relate to internal pages.

[DonnieCooper]

Hey Todd, thanks.

While I definitely agree about having tightly themed categories, I'm not quite sure I am sold on using a silo. Correct me if I'm wrong here please, but isn't a silo when you don't cross link detail pages (within the same category) with each other? I think Alan feels the same way, or perhaps I've misunderstood.

Check this post about the importance of link architecture by Google. Specifically, the last Q&A.

[helpwanted]

Hi Alan...

Is there a case study -- where a silo is broken down  and analyzed that I can use to understand this siloing concept !

My understanding of A Silo is -- you for example if you have a grocery store website - you create a dairy section then all related dairy products are found here and a deli dept then all cold cuts in this section  etcc where all the pages are themed from the top then on downward, and trying to keep the silo 3 clicks from home

The breadcrumb -- not sure how this comes into play but if I keep the site 3 clicks from home at any time someone needs to get back to where they started from they are able to do it, so how does the breadcrumb help if I am already trying to keep the structure a 3 click structure for easy navigation and easy exit back to beginning.

[AlanBleiweiss]

the breadcrumb is one more signal about where you are in the process, on the site, in the section.  Google also likes them and will often show the breadcrumb navigation links right in search results.  They try to emulate breadcrumbs sometimes in search results if you don't have them, but if they do, since you're not feeding them an actual breadcrumb, theirs can sometimes guess wrong at the keywords they show in them.

[SystemIDBarcodes]

I am confused. So lets that I have an ecommerce site that has 20 types(books, toys…) / 20 categories each / 20 subcategories each and thousands of products under each subcategory.

When we say go flat, is it ideal to go all the way like http://www.website.com/type (20 of these), and http://www.website.com/category (400 of these) and http://www.webiste.com/subcategory (8000 of these)and thousands of product pages. So there is no page more than  1 directory level down. Does this mean flat architecture?