Modern internet marketing is based on content. The well-known saying "content is king" is truer than ever. However, if you think that when creating website content, the only thing that matters is how much and which keywords you use... change your mindset. In recent years, both internet user behavior and search engine algorithms have changed dramatically. Therefore, if you want to increase your online visibility in the long term, you must adapt. How? Here are the principles you should base your marketing content creation efforts on.
Marketing Content and Search Preferences
How has the way we search the web changed? First and foremost, internet users are entering much more natural queries into search engines than they did just a few years ago. For example, when searching for vacation accommodation, they're increasingly likely to type (or say): "where to stay in town X" rather than "accommodation town X." This seemingly inconspicuous change is revolutionizing all SEO practices. We're slowly starting to treat search engines not like index cards in a library, but as partners who can share information. This approach isn't progressing at a rapid pace—it's more like a crawl. However, it's worth considering a reorientation today. After all, you're creating marketing content for people, not for storage.
Modern and effective content – what does it mean?
Due to changes in search engine algorithms, the way we prepare content for websites must also change . Don't first think of "background" texts, maximally (and unnaturally) saturated with keywords of little substantive value. To achieve the desired results, you need a comprehensive and well-thought-out text structure that creates a topic cluster around key issues relevant to your business.
So instead of thinking about specific keywords:
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- think about topics that are key to your business,
- create understandable, substantive and rich content that will cover these issues (in a broad scope),
- take care of the proper structure of the content, i.e. create a thematic cluster.
What is a thematic cluster?
A thematic cluster is a concept increasingly used in modern online marketing. Simply put, such a cluster (i.e., a set of content located on various subpages) consists of:
- pillar page,
- cluster content, i.e. content related to the texts on the pillar page, expanding and deepening the main topic,
- hyperlinks that connect individual cluster elements.
A properly designed, written, and internally connected topic cluster will translate into significantly better conversions and improve organic traffic. As a result, you'll more easily reach your target audience, which will translate into your company's marketing results.
How to create a thematic cluster?
Before you get started, you need a good plan. Here's how to create one.
Identify key topics for your business
This is the absolute foundation of action. How can you develop these topics? First, consider the key areas for your business. For example, if you run a hotel, these might include accommodation, catering, training room rental, event management, etc. Each of these can be a broad thematic area around which you can build a cluster.
Prepare a pillar page
The pillar page is the heart of your thematic cluster. What should such a page look like? It's worth ensuring:
- contain a large amount of valuable content – it should be even several thousand words, which will allow it to be better indexed by search engine algorithms,
- answered key questions asked to search engines about the base topic – they may appear, for example, in the website's headlines,
- be clear and legible for the user – so that they can quickly find the information they are interested in (e.g. a table of contents and a clear division into sections will be useful),
- search engines have easy access to it – opening the URL cannot, for example, cause the display of additional pop-ups with forms that only lead to the actual content,
- contain CTA links or forms directly on the page – they can be placed in the middle of the content, and not just at the end, as is the case with regular landing pages.
Prepare cluster content
…that is, additional marketing content that will "surround" the pillar page. What kind of texts are we talking about? These are primarily blog posts devoted to topics related to the cluster's main theme. It's important to remember that these texts:
- contained the optimal number of keywords from the so-called long tail (long tail positioning), including synonyms and related terms – the richer the range of vocabulary related to the topic, the better;
- were valuable and interesting articles – so that Internet users would want to share them, e.g. social media,
- are properly linked – both within the pillar page and between each other. Internal linking increases conversions and positively impacts page rank.
Cluster content should be developed gradually – for example, by regularly adding new posts to the company blog.
How to decide what is worth writing about?
In addition to independently assessing whether a given topic is relevant to your specific business, pay attention to statistical data related to how your content is received. The most important factors are:
- domain authority – the competitiveness of the entire domain, which is determined based on over 100 different factors on a scale of 0 to 100. The closer to 100, the better;
- Monthly Search Volume – this is information about how many queries search engines received about the content you placed in your thematic cluster,
- content relevance – how well the content you place in the thematic cluster is related to the main topic,
- similarity of key topics – texts in a cluster should be related to each other, but the keywords used and the issues discussed on the side pages (cluster content) should expand the scope of the pillar page and not be 100% identical to them.
Keeping track of these parameters will allow you to change and optimize the content in the thematic cluster step by step – so that it becomes more attractive to the audience and search engines.
Marketing content in a thematic cluster – what to pay attention to?
When thinking about your website content strategy , keep the following tips in mind.
- Number of subtopics in clusters
A topic cluster can consist of hundreds, even thousands, of blog posts and other content related to the pillar page. It's worth grouping them into subtopics, chosen similarly to the pillar page topic itself. However, there shouldn't be too few or too many of them. The optimal number of subtopics is between eight and 22.
Remember that linking should also take into account the connections between subtopics and the main cluster topic.
It's also worth including links to external sources of information in your content. From a user's perspective, this increases the credibility of the content. Search engines also respond well to them. But be careful! Link primarily to trusted, credible websites—those deemed relevant by the algorithms.
Content that's too short is perceived by search engine algorithms as low-value. Therefore, ensure that each page included in the cluster contains reasonably long, yet substantive content . This will increase the overall value of the website and increase the chances of a high page rank.
By remembering these key principles, you will see long-term results.
Don't forget to monitor the effects of optimizing your marketing content
The effects of content optimization may take some time to show, but in the long run, they will be clearly visible. You'll be able to see this with the right software to monitor your results. It's crucial to analyze individual topic clusters separately and make specific changes as needed.
Want to know more? Check out what Hubspot – the world's largest marketing automation platform – has to offer!
Summary
The above article covers the following topics:
- changing the model of searching for information on the Internet and its impact on content creation strategy and SEO optimization,
- the importance of content quality and structure and the use of thematic clusters in SEO,
- building a thematic cluster and its structure,
- strategies for creating thematic clusters, taking into account content structure planning, optimization and results monitoring in the context of SEO,
- guidelines for creating content in thematic clusters,
- assessment of the effectiveness of content marketing activities and analysis of the results of individual thematic clusters.
