Are you using topic clusters as part of your content marketing strategy? This technique can be a game-changer, allowing you to build a library of content that Google loves while ensuring that content is also super useful for your target customers. 

Hubspot Research first detailed the cluster technique in 2017. It’s also known as the ‘pillar-and-cluster’ methodology and is used by both B2C and B2B businesses in a huge range of industries.

What are Topic Clusters?

Instead of focusing on keywords, this SEO strategy is all about topics. It simplifies your blog by creating content around central topics, which are known as pillar posts or pages. 

Competition for the first few spots of the search results is getting more intense by the day, and using topic clusters will allow you to organize your content easily while boosting the rank of your pillar pages and making it easy for visitors to get to the information they need. 

In 2013, Google released its Hummingbird update, and its algorithms placed much more emphasis on both authority and topic relevancy. By using topic clusters, you can make it easy for Google (and other search engines) to know what your website is about. 

Topic clusters also improve user experience, which impacts how long they’ll spend on your website, and how likely they are to bounce away (a metric that Google considers when it comes to ranking). 

How to Create Topic Clusters

Just like any other strategy related to content marketing, topic clusters require you to have an excellent knowledge of your target audience. That’s because the first step is to choose your pillar- the main topic you’ll be building your topic clusters around.

The best way to do this is to look at your current customers and buyer personas. Which pain points can you address? What type of content do they need? How can you answer their questions? 

For example, if your business was selling cars, the main topic would obviously be related to cars. Starting with the major brands of cars can allow you to branch off with a number of different topics, diving deeper while focusing on the information your target customers are looking for. 

Eventually, you would be adding topic clusters related to choosing the right car, finding tires for that car, protecting cars during winter, and much more. These topic clusters should not only be relevant to the main pillar page (the type of car), but should all link back to that page, and also interlink with each other. This indicates to Google that your pillar page is an authority on a certain type of car, boosting it up the rankings.

Using Current Topic Clusters

If you analyze your current content, you’re likely to find pages that are already pillar pages, or at least those that could easily become pillar pages. Once you do, it’s time to begin optimizing them with long-tail keywords. 

Next, ensure that you have the latest and most up-to-date information about the topic. Include high-quality images, internal and external images, and if possible, case studies, infographics, and your own research. By going the extra mile here, you’ll also increase the chances that other websites will begin sharing your pillar page with their readers since it will be such a helpful resource. 

Once you’ve created an excellent pillar page, you’ll need to create subtopics which will link back to the pillar page and also link to each other. This interlinking is crucial to show Google that all of these pages are related.

Finally, make sure you’re tracking your content marketing metrics. As you create more pillar pages and subtopics, you should begin to see that your pillar pages climb the rankings, eventually leading to an overall increase in rank for your entire website. Continue to monitor your topic clusters, tweaking whenever necessary. 
Not sure where to get started with your content marketing strategy? At VIP, we take this out of your hands, so you can focus on what you do best. Get in touch today to learn more.