A very strong trend in SEO since 2020 is undoubtedly the concept of topic clusters .
SEO consultants are encouraged to explore topic clusters, or its variant the semantic cocoon, as a way to organize and connect content on a single website .
In this technique (which we already discussed in 2017), a pillar page (pillar content in English) that contains in-depth information on a subject is associated, through internal links, with several other pages. The pillar page and the group of secondary pages must share the same theme .
Topic cluster definition
In my opinion, the thematic cluster structure offers two major advantages :
SEO benefits
Benefits related to user experience (UX)
Quick read: what you will learn about cluster topics by reading this articleIn this post, we first remind you of the basic principles of the thematic cluster strategy and how to implement it:
SEO benefits
UX benefits
how cluster topics work
how to find thematic cluster ideas
Next, you will discover 3 concrete examples of thematic clusters :
The case of SEOQuantum (B2B)
The example of redacteur.com (B2B)
The concrete case of Maciassur.fr (B2C and local SEO)
If you want to become a thematic cluster expert, just read on.
The advantages of the thematic cluster for SEOGoogle aims to provide users with the best available content on a given topic. SEOs use this technique to improve the ranking of pillar pages , as they are considered more detailed.
Additionally, given the architecture of internal linking, the search engine believes that the more internal pages you link to on a given topic, the more informed you are about that topic. It is therefore a question of writing a lot of content on the same theme .
Learn more about the internal meshing strategy
The advantages of the thematic cluster for UXTopic clusters allow users to easily navigate your website and discover all your content related to a given topic, ensuring an engaging and enriching user experience. They allow users to gain sufficient insight into a topic without having to conduct multiple searches.
Now let's take a closer look at how thematic clusters work.
How thematic clusters work
Topic clusters are made up of pillar pages and secondary pages belonging to the same thematic group.
Pillar Pages: These pages, which can also be sections, cover in detail a broad topic that is essential to your business. They are called pillar pages because they address topics that are part of the foundation of your business. These are the concepts from which all the content on your site will flow.
Secondary pages: These are pages you access from a pillar page. They allow you to share more in-depth information on the topic. Having their own URL, they can also be referenced for longer, more specific keywords. Secondary pages complement the pillar page and allow you to go further in terms of traffic and engagement, exploring other key phrases.
I will go into more detail in the article dedicated to the functioning of thematic clusters (cluster topic in English)
Find ideas for your site's pillar pagesKeep in mind that pillar pages are conceptual . Therefore, keyword data doesn't necessarily play a role in creating this type of page. In fact, when it's well-crafted and has many parent pages, it usually ranks for a wide range of queries.
I always ask myself two questions before designing pillar pages for my clients' websites. Building this type of structure is a two-step process. I'll illustrate my process with several examples of thematic clusters , including one from a client specializing in home veterinary services.
1. Does the pillar refer to your product/service?
There should be a direct link between your pillars and your business . These pillars help create content groups, so it's essential to ensure the theme has economic value for the business.
Topic cluster example
In this case, we relied on 5 pillars that were fundamental to the success of the brand's content:
Canine activities
Dog health
Puppy Awakening
Dog behaviors
Positive reinforcement (educational method)
Each of these 5 pillars gives us the opportunity to create a lot of content and link to the brand's services.
2. Does your company have the authority to speak on these issues?
Google prefers to rank content created by experts . This allows it to ensure the quality of the content it offers through search results. Furthermore, I remind you that Google's algorithm takes into account the thematic relevance of the content.
The search engine rightly believes that you shouldn't create content on topics that are unrelated to your area of expertise . Publishing content on such topics would mean that your sole purpose is to increase traffic to your business; it would mean that you don't have any real expertise in the area you're creating content on, and therefore can't help people.
What makes you an expert in the eyes of search engines is the comprehensiveness of your content. Setting up topic clusters on your site is proof of comprehensiveness .
However, the concepts related to thematic cluster and how you use them are not uniform; they must change depending on what you sell on your website.
Let's take a closer look at this.
Concrete cases and examples of topic clustersRemember that you need to select topics that are relevant to your product so that your content can attract quality traffic and interested customers . To do this, you need to identify the topics that are the basis of the services or products you sell.
B2B Example — SEO Tools
At SEOQuantum, we offer three tools focused on semantics : semantic analysis, semantic crawling, and thematic clusters.
Topic cluster pillar content
These 3 services correspond to the heart of our business and we must identify the pillars at the base of each of them. In other words, we determine which topics help us generate leads for each of these services .
For example, to create content related to our semantic analysis SEO tool, we need to determine what the main topics are that fit that theme and what our potential customers want to learn about the topic.
They seek information on the following concepts:
Semantic analysis
SEO content writing
SEO Content Strategies
Semantic tool
…
These concepts all fall under a single pillar: SEO content. So, we've found a pillar that fits our SEO services and related topics. But let's not stop there.
To get a real SEO boost and better UX , we need to create links to all the pages belonging to this group from our pillar page. We also need to link the secondary pages together.
It's also important to link to pages that showcase the products and services we sell. These pages often use highly competitive keywords and are therefore less well-ranked. Linking them to other pages in the group will help guide potential buyers to pages that will convert them.
Additionally, as we mentioned before, these links will help us prove our knowledge and authority in SEO content , so that search engines take us seriously.
SEO crawling and related topics are another pillar of our SEO tools. It includes the following concepts:
The definition of internal meshing
The internal meshing strategy
PageRank
….
This is again about creating internal links from these pages, our pillar page and our services pages.
Topic cluster seoquantum
In this topic cluster example , we only covered content creation on two pillars SEO content for our semantic analysis tool and the SEO crawler These are closely related to our SEO tools pages.
There are several other pillars and topic clusters related to these two themes, and with a little research, we can identify them and create content for each. Of course, they should all link back to our services page to increase traffic and revenue.
What results for this strategy?
Now let's talk about SEO results : how did all this help SEOQuantum rank on Google?
Using the topic clustering model described above, the page "semantic analysis" comes in first place . This keyword phrase generates a volume of 800 searches per month.
Same thing for most of the keywords in the thematic cluster, SEOQuantum is in 1st position:
SEO content
Web writing
SEO writing
SEO content strategy
…
Not bad, huh
– In any case, at SEOQuantum we are proud of these results .Since SEO isn't the only service we provide, we follow the same process to find pillar topics and groups that are closely related to the other services we offer, in order to create new content.
B2B Example — Case redacteur.com
Let's say you run an online content writing service. The way we structure topic clusters will need to be different. In this case, the B2B services offered focus on recruiting writers/freelancers and corporate clients. These two areas should influence the topics of the content that will be created.
Excerpt from our semantic crawler
The goal is to demonstrate to potential buyers the company's effectiveness in content writing and editorial strategy. We will therefore find thematic clusters corresponding to these services .
SEO content is (still) a key pillar of our content writing service. This time, as we seek to showcase the company's expertise in content creation and editorial planning management, we'll focus on other topics, including:
In light blue the pages on semantics:
Use benin phone number data keywords correctly
Why semantics is important
Adopt your content to search engines
In yellow, the interest for a company to deploy a blog:
Blog monetization
Blog traffic source
Finally, in purple/ dark blue, the pages on editorial strategy:
Mobile editorial strategy optimization
Data and content strategy
Editorial strategy white papers
10x Method Strategy
…
Once again, this will involve linking the pillar pages and secondary pages together .
Although SEOQuantum and Rédacteur.com are quite similar companies, our pillar model is different, as we have clearly distinct objectives.
