Create topics for SEO strategy

Using HubSpot's SEO tools, you can research and organize topics and subtopic keywords based on your company's areas of expertise. These topics serve as the foundation for all the content you create on your blog and website. Creating content that's organized by topic and subtopic helps search engines understand what your website is about. In the long term, this strategy improves how your content performs in search results.

Please note: creating topic clusters in HubSpot does not affect your website's SEO directly.

Understand topic-based content

Creating content based on clearly defined topics and subtopics helps your website get indexed more accurately by search engines, like Google. Search engines analyze keyword phrases in your content, title, meta description, hyperlinks, and more. Learn more about how SEO works, and what SEO tools you can access in your HubSpot account.

To define the structure of your online content, identify a few main topics summarizing your company's areas of expertise. To define how your content is organized, each topic will include the following:

• One main pillar page on your website for the main topic. 
• Links on the pillar page to other pages or blog posts written about specific subtopic keywords. The subtopic keyword content should also include a link back to your pillar page.
• These internal links between your pages help search engines understand what your website is about, and the importance of each unique page. 

Your topic's pillar page and subtopic content can be HubSpot-hosted pages or blog posts, or URLs of pages hosted outside of HubSpot. 

Add the first topic

When you're ready to create your first topic, you can do so in the SEO tool. Learn more about choosing a relevant topic. 

1. In your HubSpot account, navigate to Content > SEO.
2. Click the Topic Clusters tab.
3. Click Research Topics.
4.  In the Enter a topic field, enter a topic.
5. In the bottom right, click Done.

Create a new topic

For topics created after your first one, you'll be able to view the popularity of the topic phrase and how difficult it'll be to rank for this phrase in Google search results before completing topic creation:

1. In your HubSpot account, navigate to Content > SEO.
2. Click the Topic Clusters tab.
3. In the top right, click Add a topic.
4. Enter a topic in the field, then click Add to analyze SEO metrics for the topic.

• Review the topic's Monthly Search Volume and Difficulty validation metrics, which you can compare with the metrics for Recommended Topics.
• To view topic validation data for a different location, click the Country dropdown menu in the top left and select a country.

5. After researching data for your topic, select the Topic. Then in the bottom left, click Create Topic.

Attach topic content 

Once your topic has been created, you can attach your pillar page, a comprehensive resource page that covers the topic in depth. This page links to high-quality content for supporting subtopic keywords.

1. In your HubSpot account, navigate to Content > SEO.
2. Click the Topic Clusters tab.
3. Click the name of a topic.
4. In the center of the topic, click Attach content URL. 

5. In the right panel, enter text in the Search field for an existing page or post (e.g., URL or name). Then click the content in the results to attach it.
6. To link to external content, click Add external URL. Then enter the URL of your external page or blog post, and click Save. The SEO tool will validate the external link in about 20 seconds.
7. To create a new page or blog post for your topic's pillar page, click Create a post.
   • In the dialog box, click the Content type dropdown menu to select the content type (e.g., Blog Post, Landing Page, or Site Page).
   • Enter a title for your new page or post, then click Create to attach the new drafted content.
8. To attach existing content that contains phrases related to your topic, click a piece of content in the Suggested Content section, and then click Save.

Add subtopic keywords and supporting content

After you've attached a pillar page to your topic, you'll attach supporting content based on subtopic keywords. Subtopic content should include a link back to the topic's pillar page to establish your website's authority for your topic and subtopic keywords in search engine results.

1. In your HubSpot account, navigate to Content > SEO.
2. Click the Topic Clusters tab.
3. Click the name of a topic.
4. In the top right, click Add subtopic keyword.
5. In the right panel, enter a subtopic keyword, then click Research subtopic keywords. You'll see metrics for the average monthly searches for the subtopic keyword, along with a listing of similar subtopic keywords.
6. Select your subtopic keyword, then click Save.
7. After the subtopic keyword is created, you'll be directed to attach the subtopic content. Learn more about attaching content to a topic or subtopic.

Please note: you can only attach one piece of content to each topic or subtopic keyword. If you have two pages that cover to the same subtopic keywords, they'll both rank lower in search results. For best results, combine similar content or define a unique subtopic keyword to write about for one of your duplicate pages.

Manage subtopic keyword content

1. In your HubSpot account, navigate to Content > SEO.
2. Click the Topic Clusters tab.
3. Click the name of a topic.
4. To edit the attached subtopic content, click a subtopic keyword.
   • In the right panel, in the Subtopic content section, click Remove Attached Content.
   • Select a new piece of content to attach.
   • When finished, click the X icon to close the right panel.
5. To delete a subtopic keyword, click a subtopic keyword, then click Delete Topic in the right panel.