Page architecture
Give every page a place.
Silo architecture just means grouping your pages into clear sections and linking them by role. It's the structure behind step three of the Cube30 process: practice areas, then local.
Book a FREE Strategy CallA role. A route. A reason.
Follow a page to see its job.
Every page has a role, and the links follow it
Your practice content gets a defined role: a main practice page, a sub-page, a supporting article or a city page. Office, attorney, contact and utility pages are mapped too. The links follow each page’s purpose and the agreed plan.
A silo is simply one of those sections, such as all your personal injury pages. The work is deciding how the sections and pages connect before new content is written, then holding every new page to that plan.
It's the structure behind step three of the Cube30 process. Practice-area pages come first, because they're what people search for. Local pages then connect each practice to the places you serve.
How a site loses its order
A site can lose its order as pages are added by different people over time. Useful content accumulates, but its role and connections may never get reviewed.
The review looks for unclear page roles, missing connections and links that no longer help the reader. Those findings deserve attention; they do not by themselves explain a ranking change. Search performance, content, technical issues and competition need checking alongside the map.
The fix is to plan the structure once, before content scales, and keep to it from then on.
Four page types, each with its own job
What kinds of page does a firm need?
These four roles organize practice and local content. Knowing the role helps us decide where useful links should lead and where a reader can find the page.
A place page needs a useful, distinct role. It should not be a repeated practice page with only the city name changed. Google’s doorway-page policy explains why.
Main practice page
One per section, aimed at the broadest search in that topic. It links down to every page beneath it and gets a link back from each. It may link to a main page in another section when the topics genuinely meet.
Sub-page
A page for one specific matter, like truck accidents under personal injury. It links up to its main page, across to sibling pages when that helps the reader, and to its matching local page.
Supporting article
A blog post, guide or FAQ answering a narrower question. It links to the most relevant sub-page or main page. Its primary home stays within that practice section; other links need a clear reason in the plan.
City or office page
A page for a place you serve or an office you run. It links to the relevant practice sub-page and runs alongside the sections rather than inside them. See geo landing pages.
Seven link rules, simple to say and strict to keep
What rules keep the structure honest?
These seven editorial rules keep our agreed map consistent. They are a way to manage the work, rather than a separate set of Google ranking requirements. We check the actual paths as the site changes.
Google’s link guidance supports crawlable links with useful wording and context. The map also preserves existing addresses unless a change has a reason.
One parent per page
Choose one primary home for each content page so its role is clear in the map. A useful link from another section does not give the page a second editorial parent.
No orphans
Useful public pages should be reachable through appropriate internal links. A crawl finding no incoming link prompts a check of navigation, redirects and the page’s purpose; it does not prove the page is removed from search.
Main pages link down
Every sub-page is one click from its main page.
Sub-pages link up
Every sub-page links back to its main page, inside the text where possible.
Cross-links sit on sub-pages
A link from a practice sub-page to its local counterpart is a planned decision, not something an article adds on a whim.
Link wording varies
Use concise wording that describes the destination and fits the surrounding sentence. Natural variation is welcome; forced variation and repeated keyword stuffing are not the goal.
Drift gets checked
A quarterly review checks for drift. Changes are recorded as work happens, and broken or misleading paths are fixed when found.
Four mistakes that break the structure
What usually goes wrong?
The review checks these four patterns and decides what the page and its reader actually need before changing the links.
Cross-linking everywhere
Links should have a useful purpose rather than connecting every article to every section. Planned cross-links belong where the subjects meet; in our map, practice-to-place links are handled on the relevant sub-pages.
The same link wording every time
Check whether the wording describes the destination in context. Repeated natural labels can be appropriate; forced keyword phrases deserve a closer look.
Main pages that don't link down
A main page that doesn't reach its sub-pages is doing half its job. The links can sit in the body text, but every sub-page must be reachable.
The blog as a separate world
Supporting answers need a useful route into their practice section. Link to the closest relevant sub-page or main page, then check that a visitor can continue from there.
Structure holds up everything built on it
Structure is one of three foundations under the Cube30 steps. Once it's right, on-page work makes each page say clearly what it covers, and technical SEO makes sure Google can load and read it.
Before any of that, the content inventory tells us what already exists, so the plan fits your real site rather than an ideal one. And the audit grades five architecture checks, so you can see where your structure stands today.
What you get on site structure
Current-structure review
Orphans, dead ends and pages sitting in the wrong section.
Target structure map
Sections, page types and link rules, drawn for your firm.
The fixes
Missing links added, wrong ones corrected, orphans linked or retired.
Quarterly structure check
The map reviewed for drift, with changes kept in the working record.
Before you make the plan.
Is silo architecture just for big sites?
No. A small site benefits too, because the rules decide how each new page fits. It's easier to set up early than to untangle later.
Do we have to change our URLs?
Not usually. Structure is mostly about page roles and links. When an address does change, it gets a permanent redirect to the new page.
Where do city pages fit?
Alongside the practice sections. Each city page links to the practice pages that matter there, and multi-location firms follow the same rule for each office.
The next useful question.
See how this work connects to the rest of your plan.
Start with your firm
Can a visitor find the right page?
Let’s look at your practice sections and the links between them. The plan should give every useful page a clear place and a next step.
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