Building Topical Authority - Why You Need to Do It

By Lisa Hirst Carnes | September 2022

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If you want to improve your search engine ranking, you may have heard the term topical authority. In recent years, Google has been rewarding sites that prove trustworthiness and expertise. Topical authority encompasses these and similar ideas. In this article, we'll look at what topical authority is and why it's important for SEO.

What is Topical Authority?

The idea of topical authority dates back to the early days of search engines. It means building authority in your niche or industry. Historically, SEO was most focused on obtaining backlinks from authoritative sites. Many backlink strategies involve questionable tactics, such as buying cheap links. Google has been cracking down on this approach and cares more about the quality of a site's content. A few years ago, Google introduced E-A-T, which stands for expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. Topical authority takes this idea a step further, including a variety of factors such as:
  • Relevance. Content should relate to the main topic of the website. 
  • Timeliness. Information should be up to date.
  • Background and experience of writer or interviewee. For example, a doctor, scientist, or scholar has more authority than a random blogger.
  • Trusted sources. If the piece quotes or links to other sites, it should be trustworthy. For example, quoting a respected authority as opposed to linking to a tabloid article.
  • Depth and length. Google favors longer, better-researched content over short and flimsy content. 

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How to Build Topical Authority

There are steps you can take with your content strategy to improve topical authority. 

Research Topics

  • Make sure to back your content with solid research and statistics. 
  • Post longer content. While Google doesn't reveal its ranking metrics, studies have found that longer content ranks better. A study by HubSpot found that the ideal length for a blog post is 2,100 to 2,400 words. Of course, length is only one factor.
  • Interview experts. Even if you aren't an authority on a topic, you can interview someone who is for an article, video, or podcast.
  • Research keywords. Keywords help you identify topics and subtopics that give your site more authority. Avoid keyword cannibalization. This is when you use similar keywords that end up competing with each other. To avoid this, don't create pages or posts that are too similar. It's better to merge or delete them.

Create Pillars and Clusters

A pillar page is a long, comprehensive piece on a certain topic. Cluster content is pages that are more specific and cover certain aspects of that topic. Pillar page keywords are competitive and broad while cluster content has specific, long tail keywords. For example, say the main topic of a website is "tips for homebuyers." In this instance, one pillar page may be a long piece on home buying advice. Cluster pages may then cover topics such as financing, finding an agent, or choosing a neighborhood.

Answer Questions

Authoritative content informs and educates the audience on relevant topics. One of the best ways to do this is to use questions as topics. There are several advantages to answering your visitors' most pressing questions.
  • Use keyword questions. Keywords are often in the form of questions, especially long tails. For example, "What's the best home remedy for headaches?" or "What type of homeowners' insurance is right for me?" Such questions can be pages, posts, or headings.
  • FAQ pages are valuable in helping visitors find what they're looking for. These pages can also reduce customer support tickets.
  • Featured snippets. Answers to popular questions may help you meet Google's coveted "rank zero" position. This top position includes featured snippets, which appear above all organic results. Google often creates "answer boxes,", which provide concise answers to common questions. But, there's no way to guarantee this valuable placement. Even if you don't achieve a featured snippet, questions can still help you rank your pages.

Cover New and Emerging Topics

It's always challenging to differentiate yourself from the competition. To be authoritative, it helps to be original and on the leading edge. Staying current with the latest news and trends in your niche or industry helps you to stay ahead of the curve. When covering recent topics, there may not yet be a high search volume for these keywords. Don't let that stop you.  
  • Follow Google Trends
  • Set alerts for keywords related to your industry
  • Subscribe to specialty newsletters and trade journals
  • Identify top experts in your field and follow their blog, social media, videos or podcast

Update and Refine Your Content

Keep in mind that the word "topical" means (among other things) "of current interest." To achieve and maintain topical authority, your content must be up to date. Often, you can make older content topical and relevant with a few edits. For example, if you covered an industry event from two years ago, you can update it and cover a more recent event. If you refer to an app or company that no longer exists (or changed its name), be sure to make the appropriate changes. 

Track Your Results and Refine Your Strategy

Achieving topical authority is not something you achieve overnight. It's a long-term strategy and one that requires constant testing and tweaking. Use Google Analytics or another SEO tool to track your progress. Track metrics such as:
  • The number of visitors.
  • Which pages and posts get the most traffic.
  • Demographics of your audience. Are you attracting the right visitors?
  • Time spent on site. If you have a high bounce rate (people leaving immediately after landing on a page), you need to make changes.
  • Where your traffic comes from, such as email, social media, Google searches, or other places.
 
These are some of the key metrics that tell you how well your current strategy is working. Make changes as needed, such as creating content on popular topics. 

Invest in an SEO Strategy Focused on Topical Authority 

Google updates its algorithms on a regular basis, which may change ranking factors. If you look at the history of Google algorithms, there's a trend toward quality content. Building topical authority will only help you in the long run. 
 
Creating an effective SEO strategy that builds topical authority can be time-consuming. You may want to enlist expert help. If you need help with SEO or any aspect of digital marketing, contact ArcStone. 

Topics: Digital Marketing

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