Do you want to create a semantic cocoon on your website to increase your natural reference? This method is becoming more and more democratized and has already proved its worth on many websites. In order for your cocoons to be built in the best possible way, it is best to have the right tools. Discover 5 tools to create your semantic cocoon and how they will help you optimize it.
What is a semantic cocoon? Definition
The semantic cocoon is a method that aims atoptimize the internal linking of your website, and more particularly its content. Democratized by SEO expert Laurent Bourrelly, this procedure for optimizing the architecture of your website has the ultimate goal of helping your pages rank better in search results.
We can also talk silos, i.e. an organization in the form of silos. Each silo is based on a target keyword (that of the target page) and must have a pyramidal structure. Each main page (landing page) will then have mixed pages (sub pages) that correspond to a response element of the main page (i.e. a H2 of the main page). These mixed pages will have additional pages themselves which will work on the same principle.
The internal mesh between these pages will then be optimized to properly distribute the power (or “SEO juice”) to get the parent page high in the SERPs. Of course, the structure is important, but the quality of the content must also be there to give you every chance of success in the eyes of Google and Internet users.
What are the benefits of a semantic cocoon for your SEO?
They all benefit from a semantic cocoon strategy. Here are 3 significant interests to consider before starting.
Respond to users with high added value content
Firstly, a strategy of this type allows you to extensively address a specific issue on which you want to position yourself. The internet user will be a big winner since you will offer an answer to all possible questions who can ask.
In a situation where you want to sell him a product or service, he will return it to you. He will consider you a subject matter expert and that will make all the difference when it comes to converting him into a client. This is why the semantic cocoon is very interesting in the context of a inbound marketing strategy.
Being able to position yourself on a competitive request
This internal link optimization method allows you to return power to a landing page. There is a good chance this page is trying to rank on a very competitive query, with a fairly generic and highly sought after keyword. Without a cocoon, it is very difficult to place yourself on this type of request, unless your site has a lot of popularity. With the cocoon, you will be able build your site experience on a specific theme And direct semantic power in an optimized way to this parent page.
Get more authority in the eyes of Google
Aside from the landing page, the entire site will be the winner. Indeed, content creation is a almost essential leverage in SEO. It allows your site to rank on various queries, but also to strengthen its authority in the eyes of the search engine.
How to make a semantic cocoon? 5 tools you absolutely must know
SE Ranking, the all-in-one SEO platform
The first tool to have when creating a semantic cocoon and more generally when doing SEO: SE Ranking. It offers everything you need manage your presence in search results :
- Keyword research for SEO and Ads campaigns
- On-page SEO audit
- Monitoring the positioning of keywords for your site
- Back link monitoring
- Page change monitoring
- Competitive research
- Etc…
In the context of a semantic cocoon, such a tool is important as it will help you in building the architecture of silos. You will be able to do it easily find all queries associated with your target keyword thanks to their keyword suggestion tool.
For each keyword you search, you’ll have access to its competitive difficulty score, monthly search volume, and trend history. Other than that, you will have many ideas for similar keywords, in-link or with low search. You will also be able to view the current ranking of organic results and its dynamics.
While searching for keywords, it will be possibleexport these keyword sets and even grouped keyword analysis.
Their pricing is quite complex but you meet your needs precisely and therefore you only pay for what you need. The monthly bill depends on the subscription period, the frequency of updating the keyword ranking, the number of keywords followed on your site and the 3 formulas that offer more or less complete features.
Cocon.se, the base site for optimizing its mesh and cocoons
Its name is rather indicative, but cocon.se is a tool dedicated to the creation of semantic cocoons. Ultimately it is quite rare to see a tool designed specifically for this.
This tool aims to help you adopt the most optimized structure possible. After the analysis, cocon.se provides you with a visualization of the architecture of your site. Thanks to this, you will be able to find out which pages are interfering with your internal links or which are taking too much power for nothing. It is also a way of check if your site is built consistentlyin the eyes of a robot comparable to the Googlebot that regularly crawls your site.
Thanks to the audits of cocon.se, you will see how your site is actually seen when it is crawled. With this display systemyou will see at a glance if the silos are well isolated, high potential pages and any other problems.
Cocon.se is the ideal tool for check the optimization of its cocoons, find areas for improvement and understand your site architecture. Whether you are an expert or a beginner in SEO, you will necessarily find an interest in this tool.
Surfer SEO, the Chrome extension to boost your content
The Surfer SEO extension is mainly for those who don’t have the time. In fact, thanks to this tool, you can automatically generate the structure of an article.
This feature is relevant when creating cocoons as the structure of your parent page will define what the child pages will be. Additionally, Surfer SEO offers features for content planningto punctually write all the pages of your silos.
Once your pages are created, the extension will give you tips to make them work better in SERPs and dominate your theme.
MindMeister, the free tool for drawing the structure of your cocoon
For facilitate the creation and understanding of a semantic cocoon, the practice is to use Mind Mapping tools. This is where MindMeister can really come in handy. For view your silosyou will be able to take advantage of it mind maps.
With the free plan you can create up to 3 mind maps and invite your colleagues to collaborate on the creation of the content architecture. Paid plans provide access to advanced features that are ideal for SEO professionals who need to showcase their strategies on a regular basis.
In any case, MindMeister allows you to customize the visual aspect to adapt the Mind Map to your brand.
Semji, the content optimization and writing software
Once you have defined the theoretical and strategic aspect of your semantic cocoons, you will have to move on to the creation of the pages in question. For this there is a very powerful tool: Semji. To sum up how it can help you here, you just need to enter a keyword in Semji and it gives you all the information and advice necessary for your page to be at the top of the search results. Indeed, Semji will help you analyze the competitionsearch intent, topics to include, word count to reach, etc. These are things you might already be doing as a writer, but Semji is doing all the work to save you a lot of time.
All of this it works like a score to motivate you to write optimized pages.
Aside from that, Semji helps you analyze existing content of your website. It also gives you the keys to plan the writing of the pages. Artificial intelligence is also at the heart of Semji’s concerns, for writing editorial briefs and even creating pieces of content.
You now have the best tools in your hands to easily create your semantic cocoon. If you have other tools to recommend, don’t hesitate to share them with us in the comments or on our social networks.