How to cluster content to enhance your relevance

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How to cluster content to enhance your relevance Pablo López Senior SEO Consultant @ DEPT® speakerdeck.com/pablolopezm @pablolopezm

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Senior SEO Consultant 9 years working in SEO Spanish Hello! I’m Pablo #brightonSEO @pablolopezm | deptagency.com

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Do you remember how you used to search on Google? #brightonSEO @pablolopezm | deptagency.com

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#brightonSEO @pablolopezm | deptagency.com Before Basic search queries to ﬁnd answers to our questions

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#brightonSEO @pablolopezm | deptagency.com Now We ask more complex questions, and we expect an accurate answer

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#brightonSEO @pablolopezm | deptagency.com Now Or we directly go to TikTok Source: TikTok Source: Nieman Lab

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We (users) have drastically changed the way we search #brightonSEO @pablolopezm | deptagency.com

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Google have changed their algorithm to favor topic-based content #brightonSEO @pablolopezm | deptagency.com

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Search engines are now smart enough to recognise the intent behind our search queries #brightonSEO @pablolopezm | deptagency.com

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#brightonSEO @pablolopezm | deptagency.com They’ve evolved to the point where they can: Compare it against previous searches Understand semantic context Deliver highly accurate web results

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#brightonSEO @pablolopezm | deptagency.com The SERPs evolution in the last 5 years is a strong evidence of that SERPs AI Overviews Faceted search Instant answers Knowledge graph Videos Organic results Paid results Product carousels

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#brightonSEO @pablolopezm | deptagency.com AI Overviews Featured Snippets People Also Ask Knowledge panel

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How do we optimise for that? #brightonSEO @pablolopezm | deptagency.com

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By clustering our content #brightonSEO @pablolopezm | deptagency.com

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What is a content cluster? #brightonSEO @pablolopezm | deptagency.com

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“A content cluster is a group of interconnected pages, organised around a central topic.” #brightonSEO @pablolopezm | deptagency.com

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one pillar page & multiple subpages #brightonSEO @pablolopezm | deptagency.com Pillar page Subpages Each cluster includes:

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The goal of clustering content is to create a more logical site architecture as well as eﬀectively boost the site's authority #brightonSEO @pablolopezm | deptagency.com

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#brightonSEO @pablolopezm | deptagency.com Source: TUI PILLAR PAGE SUBTOPICS

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How do you cluster content eﬀectively? #brightonSEO @pablolopezm | deptagency.com

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Deﬁne the content hub and your clusters #brightonSEO @pablolopezm | deptagency.com STEP 1

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#brightonSEO @pablolopezm | deptagency.com The golden rule: you can’t talk about everything Sustainability Design EV cars Batteries Fashion Solar panels

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#brightonSEO @pablolopezm | deptagency.com Choose your content clusters wisely BRAND Revenue Streams Business Units Product/Service Lines USERS User Journey Interests Search Intent KEYWORD POTENTIAL Search Performance Longevity Competition

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#brightonSEO @pablolopezm | deptagency.com Before starting to cluster content, we need to deﬁne the content hub structure CONTENT HUB CLUSTER CLUSTER CLUSTER CLUSTER PILLAR PAGE PILLAR PAGE PILLAR PAGE PILLAR PAGE SUBTOPIC SUBTOPIC SUBTOPIC SUBTOPIC SUBTOPIC SUBTOPIC SUBTOPIC SUBTOPIC

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#brightonSEO @pablolopezm | deptagency.com PILLAR PAGE PILLAR PAGE PILLAR PAGE PILLAR PAGE SUBTOPIC SUBTOPIC SUBTOPIC SUBTOPIC CLUSTER

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Map out your live content against the selected clusters #brightonSEO @pablolopezm | deptagency.com STEP 2

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#brightonSEO @pablolopezm | deptagency.com WHY? Prevents from cannibalising existing content with new subtopics Allows you to identify thin content that can be consolidated Highlights content gaps

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#brightonSEO @pablolopezm | deptagency.com The best way to analyse live content is through a content audit

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#brightonSEO @pablolopezm | deptagency.com

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#brightonSEO @pablolopezm | deptagency.com

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Keyword research and seeding #brightonSEO @pablolopezm | deptagency.com STEP 3

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#brightonSEO @pablolopezm | deptagency.com #1 Keyword seeding: business pillars

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#brightonSEO @pablolopezm | deptagency.com #1 Keyword seeding: GSC

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#brightonSEO @pablolopezm | deptagency.com #1 Keyword seeding: competitors

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#brightonSEO @pablolopezm | deptagency.com Source: SEMrush #2 Creating the keyword database (I)

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#brightonSEO @pablolopezm | deptagency.com Source: Google Keyword Planner #2 Creating the keyword database (II)

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#brightonSEO @pablolopezm | deptagency.com #2 Creating the keyword database (III) Source: AlsoAsked

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#brightonSEO @pablolopezm | deptagency.com We then extract the search volumes using the SEMrush API

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#brightonSEO @pablolopezm | deptagency.com And your database should look like this

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Map the keywords #brightonSEO @pablolopezm | deptagency.com STEP 4

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#brightonSEO @pablolopezm | deptagency.com Finally we map the keywords against the new and existing topics

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#brightonSEO @pablolopezm | deptagency.com And we then name the pillar pages and group the subtopics PILLAR PAGES SUBTOPICS

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So, what have we learned today? #brightonSEO @pablolopezm | deptagency.com

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#brightonSEO @pablolopezm | deptagency.com Consider your current content Build clusters based on your users Data is purely based on keywords Clustering content is the most scalable way to build relevance

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#brightonSEO @pablolopezm | deptagency.com Pablo López Do you want to connect?