5-Steps to Free Traffic with Powerful Keyword Clusters
Many marketers assume that SEO is simply out of reach for them. After all, how is their new website going to outcompete more established sites to rank at the top of the search engines?
Performing your own search on Google doesn’t help, either. When you type in your best keyword and there are a million results, it’s easy to get discouraged and figure that SEO is for the ‘big guys’ and not for you.
But there are ways for newer, small websites to rank at the top of the SERPS.
One is to focus on long tail keywords that don’t have a lot of competition. You search for your long tail keyword, notice that the top results aren’t focused on that keyword or they simply aren’t comprehensive enough, and you create a post that thoroughly covers the topic better than anything else out there.
Another way to rank your new website on the first page of the SERPS and perhaps the only way to rank for prime keywords that seem impossible to get, is to create content on keyword clusters.
Your goal in this case is to create a catalog of articles that form a highly organized hub of authoritative content, thus becoming a top-visited resource in your niche. You’re creating content that will answer your target audience’s questions, giving them everything they need to know when they do a search.
Here’s how to create powerful keyword clusters:
1: Identify Your Pillar Keywords
Start by identifying 3-5 broad topics that are central to your business or website. These topics should reflect the main areas of expertise or services that you offer.
2: Create Cluster Topics
Once you have identified your pillar topics, create a list of subtopics that are related to each of your pillars. Each subtopic should be a specific area of focus that can be explored in greater depth.
For example, if your pillar topic is “Digital Marketing,” your cluster topics might include “SEO,” “Content Marketing,” “Social Media Marketing,” and “Paid Advertising.”
3: Conduct Keyword Research
Conduct keyword research to identify the specific keywords and phrases that people are using to search for information related to each of your cluster topics.
You can use a keyword research tool such as Google’s Keyword Planner or SEMRush to identify the most relevant and high-volume keywords for each cluster topic.
Break down each of your keywords in Step 2 to identify specific questions being asked.
For example, under Social Media Marketing, specific questions might be, “How do I market my product using Instagram?” or “How do I build my list using Facebook?”
4: Create Content
Create content that is focused on each of your cluster topics. Each piece of content should be optimized for the specific keywords and phrases associated with that topic. Use the keywords in the title, meta description, headers, and throughout the content.
And create content for your pillar keywords as well. These articles are going to be more general and all-encompassing and will refer to the cluster topic articles for more information.
5: Interlink Your Content
Finally, link your cluster content to your pillar content and vice versa. This helps to create a clear hierarchy of information and ensures that all of your content is easily accessible to both users and search engines. Interlinking your content also helps to establish your authority and credibility on the topic.
By following these steps, you can create a powerful keyword cluster that can help to improve your SEO and attract more organic traffic to your website.
