Jake Ward

Google's leaked documents confirmed it. They use a secret metric called siteAuthority to determine who to trust. The sites dominating search in 2025 and beyond aren't chasing keywords. They're owning entire topics. 7-step framework for building topical authority: 1. Define your core topic domain Pick a niche you can actually dominate. "Email marketing" is too broad. "Email marketing for SaaS companies" works. Most people fail here by going too wide. 2. Uncover your entire topic universe Map every subtopic and user question. Use Reddit, Quora, People Also Ask, competitor analysis. You need 1,000s of keywords, not 20. 3. Group keywords into content clusters Use SERP-based clustering. If two keywords show 70%+ overlap in top-ranking URLs, they belong on the same page. Pattern-based tools miss this completely. Tool tip: I cluster keywords with Keyword Insights. 4. Plan your topic hubs Create pillar pages for broad topics. Build cluster pages for specific subtopics. Internally link them both ways. This signals comprehensive coverage to Google. 5. Execute content gap analysis Find every cluster where competitors rank but you don't. Prioritise by search volume and difficulty. These are your highest-ROI opportunities. 6. Create content with information gain Add unique value. Original research, firsthand experience, expert analysis. AI 'consensus' content doesn't tend to build authority. 7. Weave strategic internal links Hub-and-spoke model. Every cluster links to its pillar. Every pillar links to all clusters. No page should be orphaned (left on its own). Sites that master this see 57% faster traffic growth than those that don't (Graphite, 2024). The question isn't whether to build topical authority. It's whether you'll build it before your competitors do.