The Evolving Trends of SEO - Topic Cluster Marketing

Efficient search engine optimisation practices have been critical for ensuring the discoverability of websites since the proliferation of search engines themselves in the early 1990s. Traditionally, these websites emphasised the use of keywords that catered to specific niches, which would increase the likelihood of the individual pages in question experiencing high rankings on SERPs as the search algorithms attempted to match queries to relevant keywords and content.

However, as the technology progressed, so too did the algorithms used to effectively respond to these digital searches. The biggest shift to date has been the development and implementation of Google’s RankBrain in 2015, a machine learning algorithm that is capable of gauging the intent and context behind queries in order to better suit the needs of each respective user. Four years later, and the platform has matured enough—and has influenced enough of its main Asian competitors such as Baidu and Naver—to encourage most websites to implement dramatic changes to their SEO philosophies or risk fading into obscurity. This article is going to take a deeper dive into the practice as it exists today in order to better inform businesses of how they can alter the presentation of their content to ensure greater discoverability of their web pages over the coming months and years.

What Exactly Changed?

For the purposes of this article, the most disruptive shift took place in the way that engines prioritised content. Prior to RankBrain, SEO strategies focused on stuffing individual pages with as many keywords as possible in order to pull traffic from a number of different queries—for example, a company focusing on weight loss might list a variety of different exercises, without offering any additional information or detail that might be relevant to the reader.

Unfortunately for a vast majority of existing website content, Google now flags websites that place an emphasis on discoverability—as opposed to readability or accessibility—as untrustworthy, and is unlikely to display them as search results. Instead, the RankBrain algorithm now gives a ranking preference to websites and pages that are assessed to be comprehensive, valuable sources of information.

This has prompted the development of two core, reinforcing concepts—pillar pages and content clusters. The former refers to broad landing pages that extensively outline a topic in particular, while the latter are the in-depth pages that constantly refer back to the pillar page and each other in order to signal relationships between articles. As search algorithms scour the web for content, they identify these relationships and present the website as a quality, trustworthy source of information that it can recommend more widely to queries that ask about any aspect of the topic in question.

Is it Necessary to Overhaul My Practices?

In short, yes. Outdated SEO tactics are already becoming obsolete and are leaving a greater number of websites behind by the day. More than just ensuring a steady stream of traffic to your content, however, topic cluster marketing can bring about tangible improvements to your business’ website. Primarily, you can expect to benefit from:

Better reputations. Rather than pandering your content to the lowest common denominator, topic cluster marketing offers the impression of complete, accurate information that is relevant to your consumers, which can result in improved trust in your operations.

Increased revenues. By linking purchasing pages and storefronts to articles that offer insight pertaining to the variety of items available for purchase, businesses can simplify the process of sales conversions, as consumers can more readily research what they might be interested in.

Scalable content. Marketing with content clusters allows businesses to build comprehensive resources related to their niche. As new topics become relevant, they can be seamlessly integrated into the existing cluster with previous articles simply linking to the new content. This process ensures that content is easy to update and keep live, even as the clusters continue to grow.

Many businesses are hesitant to overhaul their SEO practices—after all, if such a dramatic shift is under way, then what’s stopping another one from occurring? Thankfully, these fears are unfounded. With the rise of RankBrain, its ability to understand context, and its influence on the most popular search engines across the Asian market, consumers are increasingly turning to search queries that are naturally phrased, similar to the way that they speak. This approach serves to future-proof search practices, and ensures that topic clusters will remain relevant even as algorithms continue to be iterated upon—there has never been a better time than now to overhaul your operations.