::Silo Structure and Site-Map::

One of the key components of creating a profitable Search Engine Optimized niche-site is using a web-site silo structure as part of your web-site design. A Silo structure and good use of keyword phrases optimizes your site for natural search results in the Search Engines.
For those of you who are creating niche-sites it is important that you understand basic web-site Silo structure and how it relates to your keyword phrases.

This article endeavors to clarify how to create your niche site using the NZPCS Million Dollar Blueprint Silo structure.

What is a Silo Site?

A Silo site is a focused themed site. Beginning with a niche theme or topic then drilling down to relevant sub-topics. It can stand alone or be included in a portal site or hub. In the NZPCS MDB we create silo sites first (as a sub-domain) then integrate them into our portal (our main domain).

The Elements of a Silo Niche Site

Home Page (http://sub-domain.your-site.com/index.html)
This is the main index.html page and contains the main keyword phrase of your niche which is also used as the sub-domain name. It is the first page someone comes to when they enter or click on you niche site URL. This page will contain the main keyword phrase of your niche as the main header and page title, the menu links to your sub-topic directories, lead-capture form (auto-responder), links to your affiliate products and a general article about your niche topic.

Sub-topics (http://sub-domain.your-site.com/sub-topic/index.html)
Each Niche site is to have at least 5 keyword subtopics. Your subtopics are set up in directories (folders) and within this you will have an index.html page plus 5-6 sub-topic articles pages.
These index pages have the main keyword phrase of the subtopic as the main header and page title, a general article about this sub-topic, menu links to your articles.

Subtopic Articles (http://sub-domain.your-site.com/sub-topic/article.html)
Each of the sub-topic articles are informative articles on web-pages. The article page can have keyword anchor text links to products, subtopic menu links, other keyword related phrases and synonyms in the article content.

The size of your Niche-Site
We use a 5×7 silo structure. That is, 5 sub-topic directories with 7 pages within it. In all, your niche site will have about 40 pages.

• 6 index.html pages. (one for the home page and one for each subtopic directory)
• 30 article pages (5 sets of 6 subtopic articles in each subtopic directory)
• 6 other pages (Site-map, Contact, About, Terms of Service, Disclaimer, Privacy Policy)

The contact, and about pages you create yourself using your niche-site page template.

Your site-map page is set-up in the same manner, using anchor text links, as a menu list directory for your site. You can do this manually or use an online site-map generator. However do this after you have completed your webpages and uploaded them to your server. XML-Sitemaps.com has an online site-map generator for you to use, just follow the instructions.

It will index up to 500 pages. You will get a sitemap.xml file for the search engines and a sitemap.html file to include as a web-page. You can copy and paste the code of the html code into a page template or leave as is. Upload both pages into your main niche-site directory.

There are free online legal document generators for TOS, Disclaimer and Privacy Policy. Try doing a Google search to find them. If you set up these pages on your main domain you will only need to link to them from your niche sites.

Mapping Your site
It is helpful to map out your site before you begin creating your web-pages. This helps you visualize the layout and structure of your niche-site and gives you a “to do” list of pages to create. You can do this with pencil and paper or use an editor like notepad. The sub-domain name, page titles, headings, sub-headings and file-names of your web-pages will be keyword phrases you found in your keyword research.

To Illustrate:

Main keyword/phrase: Sub-domain and Main index (home) page
Secondary Keyword/phrases: Subtopic Directories
Tertiary Keyword/phrases: Article Topics and content
Keyword Synonyms: Article content

Creating A Plan of your Site

Main keyword: Pets

URL: http://pets.yoursite.com

• Pages in main Sub-domain Folder:
  Home page: Pets(index.html)
  Sitemap (sitemap.html and sitemap.xml)
  Contact Us (contact.html)
  About Us (about.html)

• Legal Pages:
  Terms of Service (tos.html)
  Disclaimer (disclaimer.html)
  Privacy Policy (privacy.html)

(These can be uploaded to your main domain and just link to them from your niche stie webpages.)

• Folders in main sub-domain folder:

Pages in Directory Folder /cats

1. subtopic: Cats (index.html)
2. article 1: Pet Cat Breeds (pet-cat-breeds.html)
3. article 2: Choosing Your Pet Cat (choosing-your-pet-cat.html)
4. article 3: Housing Your Pet Cat (housing-your-pet-cat.html)
5. article 4: Pet Cat Food (pet-cat-food.html)
6. article 5: Pet Cat Health (pet-cat-health.html)
7. article 6: Pet Cat Illnesses (pet-cat-illnesses.html)

Pages in Directory Folder /dogs

1. subtopic: Dogs (index.html)
2. article 1: Pet Dog Breeds (pet-dog-breeds.html)
3. article 2: Choosing Your Pet Dog (choosing-your-pet-dog.html)
4. article 3: Housing Your Pet Dog (housing-your-pet-dog.html)
5. article 4: Pet Dog Food (pet-dog-food.html)
6. article 5: Pet Dog Health (pet-dog-health.html)
7. article 6: Pet Dog Illnesses (pet-dog-illnesses.html)

Pages in Directory Folder /horses

1. subtopic: Horses (index.html)
2. article 1: Pet Horse Breeds (pet-horse-breeds.html)
3. article 2: Choosing Your Pet Horse (choosing-your-pet-horse.html)
4. article 3: Housing Your Pet Horse (housing-your-pet-horse.html)
5. article 4: Pet Horse Food (pet-horse-food.html)
6. article 5: Pet Horse Health (pet-horse-health.html)
7. article 6: Pet Horse Illnesses (pet-horse-illnesses.html)

Pages in Directory Folder /hamsters

1. subtopic: Hamsters (index.html)
2. article 1: Pet Hamster Breeds (pet-hamster-breeds.html)
3. article 2: Choosing Your Pet Hamster (choosing-your-pet-hamster.html)
4. article 3: Housing Your Pet Hamster (housing-your-pet-hamster.html)
5. article 4: Pet Hamster Food (pet-hamster-food.html)
6. article 5: Pet Hamster Health (pet-hamster-health.html)
7. article 6: Pet Hamster Illnesses (pet-hamster-illnesses.html)

Pages in Directory Folder /guinea-pigs

1. subtopic: Guinea Pigs (index.html)
2. article 1: Pet Guinea Pig Breeds (pet-cat-breeds.html)
3. article 2: Choosing Your Pet Guinea Pig (choosing-your-pet-guinea-pigs.html)
4. article 3: Housing Your Pet Guinea Pig (housing-your-pet-guinea-pigs.html)
5. article 4: Pet Guinea Pig Food (pet-guinea-pigs-food.html)
6. article 5: Pet Guinea Pig Health (pet-guinea-pigs-health.html)
7. article 6: Pet Guinea Pig Illnesses (pet-guinea-pigs-illnesses.html)

Notice that all the page names are keyword related phrases and contain the main keyword in them.

Please Note: For this site-map example I used pets as a make-believe niche as it is easy to demonstrate a silo structure.
I don’t recommend using this niche or sitemap as it is. The above keyword phrases are made up and not real, being there for sample purposes to demonstrate the silo structure only. Also the ‘Pets’ niche is highly competitive and you will have trouble competing with all the other pet sites on the web.

Creating Your Web-pages
When creating your web-pages save them in the appropriate folder and sub-folders so you can upload the folders to your web-server as they are. Start with the index pages for home page and each sub-topic then make copies of the index pages for each of the article pages.

Compose your articles in a plain text editor like windows notepad and then paste them into your web-pages. Remember to use keywords, keyword phrases and related synonyms throughout your articles. But don’t let it cramp your writing flow and style. Just write your articles and then proof read them later being more keyword critical. Substitute non-keywords with keywords and related synonyms but ensure the article still makes sense and flows.

Want to learn more about how to set up your Search Engine Optimised niche site? Check out The Master Plan