Silo SEO Simplified: AI’s Blueprint for Better Rankings

Getting your site to rank well in the search engine results pages (SERPs) is a goal most online niche marketers have from the very beginning. Silo SEO Simplified: AI’s Blueprint for Better Rankings can help you achieve that goal by overcoming the intense competition for those coveted top spots.

Not only are many others vying for that position, but you are also faced with a constantly evolving algorithm put forth by Google and other search engines to elevate their results and keep less deserving sites from claiming that honor.

One way you can position your site for better rankings and visibility is to use a website structure and strategy known as silo SEO. The reason this concept is effective is because of the emphasis search engines put on their customers’ ability to easily navigate to information that is relevant to them in a specific area.

Silo search engine optimization is a way to organize your content in a way that it's impressive to both bots and human visitors. You can now use artificial intelligence (AI) technology to streamline your silo SEO process and make it more effective so that your content achieves the performance goals you want to meet.

Below, you’re going to learn more about what a silo SEO blueprint looks like and how you can leverage AI to do the bulk of the work for you. Of course, you’ll want to maintain full oversight of the results to ensure it meets with your approval.

AI-Powered Theme Analysis

The first step in creating a Silo SEO plan for your site is to come up with themes. You need an overall primary theme and silo themes to work around. This is going to help Google understand what to position it for in terms of topic authority.

Many marketers fail to do this step, and they end up with content that’s all over the place, lacking organization. If search bots can’t figure out what you’re trying to specialize in, they won’t rank you competitively.

Using AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini or other favorites, you can clearly define the theme of your site. AI not only helps you carve out your specialty, but it does so with current trends and your target audience’s needs in mind.

You have to have a starting point. You know what kind of niche site you want to create. Let’s say it’s going to be about stress relief. That’s extremely broad and difficult for you to rank for, so a themed approach will benefit you (and your visitors).

Prompt AI like this:

“What are some potential themes for a site focused on stress relief?”

This is a basic and broad approach, and you’ll get results like;

• mindfulness
• physical stress relief
• nature and relaxation
• workplace stress, and so on...

You can also have AI do a competitive analysis for you to come up with strong themes. Prompt it like this:

“Analyze the top five blogs in the stress niche. What common themes do they focus on?”

You’ll get results about:

• meditation
• physical and mental health activities
• practical stress management
• holistic approaches
• support and community for stress relief 

You can even prompt AI to identify trends in your niche to come up with themes. For example, prompt it with this: 

“What are the current trends in stress relief for 2024?”

You’ll get new answers such as:

• tech-infused ideas (like virtual reality or biofeedback wearables)
• personalized holistic approaches
• self-care as a priority

Ask AI to show you themes based on the needs of your audience, too, like this:

“What are the common themes in regards to problems faced by people suffering from chronic stress?”

The answers you get from this prompt are going to be:

• emotional turmoil (such as overwhelmed, anxiety, or depression)
• cognitive stress (like mental strain over decision making, difficulty concentrating or focusing, etc.)
• physical stress (like problems with sleep or chronic pain)
• behavioral issues (like social isolation, unhealthy habits when dealing with stress, and low productivity)

The next thing you want to do is have AI help you with the final theme selection process. You can do this in several different ways.

For example, you can prompt AI to give you a market gap analysis. You would prompt something like this:

“Identify topics related to chronic stress that have a high search volume, but low content availability on major platforms and in forums.”

AI can identify things like:

• chronic stress and a specific profession such as teachers or nurses
• chronic stress in a specific stage of life
• certain sources of chronic stress, like financial problems

It also delivers results about stress management topics that are not covered as well, like holistic stress management, biofeedback for stress management, and other topics.

In addition to a market gap analysis, you can also have AI engage in a predictive analysis for you. You will prompt it like this:

“Analyze trends in discussions about chronic stress over the past three years and predict which aspects will be most relevant in the next two years.”

The information AI will provide you in regards to which theme you may want to go with include:

• increased awareness and open discussions
• a shift in focus from generic stress management techniques to more targeted solutions
• emerging technologies

It will also inform you that:

• the future focus is likely to be on long term consequences
• early intervention strategies
• support systems for more vulnerable people who are affected by chronic stress

There will also be a focus on:

• data-driven solutions using technology that helps tailor the plan to each individual based on their needs and preferences.
• people will begin moving away from traditional medicine and embrace a more holistic and preventative approach to coping and managing stress in a healthy manner.

You can even ask AI to give you a the forecast about what type of content is going to perform best online. You will prompt it like this:

“Tell me the potential engagement for articles on preventing and managing chronic stress with a holistic approach based on engagement metrics you’ve identified from content published in the last year.”

AI can tell you that:

• holistic approaches for stress relief generate more interest.
• readers are seeking actionable advice they can implement with clear instructions. 
• They like content for their specific demographic identity.
• they appreciate visual elements and scientific data when it’s included.

AI Silo Structure Blueprint

The next step in producing an AI Silo SEO structure for your site is to have it use the information it’s gathered for your theme and create the categories for your silos. You’ll need your main categories to start.

Prompt AI like this:

“List broad categories within the niche of holistic and preventative stress relief that can serve as main silos for a website.” 

The results AI gives you will be broad categories for your silos, including:

• Mind-Body Techniques
• Healthy Habits
• Understanding Stress
• Holistic Therapies
• Lifestyle Adjustments

Sometimes, AI will go ahead and give you the subcategories you’ll want to use. But if it doesn’t, you can prompt AI to give them to you like this:

“For the main category titled Mind-Body Techniques, list specific subcategories that cover different aspects of this topic for holistic stress management.”

AI will return your subcategories like this:

• Meditation Techniques (Guided meditations, Mindfulness exercises)
• Yoga for Stress Relief (Gentle yoga routines, Yoga Nidra)
• Breathwork for Calming Anxiety (Deep breathing exercises, Pranayama)
• Progressive Muscle Relaxation
• Tai Chi and Qigong

Your next step is to have AI create silo outlines. This gives you a list of topics to be covered for each subcategory, so you can turn them into blog posts when the time comes.

You’ll prompt AI like this:

“Generate a silo outline for the sub-category Yoga for Stress Relief. Include potential article titles for the outline topics.” 

AI gives you a summary for the sub-category, and a list of articles that are divided up into various branches.

For example, there are articles for:

• introducing yoga as a stress relief tactic
• discussing certain yoga poses for stress relief
• yoga sequences they may want to consider, and more...

At this point, if you’re pleased with the results of the content listing, you can also ask AI to give you an interlinking strategy for the content in that subcategory within the silo. This helps search bots and human visitors navigate around your site to find content that keeps them interested.

Your prompt will be something like this:

“Suggest an interlinking strategy between these articles that is optimized for SEO and proper navigation.” 

AI will give you a specific link strategy, such as linking article #1: Find Your Zen on the Mat: A Beginner's Guide to Yoga for Stress Relief to article #3: Unwind and Recharge: 10 Calming Yoga Poses to Melt Away Stress.

But it doesn’t just give you the insight on what to link to. It says how with specific call to action statements like: “Ready to put these poses into practice? Try the 30-Minute Evening Wind-Down Yoga Routine for Deep Relaxation” (where you link out to this third article).

It even tells you to include a related articles section at the bottom of each article and to optimize with anchor text using rich keywords for SEO.

Next, you’ll want to uncover those keywords – again, with the help of AI.

AI Keyword Research Tactics

Keywords play an important role in helping search bots identify what your content is about. If you want the kind of rankings and visibility top competitors are achieving, you have to do comprehensive research in this area.

The use of keywords for SEO is not as simple as taking a few top words off the top of your head and using them over and over again in your content. You need to be more strategic than that, and AI can help you zero in on the right words and phrases that will bring traffic to your site.

You want to have AI uncover keywords that fit within your silo structure and overall theme. AI can help you pinpoint the primary and secondary keywords for your site silos. The primary ones will be broader with higher search volume, while the secondary ones have less competition, but are more targeted for the exact searches of your audience.

Start by prompting AI to:

“Give me a list of potential primary and secondary keywords for a silo on holistic stress relief therapies that include acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine, massage therapy techniques, aromatherapy for stress relief, and art therapy and expressive techniques.”

You can then research the exact search volume and competition online for the keywords it provides you with. Some AI tools can do this for you, while others lack that precise data.

The list of primary keywords AI provides will include things like:

• Holistic stress relief therapies
• Alternative stress management techniques
• Natural stress relief methods

Then it gives you a list of secondary keywords (by each therapy). So for example, the massage therapy techniques concept will have the following keyword phrases:

• Massage for stress relief
• Swedish massage for relaxation
• Deep tissue massage for tension
• Trigger point therapy for stress
• Reflexology for stress

So what you’ll be doing with these keywords is creating content that supports each silo. You might have a main silo page for the primary keyword: “holistic stress relief therapies” and sub-category pages that target each secondary keyword like an article focused on the topic of deep tissue massage for tension.

You also want to have AI come up with long-tail keywords for your secondary keywords. We can prompt AI like this:

“Suggest long-tail keywords for reflexology for stress that will likely have lower competition and higher relevance.”

You’ll get a list with phrases that help you better understand who is searching for your content and why. This will include things like:

• reflexology for headaches
• reflexology for stress relief for seniors
• the benefits of reflexology for stress relief and digestion
• reflexology versus acupressure for stress

Use tools like Google’s Keyword Planner, Ahrefs, SEMRush, or Ubersuggest to help you gain more precise data about the phrases if your AI tool isn’t able to deliver information about the metrics involved.

AI-Driven Content Creation

Now it’s time to work hand-in-hand with AI to create the content for your silo structured website. Everyone has their own personal preferences about how much or how little they will use AI to create content.

I'm going to go over the entire process so that you can choose where you want to leverage this technology. You want to be very methodical in creating content that is going to support the structure of your silo with specific ideas and the integration of your keyword research.

AI is fantastic at coming up with content ideas that are in line with your website's theme. You can prompt it like this:

“Generate content ideas for a silo focused on Healthy Habits for Stress Relief.”

If you want to, you can also include some of the keyword research within that prompt so that AI knows to use that in your content brainstorming process. Next, you will ask AI to help you with the outlining process.

Ideally, you will create comprehensive, pillar blog posts that are capable of ranking well in the SERPs as standalone content, not just because they are interlinked with stronger pieces on your site.

Prompt AI like this:

“Create a comprehensive outline for an article titled: Natural Sleep Aids That Actually Work: Safe Alternatives to Prescription Medication.”

AI will give you an outline that starts with an introduction, includes your subheadings that are keyword optimized, along with key points to mention in each section, and ending with a conclusion.

It even goes so far as to recommend a bonus that you can include such as:

• a downloadable toolkit that has tips
• a sleep schedule template
• a relaxation exercise guide for your readers

If you want to write the content yourself, you can work from that outline and go ahead and create the entire blog post. If you get stuck, you can prompt AI for some suggestions about what to write without it actually creating the content for you.

You may also want to prompt AI for a specific tone, depending on what you hope to achieve with your content and what your demographic audience prefers. For example, you might want to specify that you want an empathetic and motivational tone used.

When you are finished creating the content or having AI do it for you, you want to instruct it with the following prompt:

“Read the attached final blog post and make sure it is optimized for the following keywords [insert list].”

If you plan to use multimedia elements, ask AI to give you the right alt tags. And for SEO purposes, get it to craft the best meta description for you to use when publishing the content to go live.

AI Interlinking Strategies

After you have gone through and created content for each of your silos, you'll want to connect these blog posts in a specific manner so that the interlinking is effective for your search bots and human visitors to navigate with.

The way you link to each piece of content should enhance the authority of your site. That way, whenever Google has someone searching for a specific topic on their search engine, they can pull up your site and see that it has plenty of relevant content to satisfy the needs of their user.

I previously mentioned how you can ask AI to give you instructions on how your articles should link to one another. And you can do this when you initially come up with your article list.

But this is something that may change or need to be adjusted over time. As you add more content to your site, the best internal linking strategy might be altered.

You can prompt AI with a list of your content article titles and ask it to carry out the following instructions: 

“Look at the list of blog posts I have attached and organized for each silo regarding my site theme of holistic stress management and identify the best interlinking opportunities in each silo.”

If you have a summary of each article, which is something you may want to keep track of in a spreadsheet, it may help to provide AI with this information so that it can reinforce the best topic clusters to provide you with better optimization.

If you ever spot something that doesn't quite look like it should be linked together, you can ask AI to justify its position on interlinking the two articles because it may have data that you aren't privy to, which would explain the connection.

You never want to interlink to two articles that are basically the same concept, just written in different ways. Instead, you want the user’s experience to be one where they are constantly building off of the previous information with each new article they discover on your site.

You can also prompt AI for your interlinking technical strategy like this:

“Suggest the best way to embed a link that feels natural going from [article a] to [article b]. Provide me with the appropriate anchor text so that it is keyword optimized and reader friendly.”

Content Hubs vs. Silos

You may have heard of content hubs and wonder if that's the same as a silo when it comes to SEO. The two are different concepts, and the best way to explain it is in terms of a library.

A silo is like walking into an individual room within the library where every book in the room is relevant to a main theme or topic and the books are neatly organized in sub categories.

Each room is separate from others, and while you are not shut off from the rest of the library, you're not going to find a door that takes you immediately to another room. Instead, you might have to exit that room and walk down a hallway to another room.

When you're thinking about it in terms of your website, you're not going to be linking between silos in each of your articles. But you're also not cut off from the rest of the site if you want to go to a different category or silo and look up information there.

Instead, the links that you are going to find within the content are going to take you to other links (or shelves in that room) where all of the content is related.

With a content hub, it's more like a wide open library where topics are still organized, but everything is connected openly.

You might feel a little more overwhelmed trying to find your specific topic. Sometimes, people who have an extremely broad website prefer content hubs, while niche marketers who drill down into more specific topics benefit more from a silo structure.

With a content hub, you're still going to have an overall theme for your site, and you can have what are known as spokes in the hub, or subtopics. You will have a main hub page that gives a general overview of the topic and then you'll create content for each of these spokes that are more detailed.

The two systems are very similar in structure in the way that they organize topics and assist visitors in navigating. But a silo is going to be more isolated, linking between itself. A content hub is more flexible and doesn't have strict sub categories so that if the visitor requires a more dynamic experience, it can contribute to that easily.

To use a specific example, if you had a silo structure, you might have an article called Beginner Yoga Poses, where you link out to an article called Advanced Yoga Techniques.

But you would not be linking out to an article about nutritional tips for yoga enthusiasts from your article on beginner yoga poses. However, in a hub, you could provide some cross topic linking if your visitor wants a more broad education on the topic.

Silo SEO is a fantastic way to organize your content and cater to the needs of your visitors with precise targeting of topics. It's going to give your site the depth it needs to be competitive in your niche.

With AI assisting you in this process, you are going to have an efficient system that suggests the best content and structure. From the initial planning stages through ongoing refinements, artificial intelligence can give you the boost in search rankings you've been looking for.