7 SIMPLE WAYS TO BUILD TOPIC CLUSTERS FOR SEO – SARMLife

While Google algorithms constantly change, some pages will always maintain a high ranking. 

Why? 

Search engines prioritize content that delivers the most valuable and relevant results to users’ queries.

But what makes content relevant enough to be seen and loved by search engines?

It is not about targeting keywords or writing quality content alone. It’s about building topic clusters for SEO. 

Google introduced the concept of topic authority in 2023, and since then, it has become a critical part of SEO. SEO has shifted from a purely keyword-based approach to a more user-focused discipline.

Building topic authority is the best trick, especially since one of the biggest struggles of blogging is generating fresh content ideas. The best way to tackle this is to organize your content into topic clusters for SEO. 

A solid topic cluster strategy generates endless ideas and creates a logical site structure, improving user experience and search engine visibility. 

This article will share a few tips on how you can build cluster topics.

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What is a Topic Cluster in SEO?

A topic cluster in SEO is a group of pages on your website that covers a specific topic in great detail.

It consists of one or two pillar pages (detailed guide) linking to a set of related subpages (the more specific cluster pages), which, in turn, link back to the pillar page(s).

Have you ever wondered why every link you click in a blog post leads you to another page on the same site? It feels like the site has covered everything related to that specific topic.

That’s topic clustering at work!

Topic clustering is crucial in helping search engines understand your website’s structure. Organizing your content this way makes it easier for search engines like Google to recognize your site’s authority on a specific subject. This increases your chances of ranking high in the SERPs for various keywords relevant to that topic.

For example, imagine you run a website about healthy eating. Your pillar page could be a complete guide on “Healthy Eating Tips for Beginners.” From there, the page can link to several more specific cluster pages, such as:

• Top 10 Superfoods to Include in Your Diet
• How to Create a Balanced Meal Plan
• The Benefits of Organic Eating
• The Importance of Fiber in Your Diet
• Meal Prep for Beginners

Each cluster page will link back to the pillar page, improving the content hierarchy and making it easier for search engines to crawl and index your related content.

What is the difference between topic clusters and pillar pages?

A pillar page is a single piece of content, while topic cluster is the entire interconnected blog posts that are built around that pillar page.

So, where a pillar page offers a general overview of the topic in view, the topic clusters (supporting blog posts) cover specific sections of the pillar page in great detail.

Here’s a real life example of this:

SARMLife has a pillar page on ‘On-Page SEO Guide‘ and we have topic clusters that cover specific aspects of local SEO including:

• 7 PRACTICAL TIPS ON HOW TO WRITE SEO HEADLINES IN 2025 
• 6 Common Google SERP Features & Best Ways to Optimize for them 
• URL OPTIMIZATION | 11 BEST PRACTICES FOR AN SEO-FRIENDLY URL 
• INTERNAL LINKING FOR SEO – 9 BEST PRACTICES AND TIPS
• HOW TO WRITE META DESCRIPTIONS FOR SEO + FREE TEMPLATES
• HOW TO DO IMAGE SEO OPTIMIZATION | THE COMPLETE GUIDE
• 9 Top Content Writing Tools for SEO every blogger needs
• 14 Powerful Tips on How to Write a Blog post that engages

It is important to also note that you cannot have one without the other.

A pillar page cannot work properly without a topic cluster, and a topic cluster must be anchored by a pillar page.

Topic Clusters vs. Pillar Pages Comparison Table

S/N	TOPIC CLUSTERS	PILLAR PAGES
1.	A group of interlinked pages	One central page
2.	Deep, specific coverage	High-level overview
3.	Targets long-tail, specific keywords	Targets a broad keyword
4.	Links back to the pillar page	Link out to cluster pages
5.	Builds topical authority	Provides context
6.	Helps you win visibility in AI overviews	Helps Google understand the topic
7.	Needs a pillar page	Can rank moderately alone

Why Topic Clusters Matter for SEO in 2026

Photo by gpoint studio on Freepik

Topic clusters are a secret weapon for SEO success. By developing content around a core topic, supporting cluster pages, and using internal linking, websites can increase their topical authority and provide a better user experience.

Topic clusters should be your go-to strategy for grouping blog posts, organizing product or service pages, or structuring knowledge base content.

Importance of topic clusters for SEO

Using topic clusters is an effective way of structuring your website in an SEO-optimized way. Grouping and organizing topics and subtopics helps to signal your site’s credibility, authority, and expertise in a particular niche to the search engine. 

Over time, this approach helps you gain traffic for long-tail keywords with lower search volume.

Additionally, by using descriptive anchor text to connect the pillar pages to the cluster pages, you’re strengthening your website’s internal linking structure, which can enhance indexing and crawlability.

Importance of topic cluster for Google

Topic clusters also help Google understand your site. The more subtopics or cluster pages on your website, the more supportive content Google sees, primarily through internal linking. This helps distribute page rank and improve positions in the SERPs.

Using topic clusters also improves Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (E-E-A-T), a ranking signal to search engines like Google. It shows Google your site is credible and reliable.

By pairing topic clusters with off-page SEO tactics like backlink development, you can maximize the effectiveness of this strategy. As more external sites link to your content, Google will rank your site higher, granting you even more authority.

Importance of topic cluster for users

To users, a pillar page is like a one-stop shop for all answers related to a particular topic. Implementing topic clusters can reduce bounce rates and increase user engagement, making your site more valuable.

Users visiting your website will receive more than the answers they initially sought. They’ll be directed by your clusters to more relevant content, helping them find answers to questions they hadn’t even thought of yet. This level of comprehensive content makes you an authority and a trusted leader, especially when users are ready to take action.

How to Build Topic Clusters for SEO

Building topic clusters for SEO involves three critical factors: pillar pages, cluster pages, and internal linking. 

The step-by-step process of creating a topic cluster includes the following:

1. Select the core topic.

The first step in creating topic clusters for SEO is to choose the core topic. Although this seems like the easiest part of topic clustering, don’t be deceived. 

Choosing a high-level topic requires extensive brainstorming. This core topic will shape the pillar page and must be broad enough to cover many subtopics.

To choose the right topic, ask the following questions:

• What is the purpose of the website?
• What type of content do I regularly publish?
• Are these topics relevant to what I do?
• Can I create several pieces of content from this topic?
• Do these topics serve a specific user intent?

2. Conduct keyword research.

Photo by Upkylyak on Freepik

After choosing the topic, the next step is to conduct a keyword research analysis. The keywords help structure the topic clusters. Find all the possible keywords you can rank for in a core topic.

To get the best results, follow these steps:

a. Find core (short-tail) keywords: 

Start with broad, high-traffic keywords related to the topic. 

To get this, enter the core topic into the Google search bar and check for:

• Google auto-suggestions 
• The People Also Ask section, and
• Related searches at the bottom of the page

This is to get keywords or phrases that are ranking for that topic.

b. Analyze keyword:

Use tools like Ubersuggest, Semrush, and Google Keyword Planner to analyze the keyword’s search volume, keyword intent, and difficulty.

c. Analyze search intent:

Ensure your search intent aligns with what users want to see when they search for the keyword. 

Are they looking for informational, navigational, transactional, or commercial content? 

Getting search intent right will ensure users take action after reading your content.

d. Select supporting keyword:

After choosing the main keyword, use tools like Ubersuggest, Semrush, Google Keyword Planner, or AnswerThePublic to find lower-competition, long-tail keywords that will serve as subtopics.

In this case, target medium- or long-tail keywords with lower search volume and SEO difficulty.

By structuring your keyword research this way, you ensure your topic cluster covers all necessary angles while improving SEO rankings.

3. Create pillar pages.

Once you’ve compiled a list of potential keywords, the next step is to determine the focus of your pillar page and the number of cluster pages that will support it. Pillar pages are comprehensive, well-researched, detailed, in-depth pages that broadly cover the main topic and serve as the foundation for implementing the topic cluster strategy.

The number of cluster pages you create per pillar page depends on the breadth of your pillar page content. You can aim for anywhere between 8 and 10 cluster pages.

Then, proceed to create your pillar page.

To create a well-optimized pillar page, you must ensure the following:

• It covers the topic in detail and does not go too deep into the subtopics for the cluster pages.
• It covers all aspects of the topic while strategically linking to cluster pages using descriptive anchor texts to signal its importance to search engines.
• It is easily readable by users and scannable by search engines. Do this using a clear and logical structure of header tags (H1, H2, H3).
• It contains strong calls to action (CTAs) to encourage engagement, whether by encouraging users to read another post or leading them to cluster pages.

For instance:

If your core keyword is “Healthy Eating,” a pillar page could be titled: 

The Ultimate Guide to Healthy Eating: A Beginner’s Approach

This page briefly introduces concepts such as meal planning, food groups, portion control, and dietary choices. It links to cluster pages that discuss each subtopic in detail.

Photo by MART  PRODUCTION on Pexels

4. Develop cluster content.

The concept of topic clustering can be very tedious, considering the number of pages you have to write.

However, while you can have as many cluster pages as your pillar page can take, ensure that each is of high quality. It is better to have fewer well-researched, authoritative pages than hundreds that are poorly researched.

Once you have the topic clusters, assign the keywords you’ve identified to each cluster. The content of each cluster page should address a specific subtopic of the pillar page, improve website structure, and help search engines understand topic relationships.

An example of a cluster page for the pillar page titled “The Ultimate Guide to Healthy Eating: A Beginner’s Approach” would be:

• The Best Vegetables for a Balanced Diet
• How to Create a Balanced Meal Plan
• Whole Grains vs. Refined Carbs: Which Is Healthier?
• Portion Control: How Much Should You Really Eat?

Each cluster page would link to the pillar page, strengthening the site’s authority on the topic.

5. Optimize existing content for cluster pages.

Good news! You don’t always have to write new content for your cluster pages. You might have content on your website that can serve as cluster pages; all you have to do is optimize them using these steps:

• Add the newly researched keyword to the title, meta description, subheadings, image alt tags, and URL.
• Make the content more detailed and readable.
• Review the internal links and add new ones that link to your pillar page.
• Use relevant images and CTA.

Tip 1: During your research, analyze competitors to identify content gaps. Use these insights to create additional cluster pages that will provide more value to your users.

Tip 2: To make the pillar and cluster pages more engaging, ensure they contain high-quality images, infographics, videos, etc.

6. Implement internal linking.

Internal linking is the engine that build topic clusters for SEO. A topic cluster cannot succeed without strong internal linking. 

Importance of internal linking for topic clustering

• It helps Google understands the content hierarchy because when multiple cluster pages link back to one pillar page, Google understands that “This page is the main authority on this topic.”
• Users are able to navigate easily from broad topics to more specific ones increasing user experience.
• It merges ranking signals, so instead of competing with each other, your pages work together.
• It also helps Google find and crawl new cluster pages faster and understand the relationship between your pages.
• It strengthens semantic relevance which are important for AI Overviews.

Here are some best practices for internal linking for SEO.

How to improve topic clusters with internal links

• Assign one clear pillar page per topic cluster
• Link every cluster page back to the pillar
• Link the pillar page to all cluster pages
• Use consistent, descriptive anchor text
• Link ONLY topically related cluster pages to each other
• Place internal links early in the content
• Ensure no cluster page is orphaned
• Fix broken or redirected internal links
• Link weaker pages to high authority pages
• Maintain a clear link hierarchy
• Update internal links when new content is published

7. Optimize and update topic clusters. 

SEO is never a one-time task; you have to be ready to update your pillar and cluster pages regularly. 

Here are a few tips:

• Always track your website performance using tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console.
• As algorithms change, content also becomes outdated. To update outdated content, invest in fresh SEO statistics and new research.
• You should add new cluster pages over time.
• Ensure your content still aligns with what users are searching for. Continually optimize for search intent.
• Research ranking pages to improve engagement metrics.

Pro Tip: Revisit pillar and cluster pages every 3-6 months to update outdated content and improve internal linking.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels

FAQs on Topic Clusters

Final Thoughts

Topic clusters are a necessary addition to your content strategy in 2026 if you are aiming to increase your visibility across search engines, answer engines and generative engines.

Building topic clusters for SEO can help establish topical authority, drive traffic, and, most importantly, improve the user experience.

The best part is that you can follow these steps to make your content irresistible to search engines and users. With topic clusters, you can build a powerful, authoritative website that ranks higher and attracts engaged readers.

Don’t miss out.

Have you ever implemented the topic cluster strategy? Share your results with us in the comments.

READ MORE: THE ULTIMATE PRO GUIDE TO SEO CONTENT WRITING