The Spoke and Wheel SEO Model

SEO is just like any marketing tactic. There are many ways to do it.

Unfortunately, the further down the SEO strategy rabbit hole you go, the more complicated it gets.

I've been there and ended up writing off SEO as "too complicated" and "not worth it anyway."

😞 

Then I found the spoke and wheel model. Since then, SEO has been one of my highest sold services.

Mainly because it's simple and gets results.

So if you want to start doing SEO for your short term rental, this is the way to do it.

The Spoke and Wheel SEO Model

There are three steps to this SEO model.

• Define your spoke content.

• Define your wheel (hub) content.

• Internally link them together.

In my examples, I'm going to use the local guide approach. Copy me if you want, but this model works for any goal.

If you are still deciding on a marketing goal, read this article.

Let's start ranking.

Step 1: Define Your Spoke Content

Spoke content is niche content for specific searches.

Typically, these searchers know exactly what they're looking for. They just need to learn a little more.

Here are some examples of spoke content:

• Best steak restaurants in Minneapolis.

• Best trails on the Mississippi River.

• Mill City Museum in Minneapolis.

All this content will act as a pathway to my wheel or "hub" content where readers have a higher likelihood of:

• Reading more content.

• Browsing my property.

• Booking a stay.

Step 2: Define Your Wheel "Hub" Content

Wheel "hub" content is for broad searches around a topic.

Every piece of spoke content should be related to a wheel content topic.

Let me explain.

Here is my spoke content again from step one:

• Best steak restaurants in Minneapolis.

• Best trails on the Mississippi River.

• Mill City Museum in Minneapolis.

Broader topics that get more searches for each list item would be:

• Restaurants in Minneapolis.

• Trails and Parks in Minneapolis.

• Art and Museums in Minneapolis.

Before I write spoke content, I always have my wheel content defined. Doing this makes the last step effortless.

Step 3: Connect The Wheel With Internal Linking

The final step in the spoke and wheel SEO model is to connect hub and spoke content together. This is done with internal linking.

Internal linking is important because:

• It's an easy way for a website visitor to keep reading your content.

• The more they read your content, the more authority you have. (which is what Google wants).

• The more authority you have, the more visitors you get.

• More people coming to your website increases your chances of bookings.

I know this may sound complicated but actually doing this step is very simple.

As you write each piece of content, find sentences or words that you can hyperlink to another local guide. Like I did right there.

Bonus tip: Create a standard call to action at the bottom of each local guide. Here are some examples that may be relevant to a local guide reader:

• Looking for a place to stay in Minneapolis? View our stays now.

• Create the perfect Minneapolis experience with our uptown stays.

• Not from Minneapolis? Here are some places to stay.

Call to actions make it easy for someone to book and lets Google understand why you should have authority in the travel space.

Put the Spoke and Wheel SEO Model Into Action.

I rewrote this article three times because I got too excited and made it too complicated.

So i'll try to keep the action steps as easy as possible. Take action on the spoke and wheel SEO model by:

1. Choosing three wheel "hub" topics.

2. Write 10 spoke pieces of content per wheel topic.

3. Internally link each piece of content and publish them on your site.

If you want to make content writing easy, use this ChatGPT prompt from another SEO article I wrote. See, there's another internal link.

That's all for today. I'll see you in the next article.