Search engines are getting smarter. Rather than simply matching keywords, they now understand the meaning behind queries and look for the most relevant, authoritative content to answer them. As a result, content marketers need to shift their approach from targeting individual keywords to creating comprehensive resources around topics.
HubSpot‘s content strategy tool is designed to help you make this shift. It uses machine learning to surface topic ideas based on relevance, search popularity, and your domain‘s authority. It then helps you organize those topics into "clusters" of related content that signal your expertise to search engines and readers.
In this guide, we‘ll share everything you need to know to effectively use the content strategy tool to inform your content creation. You‘ll learn how to discover and validate topic ideas, structure your content into topic clusters, and track the ROI of your efforts. Let‘s dive in.
Why Topic Clusters Are Essential for Modern SEO
The way people search has changed. According to Google, 70% of all queries now use natural language. Rather than typing in fragmented keywords, people are asking questions and using long-tail phrases.
To rank well for these types of queries, you need to cover topics in-depth. A study by Backlinko found that the average word count of a first page result on Google is 1,447 words. Comprehensive content that anticipates and answers related questions signals topical authority and expertise.
Topic clusters make it easier to create this type of authoritative, interlinked content. With HubSpot‘s content strategy tool, you can:
- Discover topics your target audience is searching for
- Identify existing content you can update and repurpose
- Plan new content to fill gaps in your coverage
- Visualize your clusters and identify internal linking opportunities
"At HubSpot, we use the content strategy tool to prioritize topics based on relevance to our personas and business goals," says Aja Frost, head of content SEO at HubSpot. "It‘s helped us increase our average monthly organic traffic by 12.5%."
How to Research and Plan Topic Clusters in HubSpot
Now that you understand the importance of topic clusters, let‘s walk through how to actually create them using HubSpot‘s content strategy tool.
Step 1: Set Up Your Domains
First, navigate to the content strategy tool in your HubSpot Marketing Hub account. If you haven‘t already, you‘ll need to add and verify your domains. HubSpot will pull in your existing content and analytics data from these domains.
Step 2: Discover and Validate Topics
Once your domains are set up, it‘s time to generate topic ideas. The content strategy tool will automatically suggest potential topics based on your content. You can also enter your own ideas.
For each topic, the tool will show you:
- Monthly search volume: The estimated number of monthly searches for that topic
- Relevance: How closely the topic aligns with content you‘ve previously published
- Domain authority: Your domain‘s overall authority on a scale from 1-100
Look for topics with high search volume and business relevance. "We aim for topics with a relevance of at least 50% to ensure we‘re building on our existing expertise," says Victor Pan, HubSpot‘s head of technical SEO.
Step 3: Choose Your Pillar Pages
Next, you‘ll choose a pillar page for each of your core topics. A pillar page is a comprehensive guide that covers all aspects of the topic at a high level.
Your pillar page should be:
- Ungated, with no forms or pop-ups blocking the content
- Well-organized, with a table of contents and descriptive H2s
- Authoritative, aiming for a minimum of 2,000 words
- Actionable, with specific advice and guidance
If you don‘t have an existing page that fits the bill, you‘ll need to create one. Outline your pillar page based on the subtopics your audience is searching for. Include keyword variations in your page title, headers, meta description, and body content.
Step 4: Create Cluster Content
With your pillar page created, it‘s time to build out your topic cluster with supporting blog posts. These posts should cover narrower subtopics related to your core topic.
To generate subtopic ideas, look at:
- "People also ask" results on Google
- Related searches at the bottom of the SERP
- Keywords your pillar page is ranking for
- Suggestions from HubSpot‘s content strategy tool
Consider search volume and organic competition when prioritizing your subtopics. You can use a metric like Keyword Difficulty to estimate how hard it will be to rank for a specific phrase. Aim for subtopics with lower competition scores to start.
Use the pillar page and other supporting content to naturally link related posts together. According to HubSpot research, the ideal amount of internal links is 4-8 per post.
Measuring the Impact of Your Topic Clusters
As you create topic clusters, it‘s important to track their performance to prove ROI and identify improvement opportunities. On the content strategy overview screen, you‘ll see metrics like:
- Total organic traffic to the cluster
- Contacts and customers generated
- Number of inbound links
You can click into each cluster for a more granular breakdown of individual posts‘ performance. Pay attention to metrics like:
- Organic traffic and rankings for target keywords
- Time on page and bounce rate
- Conversion rate from visitor to lead
Look for correlations between factors like post length, keyword usage, and internal linking and your rankings and traffic. Double down on formats and tactics that are working well.
"We‘ve found that our pillar pages convert at 5x the rate of regular blog posts," says AJ Beltis, a content marketing manager at HubSpot. "Optimizing these key assets has become a top priority."
Topic Cluster Best Practices from HubSpot‘s Blog Team
To get the most out of the content strategy tool, keep these tried-and-true best practices in mind:
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Aim for depth over breadth. It‘s better to create fewer, more comprehensive posts than to churn out thin content on every possible subtopic. Aim for posts of 1,000 words minimum.
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Keep clusters tightly focused. If a subtopic strays too far from your core topic, consider creating a separate cluster for it. Each post should be clearly relevant to the main pillar page.
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Optimize for featured snippets. Look for opportunities to provide clear, concise answers to common questions within your posts. Use formatting like bulleted lists where appropriate, and include the question as an H2 or H3.
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Update and interlink content regularly. Topic clusters aren‘t a set-it-and-forget-it strategy. Refresh your pillar page as you add new subtopic content, and make a habit of adding new internal links to older posts.
"We update our pillar pages quarterly based on subtopics we‘ve added and new search data," says Karla Cook, HubSpot‘s senior manager of content strategy. "It‘s helped us maintain our positions in an increasingly competitive SERP."
Conclusion
As search engines have evolved, so have content best practices. Rather than chasing individual keywords, content marketers need to build topical authority by creating comprehensive, organized resources.
HubSpot‘s content strategy tool makes it easy to discover, plan, and measure effective topic clusters. By identifying relevant topics, creating authoritative pillar pages, and supporting them with focused subtopic content, you can improve your search rankings and better engage your audience.
Use the steps and best practices outlined in this guide to start implementing a topic cluster strategy. With consistent effort and iteration, you‘ll start seeing more traffic, leads, and customers from your content in no time.