How Do You Build Topical Relevance?

It doesn’t matter if you’re trying to create a new website or upgrade an existing one; you still need something called topical relevance. It will help you build an authoritative site with an excellent structure and unique topic coverage.

So, how do you build topical relevance while following SEO best practices? It’s easily achievable through topical mapping. 

Let’s learn how you can build topical relevance online by using this strategy.

How Do You Build Topical Relevance?

You can build topical relevance by focusing on several key aspects. These aspects are done in order and are codependent on each other.

There are four main ways to build topical relevance by:

• Focusing on entity-based keyword research.
• Building topic clusters on pillars and supporting topics.
• Using an internal linking strategy.
• Implementing backlink-building strategies.

In the following sections, we will examine and discuss each step in the process of building topical relevance.

Focus on entity-based keyword research

The first step to building topical relevance is focusing on entity-based keyword research. Pay attention to the term “entity-based,” as you must first find suitable entity topics.

According to Google, entities are unique, singular, well-defined, and distinguishable concepts. They are often represented linguistically by nouns.

You can discover entities using Google search and the “Images” tab or by researching articles on Wikipedia.

Here’s an example of finding entities using Google search for the term “mountain bike”.

Once you find niche-relevant entities, it’s time to expand on the topics each can provide. The only way to do this for SEO purposes is via keyword research.

Keyword research is researching and discovering valuable keyword opportunities you can rank for in the SERPs. 

Each keyword is described with metrics like:

• Search volume
• Keyword difficulty
• Search intent

All of these are important metrics for keyword research. 

Broad, single-word keywords have high search volume and are hard to rank for in the SERPs. They are suitable to use within pillar pages.

Topical relevance, however, is built using long-tail, easy-to-rank keywords. They describe phrases that Google uses to display semantically relevant information in the search results.

You can research keywords using SEO tools like Semrush, Ahrefs, Keywords Everywhere, Lowfruits.io, etc.

Build clusters around pillars and supporting topics

The next step is assembling the researched keywords and grouping them together in topic clusters. 

The best way to do this is by building a topical authority map, which contains the following:

• Categories
• Pillar pages
• Supporting pages
• Content outline and word count
• Total search volume
• Related and LSI keywords
• SEO titles
• Interlinking strategy

All these elements together give a structural representation of your content and site.

The main elements of a topic cluster are the pillar and support pages.

Pillar pages cover a broad topic, described by a keyword with high search volume, which is difficult to rank for in the SERPs. These pages have content that should describe all the aspects of a specific topic in general.

Supporting pages, on the other hand, are the ones with detailed, specific content. They expand the pillar page topic even further by covering unique related information. 

Each pillar page should have at least three supporting pages that drive link equity back to it.

We will cover how these pages are connected with each other in the next section.

Use internal linking wisely

Establishing topical relevance is impossible without internal links. They are the pathways that show users and search engines what your content is about and how it’s structured.

Internal links are placed inside content articles through so-called “anchors”. They are clickable word phrases that lead from one page to another.

Optimizing anchors for SEO deserves an article in itself. In short, the best way to use anchors is to tie them with keywords without making them look spammy.

But how do you build topical relevance with internal links? The key to using internal links for topical coverage lies in the interlinking strategy.

A topical map must contain an interlinking strategy showing how content topics connect for maximum exposure.

A basic interlinking strategy within a topical map states that:

• The pillar page points to all supporting pages.
• The supporting pages point to the pillar page, as well as related supporting pages within the same topic cluster.

Large topical maps which cover broader topics may even include sub-pillar pages. 

These pages describe a sub-topic of the main topic, which has the potential to be expanded further with its own supporting topics.

Implement backlink-building strategies

Backlinks play an essential role in SEO, especially in building topical relevance. 

That is because the topical relevance of a certain site is defined by how many people/websites consider that website to be relevant in its niche.

They show that by using backlinks. The more backlinks a website has, the higher its topical relevance.

Once you have written and published content on your site, it’s time to acquire backlinks.

You can do that using two popular strategies:

• Guest posting
• Niche edits

Guest posting is the process of creating a new content piece which is then published on another niche-relevant website in exchange for a backlink to your site. 

It is a long-term strategy that helps build brand awareness, credibility, and trustworthiness besides backlinks.

Niche edits are simple link placements on other niche-relevant websites’ content that lead back to your site. They provide quick results because of their placement on already ranking content.

If your site is brand new, it’s important to implement backlink-building strategies early on. That way, you will increase the site’s topical relevance faster.

In time, topical relevance will help you acquire more backlinks through organic traffic, as the website will be shown higher in the SERPs for multiple topically related keywords.

Why It’s Important to Build Topical Relevance?

Building topical relevance is important for users, search engines, and the website itself.

Through topical relevance, users will know your site provides unique, trustworthy, and well-researched information. 

They will also have an easier time navigating your site, as topical relevance helps with site structure.

On the other hand, search engines easily crawl topically relevant sites because of their excellent structure and understand their topic coverage much better.

As a result, topical relevance: 

• Boosts website rankings in the SERPs.
• Expands audience reach.
• Increases organic traffic and lead generation.
• Improves backlink acquisition.

Conclusion

Topical relevance is an integral part of topical and domain authority.

It helps search engines and users understand the structure of your content and site while aiding your site to rank higher in the SERPs for multiple topic-related keywords.

Using topical relevance as part of your content planning and SEO strategy is a must today if you want to dominate the search results. 

How do you build topical relevance online? Are you using the same strategy methods described in this article, or do you have a different approach?

Let us know in the comment section.