It refers to the expertise a website or brand has on a particular topic or subject.
It simply means becoming known as an authoritative source of information in your niche.
Ready to dive into the content?
This article will cover five strategies that will help you build topical authority and rank higher in search engine results.
What is Topical Authority?
Topical authority refers to an SEO concept where a website is considered an authority on a particular topic or subject.
It involves creating high-quality, comprehensive, and relevant content on a specific topic over time.
In other words, having topical authority means that search engines and users see your website as the go-to source for information on a particular topic.
This is a concept closely related to EEAT (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) austria phone number resource a system used by quality assessors (who work directly or indirectly for Google) to evaluate websites .
Now, let’s say you want to rank for the keyword “how to make good coffee.” To build topical authority, you need to consistently create high-quality content on this topic.
For example, you should also write about:
Different types of coffee beans
Brewing methods and tools
Recipes for different coffee drinks
Historical and cultural importance of coffee
This comprehensive approach to content is crucial to building topical authority.
Why Is It Important in SEO?
As of May 2023 , Google has officially confirmed that it uses topical authority to accurately identify and distinguish experts who consistently deliver the most valuable and relevant information in response to a searcher's news query .
news topic authority.png
This advanced system plays a crucial role in ensuring that users receive the most useful and reliable information from trusted sources on the internet.
Google's search engine now uses semantic associations to rank websites based on their relevance to certain topics.
More content on a topic leads to more relevant internal links, making it easier for both Google and users to discover your content and increasing the likelihood of earning natural backlinks . Being an industry expert can also naturally lead to others mentioning you.
Therefore, topical authority is important for SEO because it can help you improve your search engine rankings, increase your website traffic, and improve your brand's reputation.
Strategy #1: Content Pillars, Depth, and Breadth
Content pillars are broad topics or themes that you consistently cover on your website.
These allow you to build expertise in a particular area while also covering subtopics related to that area.
pillarpages.png
Source: Semrush
This comprehensive approach further strengthens your topical authority by showing search engines that your website has depth and breadth on a particular topic.
Consider exploring different angles or perspectives on a topic to increase content depth. This could include conducting original research, providing expert opinions or case studies, or incorporating multimedia elements like videos and infographics.
Content breadth, on the other hand, involves covering a wide range of subtopics related to your main topic. This could include creating guides, how-to articles, listicles, and more.
For example, if you’re a finance blogger, your content columns might cover topics like personal finance, investing, and budgeting. Under each of these columns, you could cover a variety of subtopics, such as saving for retirement, stock market analysis, financing a business journey , and ways to cut expenses. This comprehensive approach to content creation will help you establish your topical authority in the finance space.
You can use tools like Google Trends or AnswerThePublic to search for content ideas. Simply enter a broad topic to find popular subtopics and related questions.
Strategy #2: Keyword Research
Keywords play a crucial role in establishing topical authority. These are the words or phrases that users type into search engines when looking for information on a particular topic.
Conducting thorough keyword research can help you determine which terms and phrases are relevant to your target audience and how they search for information.
By including these keywords in your content, you can increase your chances of ranking for these terms and position yourself as an authority on that topic.
Remember to use a mix of long-tail keywords (more specific phrases with lower search volume) and short-tail keywords (broad terms with higher search volume) to capture both highly targeted and more general searches.
You can use tools like Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, Ahrefs, or Moz Keyword Explorer to do keyword research .
Plus, Google itself works great too. By typing a topic into the search box, you’ll get suggestions (related searches) to include in your content.
Google autosuggest (1).png
For example, if you are looking for “food for dogs” and type that phrase into Google, some suggested searches include:
Foods for dogs with allergies
Foods for dogs to gain weight
Foods for dogs with sensitive stomachs
Incorporating these variations into your content can help showcase your knowledge and expertise on a particular aspect of dog nutrition.
