In an age of highly intuitive search engine technologies, topical relevance has become important for SERP ranking. In the early days of search engines, brands increased their web traffic primarily by boosting content volume. However, the Old search engine indexing technologies could not interpret the type of content available on a page. It did not matter whether the information was reflective of the site’s purpose or its contributors’ topical expertise. So, site builders crammed their pages with content to secure a good ranking. When the search engines comb through the post to determine if it is a good match for a user’s search result. After analysis, they look to see if the page is an authority on the search subject and rank it accordingly.
Factors that impact the Algorithms
Numerous factors impact the algorithm, they are backlinks, keywords, and length of content to communicate to the search engines that a page offers valuable, relevant information. The building blocks of topical relevance are Backlinks, keywords, and volume.
Backlinks
Backlinks are simply links on one site that lead to another. The hyperlinked text directs readers away from your site. Backlinks are like a citation list in an essay. They communicate:
Credibility
When site builders link to other topical relevant pages on the web, they communicate to the algorithm that they’ve done their homework on a topic. A site’s text is connected to other relevant content, convincing an algorithm of its value.
Expertise
In today’s algorithms, expertise is the crown jewel of content marketing. If an algorithm can confirm that a page offers expertise on a subject, it will give that page search priority.
Keywords
Keywords are essential for search ranking. Proper keyword research keeps your content topically relevant in the world of search. When your article is supported by relevant keywords related to search terms, algorithms take notice. Therefore, choosing the right keywords is critical for ranking. If a brand sells grooming tools for pets, they don’t want to rank in searches for hair tools for humans. Hence, brands need to choose keywords that accurately match their target audience’s search intent through proper keyword research.
Content length
The last aspect of the topical relevance triad is content length. An article with more relevant text than another page with the same amount of traffic. More words tell the search engine that there is more information and detail on a subject. More content is better, the volume has to correlate with both keywords and backlinks to truly embody topical relevance for a search term: Topically relevant keywords must appear in a reasonable concentration on a page. Backlinks, anchor text usage, and keywords must be on the same topic to achieve relevance, no matter the concentration or volume of either.
Powerful Tools To Build Topical Relevance
In addition to internal efforts to write topically relevant copy, brands can use powerful online tools to support their strategies. Let’s explore some of those tools in detail.
Google Trends
Google Trends will show how often a keyword search term is used. This metric is called interest over time. After the suggested keyword is entered, Google Trends displays a graph that will show, how search interest changes Over time Based on a specific location.
Market Muse
Market Muse is a resource for any brand looking to step up its overall topical relevance game. When users subscribe to the paid service, they can generate custom content blueprints designed to help create and optimize topically relevant content. Market Muse also helps members come up with the right keywords, and then strategize how best to use them for new content.
This information is specifically targeted to:
- Marketers
- Content creators
- Digital marketing agencies
- Media publishers
SEMRush
SEMRush is one of the most complete and comprehensive software solutions for guiding optimized content. Users can:
- Search keywords
- Compare keywords
- Compare the content of multiple brands
This tool identifies a wide array of keywords and shows their popularity over a specific time period. Users can also check backlinks through a special search bar that examines a link’s authority, origin, and anchor.
Building Topically Relevant Content:
Determine Relevant Topics
Before they can develop topically relevant content, a brand must first choose which topics they want to pursue in their content. A hair products and tools brand, for instance, might choose to create high quality content about Hair styling, Hair care, Hair Tools, and Hair products. A brand can explore topics related to its primary content to attract a wider audience. Moreover, a brand can also highly refine its subject matter to cater to a specific niche.
Choose Keywords
the hair products brand wants to niche down and focus on curly hair. Its keyword profile might include:
- Curly hair styling
- Curly hair products
- Curly hair tools
- Curly hair care
- Curly haircuts
- Curly vs. straight styling
- How to find your curl pattern
- How to prevent frizz in curly hair
To start ranking for these keywords, the brand must start producing content that includes them.
Develop a Linking Strategy
In addition to incorporating keywords, the hair brand must also incorporate backlinks into its copy to improve its chances of ranking highly in searches. This brand might source backlinks from:
- Cosmetology schools
- Hair product regulatory agencies
- Salons and barber shops
These sources are topically relevant and have high authority. They could help the brand rank higher in searches. Importantly, the links and keywords must be incorporated at an appropriate concentration relative to the volume of the content to demonstrate topical relevance to search engine algorithms concerning anchor text and link relevance.
Experimenting with keywords, backlinks, their concentration, and the overall volume of content can help brands achieve a highly effective organic search strategy. Brands can leverage organic search strategies to grow. At Icon Digital Hub, our expert team combines a wealth of technical and marketing knowledge to facilitate rapid and sustainable brand growth. Our partner brands grow 2.4 times faster than the industry average. Our high fidelity tools produce positive results for brands every time.
