What are Topic Cluster and how can they boost your traffic?
Article Source: Linkedin Pulse by Steven Rich
Google recently changed its algorithm favoring topic based content, according to SEO experts. SEO and marketing specialists now seek new ways to link related content into “topic clusters”.
In 2018, keywords lost their importance in favor of topic based content. Questions (queries) posed to search engines now days ask about a topic rather than a keyword.
What’s the Difference between Keywords and a Topic?
Keywords ruled for many years because they comprised of only one word or a short phrase which search engines could easily search. Keywords act as shortcuts summarizing an entire web page.
As search engines became “smarter”, they can now index an entire web page’s content to answer a question (query) or search an entire subject (topic). Thus, keywords alone are no longer as valuable for SEO.
SEO guru, Neil Patel, explained the “difference between queries and keywords”. A “keyword” is the specific item marketers target. A “query” is a phrase which searchers actually type when they search for that item. For example, look at the chart below:
The keywords “skinny jeans” accommodates five different queries. The keywords “women’s skinny jeans” accommodates three different queries.
Now days, SEO and marketing experts use “topic” in place of “subject”. Instead of focusing on keywords, they now focus on topics. That’s because search engines are now better able to figure out what a search query really looks for.
Not long ago, people would type broken search terms into Google. Now days, you simply ask a question in a full sentence because search engines recognize your intent.
What are Topic Clusters?
The evolution of SEO in 2018 requires websites to become “true experts” as defined by Google regarding their main topic. This means becoming an expert on a specific topic.
A good definition of a topic cluster:
“A topic cluster is simply a group of interlinked web pages built around one pillar page.”
A “pillar page” covers an entire topic in one web page. It is the basis for which topic clusters build around.
Think of an octopus with its main body (pillar page) surrounded by several tentacles (web pages).
Do Topic Clusters Really Impact SERP’s?
Hubspot, a very large marketing and sales software company, recently conducted an experiment on topic clusters. Hubspot found that more interlinking by the site, the better ranking in SERP’s.
Topic Clusters now being advocated as the new SEO content marketing strategy.
SEO Strategy for Topic Clusters
Here is a summary of how a SEO Strategy for Topic Clusters works
• Emphasizes topics instead of keywords.
• The Pillar Page outlines the main topic.
• Web pages focused on specific long tail keywords creates the clusters.
• Every cluster page links to the main Pillar Page and vice versa.
• Google web crawlers sees the topic clusters linking to the Pillar Page knowing a semantic relationship exists between the main topic and the cluster sub-topics. The Pillar Page is now ranked as an “authority” on the topic based on its high quality content. This should increase the search ranking for the entire website.
So, each grouping covers a single topic. The Pillar broadly outlines the topic. Then the Pillar links to a group of clusters each focused on one long tail keyword phrase who link back to the Pillar page. Web crawlers see these connections and rank them higher as an “authority” site for being a trusted and respected source of information based on their quality content.
Examples of Topic Clusters
Notice how every topic cluster contains the pillar page topic “workout routines”. This is the best example for demonstrating how closely the topic cluster keywords should align with the pillar page topic for SEO purposes.
I included two more examples of topic clusters to show you the variations out there.
Weight Loss as the first example:
The topic cluster above focuses on the topic “Weight Loss”. Eight separate web pages contain just one sub-topic linking to the main (pillar) topic “Weight Loss”. Notice how each of the eight web pages use words related to the pillar topic such as “lose weight” or “weight loss”.
Even if only one sub-topic cluster web page ranks high with Google, it helps the main topic Pillar Page by linking to it. The best written content leads to the entire website being ranked as an “authoritative” website for the topic “Weight Loss” in Google’s Search Engine Results Page (SERP).
As you can see, SEO and website development now focuses on topic clusters to clarify a site’s organization and purpose.
Inbound Marketing as another example:
The example above centers around the pillar page “Inbound Marketing” with topic clusters using keywords like: “inbound marketing strategy”, “lifecycle marketing”, and “inbound marketing KPIs”, with room for two or more subtopics.
Marketing Topic Clusters
Based upon what you can see above, commence a more deliberate approach with your blog postings and social media campaigns geared towards promoting the main topic.
One marketing company provided me with a marketing plan for topic clusters.
Here is a summary covering all of the important points:
• Website: An entire website based on the topic clusters model.
• Blogs: Make one core post with numerous interlinked posts.
• Videos: Create a series of videos involving every aspect of a topic.
• Mini-Sites: Create a mini-site for each topic.
Start a Promotion Plan
Every topic needs a promotion plan to arouse interest of all content. These include:
• E-Mail: Easy to do with often high Return on Investment (ROI).
• Social Media: Coordinate messages across various social media channels to reinforce your message for each topic content.
• Ads: Pay-Per-Click (PPC) and social media ads depending on your budget and the type of content you created.
Conclusion
Topic clusters = SEO Future.
By 2018, topic based content became more important than keywords. Instead of typing in keywords, people type in entire sentences which search engines now understand.
Smarter search engines allow an entire web page content to answer searchers queries.
This makes high quality content even more important for sites. Google prefers sites with content which answer search queries with authoritative and trustworthy information.
Topic clusters revolve around one main topic in a pillar page while relevant sub-topic pages link to the pillar page and vice versa.
Google web crawlers recognize topic clusters. The pillar page topic receives higher search rankings if the quality of the content provides relevant authoritative information making the site trustworthy.
Now is the time for you to upgrade your websites into topic clusters to connect with the new SEO in 2018.
