As a consultant, coach or expert, you want a website that showcases your expertise and sells your services based on that. But before your website can increase your sales, you need Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) in place to attract lots of potential clients. No website visitors, no sales. With topical authority, you can supercharge your SEO game with Google & Co and propel your website to new heights of visibility.
What Exactly Is Topical Authority?
Topical authority is a SEO concept where a website aims to become the go-to authority on one specific topic. In a wider sense, topical authority is also the measure of your personal expertise on a specific subject. On your website, it’s having a treasure trove of top-notch content that reflects your deep and broad knowledge in a particular field. In short: The more high-quality content you provide, the higher your topical authority climbs.
Google will reward you with better rankings for all of your content. Search engines work with semantic associations. This means they have to associate a website with a topic in order to rank it as a relevant resource for keywords that describe that topic. So once your website has been associated with a specific topic, it will be easily found whenever someone searches for something in this field. In other words, more people with an interest in your expertise will visit your website.
How Does Topical Authority Sell Your Services?
Imagine stepping onto a well-designed website, reading a few lines of text on the home page, scrolling through the main navigation, viewing the latest blog posts, – and knowing what it will deliver before you even reach the services page. That sense of initial trust is what topical authority brings to the table.
Think about a domain like “best-vegan-cooking.com”. On this website, you expect to find information centered on vegan cooking. And when consuming its high-quality, well-presented content on vegan cooking, you will start to believe what is being said. You will try your first vegan recipe, download their vegan cooking ebook for beginners, and eventually be ready to book a vegan cooking masterclass. You will pay for it with confidence because you anticipate that the vegan cooking masterclass will be simply great. From your personal experiences you have made on this website, it can only be a credible service provider that you can trust.
However, if the same website published an article about holiday destinations in the US, you wouldn’t immediately trust they had the most reliable information. Our sample website has topical authority on vegan cooking but no credibility on traveling in the US. Booking a hotel because of their recommendation? You will search somewhere else first. A vegan cooking trip through the US? Maybe. In the vast online landscape, credibility on a specific topic is paramount when selling related services.
How Do You Build Topical Authority On Your Website?
First things first. It might be a no-brainer to you, but define and specify your expertise, your offerings and all related topics: What do you want your website to be found for? Which topics ultimately lead to the services that you offer? What do you want people to know or reflect on before buying from you? What is your most specialised expertise? What is a very specific topic that would allow you to stand out from the crowd?
Next, conduct thorough research on your chosen core topic to identify all related subtopics and popular trends. Never lose sight of who your target audience is either. You will need to write about what people, who might buy from you, are really interested in.
When working towards topical authority, you will need to focus on the topic breadth as well as the content depth. Topic breadth is the number of semantically-related topics you cover across your website. Content depth is how comprehensively you cover a specific subtopic and provide the detailed information website users want to know.
With this in mind, create a comprehensive list of headings for potential blog posts, articles, white papers, or other content. Consider creating a content plan that outlines all the subtopics (topic breadth) and various types of content you want to produce. Always use a variety of formats for each subtopic to cater to different preferences and reach content depth. So a single subtopic might be presented as a long-form white paper, several shorter blog posts, a few videos on single aspects and lots of engaging social media posts.
Don’t hesitate to repeat yourself! A long-from article on a suptopic might touch upon many related subtopics as long as you don’t go off topic. It still needs to be clear what the article’s main focus is.
Here is an example of building a cluster of subtopics
Let’s say you’re running a coaching business focused on money mindset development. Therefore, “money mindset” will be your main topic. In the next step, expand this main topic into a web of related subtopics. By generating lots of great content that revolves around all things “money mindset”, you earn your website visitors’ trust in your deep and profound subject knowledge.
Your content plan might start like this:
“What is a money mindset?”
“How do you develop a money mindset?”
“How long does it take to achieve a money mindset?”
“How to find out if you have got the right money mindset?”
After these first few broader introductory articles, you will need to go deeper and explore individual aspects. Split your focus topic into many different subtopics. They don’t need to be all totally different. Quite the contrary, your core message and the fundamental points about a money mindset will always stay the same. But now you approach your topic from many different angles and by using a variety of content formats too:
“5 Powerful Steps to Cultivating a Prosperous Money Mindset”
“Breaking Free from Scarcity: How to Shift Your Money Mindset and Attract Wealth”
“Mastering the Money Mindset: Uncover Financial Confidence Secrets”
“Money Mindset Makeover: Transforming Limiting Beliefs”
“From Scrimp to Soar: Developing a Money Mindset that Empowers Your Financial Future”
…
The beauty of focusing on topical authority is that it ignites inspiration for more and more content creation. You will develop many different blog headlines that tackle the same subject over and over again. The more information-rich content with promising headlines can be found on your website or blog, the more you boost your topical authority over time.
Consistency Is King
Aim for a regular posting schedule for your website as well as social media channels. Consistently publish high-quality and relevant content on your specific topic to demonstrate your expertise and keep your target audience engaged. Ensure that all your content is always in line with your main topic, covering various related subtopics to add depth. Incorporate your personal experience and insights to show personality and expertise. Create a structure that is easy to scan, read, and understand so that visitors stay on your website.
To enhance your topical authority, also select and share content from trustworthy external sources, such as industry insights, research reports, polls, case studies, etc. and provide your unique perspectives on these trending topics. You could also collaborate with other authoritative websites and bloggers in your niche by inviting them to guest post or contributing to their blogs. This helps you tap into their audience and build more and more connections within your topical field.
SEO and Other Practical Steps On The Way To Topic Authority
When working on your content, remember to consistently use suitable SEO strategies.
- Conduct deep keyword research and use relevant long-tail keywords, meta descriptions, and H1 and H2 headings. Never forget: Google’s main goal is to give people the most relevant answers to their search queries. So make sure your keywords, headings, and meta tags match what people type into the Google search bar.
- Make all your content visually appealing by adding images, infographics or videos that cover your topic and keywords too. Make sure your posts are a feast for the eyes but don’t go overboard with large image files which will slow down your website. (Something Google will not tolerate.) Get more website tips here.
- Include links from your website to relevant and trusted sources to further enhance the credibility of your content. Google acknowledges who you feel related to.
- Use internal links to interconnect your posts, articles, videos, infographics etc. This will help you forge a topic cluster. When you interlink content pieces around the same subject, your topical authority increases on a purely technical basis too. All this helps to prove to Google that you are an authority on the topic.
- Build a strong network of high-quality backlinks to your website. Focus on acquiring links from reputable websites, industry directories, influencers, and online communities. Creating shareable content increases your natural link-building chances.
- Topical authority also grows when establishing a strong presence on suitable social media platforms. Google shows what you post on social media next to your website content in search results. Share your website’s content, engage with your audience, and participate in relevant discussions. This increases your overall reach and builds a community around your website.
Watch Your Progress
Topical authority takes time to bloom. Keep an eye on your progress through your website analytics to ensure you are using the right keywords, reaching the right people, and striking the right tone. Monitor your data to identify areas for improvement and adapt your strategies accordingly.
Staying up-to-date and adjusting your approach ensures your topical authority long-term. This is why it is important to establish a system for regularly updating old content. Neglecting your existing content while solely focusing on new material can have a negative impact on your rankings and traffic. Assess once or twice a year which content pieces should be retained, refreshed, eliminated, or combined to optimise their topical effectiveness. In other words, never stop updating old posts, repurposing existing content, and tweaking your content marketing strategy.
So, take a deep dive into your website now and ask yourself, “Am I truly showcasing my topical authority?” Then unleash the full potential of your expertise by producing more targeted content and let your website shine brighter than ever before.
