A topic map is the plan: every topic your customers decide on, the four to eight pages each one needs, and a mark on every page saying covered, gap, or already ranking. You build it from the topic list of step 2 and from the search results, with one rule deciding the pages. Once it exists, "what do I write next" stops being a question. You read it off the map.
Cluster and map
In SEO land the unit is usually called a 'topic cluster': the set of pages that together cover one decision. I prefer 'map', because a cluster is one topic and a map is all of them, with the gaps showing. You need the map to see the order. You need the clusters to see when a topic is done.
The rule: keywords with the same search results share a page. Questions with different results get their own page. The consequence is that the page count comes from the results, not from the keyword count. Five keywords can be one page. One question with no volume in the tool can be a page on its own, because a customer asks it at the counter.
This confuses people, but it's simple. Search both keywords and compare the ten domains. More than half the same: one page. Fewer than a third the same: two pages. In between: usually one page, with a section for the second question. Google's own starter guide points the same way: "Group topically similar pages in directories" (SEO starter guide (opens in new tab)).
| Topic | Page (the question) | Cluster: keywords with the same results | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Choosing a machine | Manual, semi or fully automatic: which type? | best espresso machine (4,400), best home espresso machine (2,900), best espresso machine for home (1,900), espresso machine reviews (880), top rated espresso machines (590) | Gap |
| Choosing a machine | Under 500: which ones are worth it? | best espresso machine under 500, budget espresso machine | Covered |
| Choosing a machine | Do you need a separate grinder? | do I need a grinder for espresso, espresso grinder vs machine | Already ranking |
| Choosing a machine | Single or dual boiler? | single vs dual boiler espresso, dual boiler worth it | Gap |
| Maintaining it | How often should you descale? | how often to descale espresso machine, descale espresso machine | Covered |
| Maintaining it | Water leaking from the machine: what to check | espresso machine leaking water, espresso machine leaking from bottom | Gap |
The overlap check, three pairs. "best espresso machine" and "best home espresso machine": almost the same ten results, one page. "best espresso machine" and "how to descale an espresso machine": a different ten, two pages in two topics. "best espresso machine" and "best espresso machine under 500": a few results in common, not most, because the cheaper roundups are different pages on the same sites. That is the in-between case, and it becomes its own page inside the same topic, because the person deciding under 500 wants a different list.
Worked example: deciding the pages from the results
Step by step
- Take one topic from your list and write down its questions. Six to ten, from the counter and from the keyword tool's related questions.
- Search each question and note the ten domains. Private window. A spreadsheet with one column per question is enough.
- Merge the questions whose lists mostly match. Each merged group is one page. You should be left with four to eight.
- Name each page as its question, in the customer's words. "Do you need a separate grinder?" beats "Espresso grinder guide".
- Mark each page. Covered if a page of yours answers it. Already ranking if Search Console shows impressions for its keywords. Gap if neither.
- Repeat for every topic on the list. Ten to twenty topics at four to eight pages each is the whole plan for a year or more, and it fits on one sheet.
- Finish one topic before you start the next. A finished topic is one where a reader can land on any page and reach every other question without leaving your site.
When you need this, and when you don't
You need the map before you write anything new, and you need to look at it every time you plan a week. It is the thing that turns a keyword list into a decision.
You don't need to map topics you are not going to build this year. A Learning topic far from the money gets one line, "later", and no pages until the near topics are finished.
Next
- Next page: Who ranks there, and whether you can win. Every gap on the map gets a second mark: now, or later.
- SitePerfector builds this map for you from up to 1,500 keyword ideas and roughly 40,000 live results, with covered, gap and ranking already marked: Topic coverage map.
- The method behind the map, with the evidence: Topic-first SEO: what it is, why it works.