Building out topic clusters is a new SEO strategy that focuses on fully covering a topic and building relationships between keywords.

In 2015, Google launched RankBrain — a machine learning algorithm that associates past searches with similar topics and phrases to find the best search results for you. In order to rank well on a search engine results page (SERP), we must show how keywords relate to one another.

To show Google that you are a trusted and reliable source on a topic or subject, you need to build topic clusters out on your site. How, you may ask? Read on!

The Topic Cluster Model

The current Google algorithm ranks sites based on relationships, rather than keywords. The more a site is linked to, the more authority Google thinks it has. In the topic cluster model, a website is organized around pillar pages that contain broadly comprehensive information about a given topic and link to numerous cluster pages. Cluster pages are pages focused on specific long-tail keywords, or subtopics, that pertain to the pillar topic. But unlike in the old keyword optimization days, these pages don’t have to be clunky or formulaic. Instead, you should write in a way that is easy to read and understand.

Here’s the good news about topic clusters: You don’t need to discard all of your old content to optimize your website under this new structure. There’s a good chance you can create a few pillar pages out of existing content, and then tweak the links on your blog articles so that they function as cluster pages linking back to your main pillar pages. Categorizing and editing all of your content to reflect the topic cluster model may take some work, but it is far easier than starting from scratch or trying to create new content.

So What?

Within this topic cluster model, a single pillar page acts as the main hub of content for an overarching topic and multiple content pages that are related to that topic link back to the pillar page. Over time, the page may rank higher for the topic it covers. At its very essence, topic clusters are a way of organizing a site’s content pages using a cleaner and more deliberate site architecture.

Just having a pretty website means nothing to the search engines. Google is looking for a high-quality score, and only a true SEO expert would be able to attain this for you. Otherwise, it’s a waste of money, and we don’t want to see this happen to you!

If you would like further information about our Search Engine Optimization (SEO) service, contact our Marketing Agency in Joplin MO.