Also known as topic clusters, content clusters are an SEO strategy you can incorporate within your digital marketing plan. They have become a real talking point within the organic search industry over recent years, but what are they and how can they improve your SEO?
What Are Content Clusters?
A content cluster is a strategic way of organising pages in your blog section. At present, it is likely you have a vast selection of archived posts just sitting there. Without a structure in place, these will be stand-alone pieces of content which are not linked to other relevant posts. Furthermore, there will be no hierarchy within this structure, with all posts just clumped together and treated as equal when crawled by search engines. You might have written the odd gem which attracts a serious amount of traffic to your website but overall, this outdated method tends to only provide inconsistent results.
To create content clusters, you need pillar pages and the use of internal hyperlinks. Pillar pages are pieces of content which broadly cover a large topic. These are lengthy posts which provide an overview of the subject without going into great depth on all it encompasses. This is where internal links enter the equation as links are directed to a post on your site which looks more specifically at a particular subject mentioned within the pillar page. One pillar page will therefore link to multiple pieces of relevant content and a content cluster is created as shown below:
Selecting Your Pillar Pages
With pillar pages acting as the foundation of any successful content cluster strategy, it is important they cover a large subject. When selecting a pillar page ask yourself whether it includes enough topics to link to an extensive number of more specific posts. The pillar page will have to cover each of these topics broadly, with the aim of the content cluster to provide more in-depth coverage of that topic. Below we have provided an example for a pillar page and related cluster content:
Pillar Page:
A Complete Guide To SEO
Cluster Content:
Local SEO
Ecommerce SEO
Content Marketing
Keyword Research
Technical SEO
User Experience
On-page SEO
Link Building
Analytics
Algorithm Updates
Link Structure for Content Clusters
The effectiveness of the content clusters relies upon a strategic internal link structure which should be in accordance with the site’s hierarchy.
Every pillar page should have a link to its top-tier page. The pillar page should be divided into sections using H2 subheadings and under each of these should be a link to the relevant cluster topic page. The cluster page also links back to the related pillar page too.
Why Do Content Clusters Work?
Firstly, creating a pillar page or power page can provide a comprehensive overview on a particular subject and help you to rank for multiple keywords. Not only will pillar pages provide your audience with a good understanding of the products and services you offer but could also make you an authority on that subject.
With content clusters, you can write more specifically and in-depth about a subject and this can allow you to become more visible on search engines and also rank for long-tail keywords. Furthermore, content clusters can decrease bounce rates and improve user experience, which is another key ranking factor.
Andrew is the owner of Alpaca Marketing, the digital marketing agency which specialises in local SEO and website content.