Smokestack SEO Is an Absurdly Easy Way to Build a Blogging Empire
Organize your content and send powerful ranking signals to Google
Smokestack SEO is an absurdly easy way to build a blogging empire.
Like real-life smokestacks lined up against the sky, Smokestack SEO is a structured way to organize your content that sends powerful ranking signals to search engines.
Like big daddy Google.
In this article, we’ll explore why that is and how you can apply this strategy to your own blog.
What Is Smokestack SEO?
Smokestack SEO, also known as content siloing, involves organizing blog content into interlinked categories or topics, often with a primary topic or category acting as the “hub” or main landing page.
The idea is to create a hierarchy of content that establishes your blog’s authority in a particular niche and makes it easier for search engines to crawl and index your site.
For example, imagine you have a blog about fitness.
You could create a hub page for “Weight Loss,” and then create several related blog posts, such as “The Best Exercises for Weight Loss,” “10 Healthy Snacks for Weight Loss,” and “The Science of Weight Loss.”
Each of these posts would link back to the Weight Loss hub page, creating a silo or “stack” of related content that search engines can more easily categorize and rank.
You can also create entire sections of your website about particular topics.
By organizing your content in this way, you can demonstrate to search engines that your blog is an authority on a particular topic, and therefore more deserving of a higher ranking in SERPs.
Additionally, by linking your related posts together, you can keep visitors on your site longer, reducing bounce rates and increasing the likelihood of return visits and conversions.
Why Smokestack SEO is an Absurdly Easy Way to Build a Blogging Empire
One of the main reasons smokestack SEO is such an effective strategy is that it’s relatively easy to implement.
Unlike other SEO strategies that require technical expertise or significant financial investment, smokestack SEO can be done for free with a little elbow grease.
Additionally, by focusing on a specific niche or topic, you can create a blog that is both targeted and scalable.
Rather than trying to appeal to a broad audience with scattered content, you can establish yourself as an expert in a particular area and attract a dedicated following of readers who are interested in your niche.
Over time, as you create more content and expand your silos, you can build a blogging empire that generates significant traffic and revenue.
Revenue from where?
If you’ve read any of my other articles, I focus on revenue from display ads and affilate marketing. But you can also sell digital products such as ebooks or courses.
How to Apply Smokestack SEO to Your Blog
Now that we’ve explored the benefits of smokestack SEO, let’s dive into how to apply this strategy to your own blog.
Here’s a step-by-step guide:
Step 1: Choose a Niche or Topic
The first step in creating a smokestack SEO strategy is to choose a niche or topic that you’re passionate about and that has the potential to attract a dedicated following.
Ideally, your niche should be narrow enough that you can establish yourself as an expert, but broad enough that you have room to create multiple silos of related content.
For example, if you’re interested in personal finance, you could create silos for topics like “Budgeting,” “Investing,” “Retirement Planning,” and “Debt Reduction.”
Each of these silos would have a hub page that links to related blog posts.
Step 2: Create a Hub Page
Once you’ve chosen your niche and identified several related topics, it’s time to create a hub page for each silo.
The hub page should be a comprehensive resource on the topic, including links to all related blog posts and any other relevant resources.
For example, if your hub page is about “Budgeting,” you might include links to blog posts about creating a budget, saving money on groceries, and reducing monthly expenses.
You might also include links to external resources, such as budgeting apps or financial planning calculators.
Your hub page should be visually appealing and easy to navigate, with clear headings and subheadings that break down the topic into manageable sections.
Aim to create a resource that readers will want to bookmark and return to as they continue to explore your niche.
In addition to a hub page, you may want to consider adding a topical link in the navigation bar of your website just for that topic (or the broad topic that it fits into, such as Money Advice or Financial Tools, etc)
Just make sure that it is a big topic with lots of room to grow.
You don’t want a navigation bar with 100 links to small subtopics. You want small smokestacks of related content under large navigational sections.
Step 3: Create Related Blog Posts
With your hub page in place, it’s time to create related blog posts that link back to the hub page.
Each blog post should be focused on a specific aspect of the topic and should provide valuable information that readers will find useful.
For example, if your hub page is about “Budgeting,” one blog post might be about creating a budget worksheet, while another might be about negotiating bills to save money.
Each blog post should link back to the hub page, creating a connected web of related content that establishes your blog’s authority in the niche.
Step 4: Interlink Your Blog Posts
Once you’ve created several related blog posts, it’s important to interlink them to create a cohesive silo of content.
This means including links to related blog posts within each article, as well as linking back to the hub page.
Interlinking your blog posts has several benefits.
First, it helps readers find more content that they’re interested in, keeping them on your site longer and increasing the likelihood of return visits. Additionally, it helps search engines understand the relationships between your content, making it easier for them to categorize and rank your site.
My strategy is to vary my links with some of them listing the title of the blog post exactly and others with slight variations.
This variation helps to strengthen your internal link power.
Step 5: Expand Your Silos
As your blog grows, you’ll want to continue expanding your silos to cover more topics within your niche. This means identifying new topics that are related to your existing silos and creating new hub pages and blog posts.
For example, if you’ve created a silo about “Budgeting,” you might identify “Frugal Living” as a related topic and create a new silo around that topic.
Over time, you can create a network of interlinked silos that establish your blog as an authority in your niche and drive significant organic traffic to your site.
Here is a good YouTube Short video that clarifies how to set up Smokestack SEO on your site:
Examples of Smokestack SEO in Action
To better understand how smokestack SEO works in practice, let’s look at some examples from different niches.
Example 1: Food Blog
A food blogger might create a silo about “Healthy Eating,” with a hub page that includes links to blog posts about meal planning, healthy snacks, and tips for eating a balanced diet.
They might also create a silo about “Vegan Cooking,” with a hub page that links to blog posts about vegan recipes, plant-based protein sources, and the benefits of a vegan diet.
Example 2: Travel Blog
A travel blogger might create a silo about “Budget Travel,” with a hub page that includes links to blog posts about finding cheap flights, affordable accommodations, and saving money while traveling.
They might also create a silo about “Sustainable Tourism,” with a hub page that links to blog posts about eco-friendly travel, responsible tourism, and reducing your carbon footprint while on the road.
Example 3: Fashion Blog
A fashion blogger might create a silo about “Sustainable Fashion,” with a hub page that includes links to blog posts about ethical clothing brands, upcycling old clothes, and reducing textile waste.
They might also create a silo about “Capsule Wardrobes,” with a hub page that links to blog posts about creating a minimalist wardrobe, mixing and matching outfits, and reducing clutter in your closet.
Smokestack Summary
To apply smokestack SEO to your own blog, choose a niche or topic, create a hub page for each silo, create related blog posts, interlink your blog posts, and expand your silos.
Here are the Takeaways:
- Smokestack SEO involves creating a series of interlinked blog posts organized by topic or theme to establish authority in a particular niche and rank higher in search engine results pages.
- Smokestack SEO is relatively easy to implement and requires no technical expertise or significant financial investment. Thank God!
- By focusing on a specific niche or topic, you can create a targeted and scalable blog that generates significant traffic and revenue.
- To apply smokestack SEO to your own blog, choose a niche or topic, create a hub page for each silo, create related blog posts, interlink your blog posts, and expand your silos.
Tools for Smokestack SEO
You can implement Smokestack SEO completely for free with no paid tools.
Free tools you might use:
- DeapMarket
- AnswerSocrates
- SearchResponse.io
Paid tools you might try:
- RankIQ (for keyword research)
- ChatGPT (for organizing keywords into smokestack silos)
- ChatGPT or Jasper AI (for creating your smokestack content)
- LinkWhisper (for interlinking your keywords)
- Bluehost or Hostarmada (for hosting your website and content)
One More Thing
Remember, smokestack SEO is just one of many strategies you can use to build a successful blog.
It’s important to also focus on creating high-quality content, building backlinks, and engaging with your audience to establish a loyal following.
By combining smokestack SEO with other SEO best practices, you can build a blogging empire that generates significant organic traffic and revenue.
