Hub-and-spoke build checklist

Hub-and-spoke build checklist
Scaled pages without hubs are an orphan farm.

☐ Step 1 (SEO): Define the hierarchy: pillar → category hub → entity page. Gate: an entity with no parent hub doesn't generate.
☐ Step 2 (Dev): Each hub auto-lists its spokes (paginated if large) and links down. Gate: a spoke not listed on any hub is an orphan — fail.
☐ Step 3 (Dev): Each spoke links up to its hub and across to 4–8 relevant siblings. Gate: spoke with zero up-link → fail.
☐ Step 4 (SEO): Hubs link laterally to peer hubs to spread equity across the silo top.
☐ Step 5 (Ops): Run an inlink-count report. Gate: any indexable page with fewer than 3 internal inlinks → wire it before launch.

Guardrail: no page enters the index without a path from the homepage in ≤3 clicks.

Ship gate: don't publish until all boxes are checked.