In part one of this two-part blog series, we went over some basics on the realm of topical authority in SEO and digital marketing. Referring to how much authority and reputation your brand has built up within your field, topical authority is a valuable metric that helps with everything from improved SEO rankings to increased customer interest.
At Be Locally, we're happy to assist with a wide range of your possible SEO needs, including authoritative content and other solutions that will help in this area. In today's part two of our series, we'll look at some simple tactics for how to build a strong topical authority on any website or page you're creating for your brand.
One of the single most important aspects of building topical authority is making sure you're thoroughly researching the topic at hand. Not only does this help you to avoid any potential issues later on down the road, but it also ensures that your brand will be perceived as an expert or leader in the field.
To get started, try to look up other content that's been written on the topic. See what others are saying, and find any potential holes in the current conversation that your brand could fill. Additionally, be sure to use only the most reliable sources for your research. This will help to further build up your brand's reputation as a go-to source of information.
From a technical standpoint, one of the best ways to build topical authority is to focus on creating what's known as a content "cluster." This essentially means creating a group of content pieces (usually blog posts) that all revolve around a similar topic or keyword.
To do this, start by identifying what's known as a "pillar" piece of content. This will be a longer, more in-depth article that thoroughly covers the chosen topic. Once you have this piece, you can then create a number of "cluster" articles that link back to the pillar. These cluster pieces can be shorter and more focused, but should still provide valuable information to your readers -- especially if you "map" them all correctly.
Mapping is the process of planning out all your content pieces in advance, and making sure that they all link back to each other in a logical way. This can be done manually with a simple spreadsheet, or you can use one of the many mapping tools that are available online.
Another great way to build topical authority is to make sure you're sharing your content in all the right places. This involves more than just posting it on your own website or blog, but also making sure it gets in front of the right people on social media, forums and other websites.
To do this effectively, you'll need to first research where your target audience is spending their time online. Once you know this, you can then focus on sharing your content in those specific places. Additionally, be sure to always include a link back to your website or blog whenever possible. This will help to increase traffic to your site, and also make it more likely that people will see your brand as an authority.
For more on this topic, or to learn about any of our SEO, PPC or other digital marketing services, speak to our team at Be Locally today.