What Is Topical Authority? SEO with Topical Authority for Lasting Rankings

In SEO today, understanding and applying Topical Authority plays an important role in reaching the first position on search engines. But What is Topical Authority? and how to do topical authority SEO for lasting results are still open questions for SEOers. In this article, let MONA Media explore Topical Authority in detail and answer your questions.

What is Topical Authority?

Over SEO, Topical Authority is considered an important factor in optimizing a website for high rankings on search engines. Specifically, Topical Authority is a concept that measures a website's trustworthiness, strength and authority in a particular field . 

Higher Topical Authority is directly proportional to the percentage of a website's pages that reach the top, and it improves the website's traffic. However, unlike Domain Rating (DR) and Domain Authority (DA), Topical Authority focuses on the depth and quality of content about a specific topic. Search engines will prioritize content shared by experts over information provided by "anonymous”. 

How does Topical Authority work?

If the content above has helped you understand what topical authority is , let MONA go deeper into how Topical Authority works in the content below. 

After the launch of the Hummingbird algorithm by Google in 2013, the concept of SEO terms Topical Authority has become more and more popular. Google changed the way it evaluates content in search, developing and pursuing a more effective strategy for delivering relevant information to users.

In the past, Google relied mainly on keywords to understand what users were searching for, but this did not guarantee it understood their context and intent. For example, when you search for "Apple" hoping to find information about the company Apple, Google returned results about the fruit. This was a major shortcoming of Google at the time.

Today, Google has developed and uses Topical Authority to provide more relevant and helpful content to users. It looks at how relevant a page is to the user's query, as well as other factors such as inbound link and domain/website age to evaluate and rank websites.

To strengthen Topical Authority, it is important to focus on keyword research and build links with authority domains. Content must be high quality, original and in-depth on a specific topic, combined with suitable SEO Onpage and keywords. This way, Google will rate you highly, which attracts readers, builds credibility and makes you an "expert" in your field.

How to determine a website's Topical Authority

You now understand what topical authority is, but there is usually no exact formula for determining a website's Topical Authority. Still, there are basic methods you can apply:

• Collect opinions from experts in the field.
• Track the traffic you receive from related keywords.

Many SEOers prefer the second method because it is simple and easy to carry out, and it also gives reliable information. In detail, MONA has put together the basic steps you can follow to work out a website's Topical Authority score from its traffic:

• Step 1: List the keywords the website currently ranks for using SEO analysis tools such as SEMrush, Ahrefs, Ubersuggest…
• Step 2: Download the keyword list and the estimated traffic for each keyword using the tool's filters.
• Step 3: Filter the related keywords and add up the traffic from those keywords.
• Step 4: Calculate the percentage of traffic from these keywords against the website's total traffic. The result gives the website's Topical Authority score for the topic you care about.

Note, however, that figures from SEO tools often differ from reality, and this filtering may miss some synonyms of the topic you are tracking. This is only a rough method and should be used as a reference figure only.

What is a strategy for building brand credibility with Topical Authority?

To succeed in building Topical Authority, you need a strategy with specific steps to attract a large number of potential customers and strengthen your brand's presence online. Below, MONA will guide you through SEO for websites effectively with Topical Authority in the following steps:

Do keyword research by topic

Finding out what users are searching for and which topics interest them is the first step in most SEO projects, and building topical authority is no exception. To be seen as an "expert in the field" by Google, you need to find and write about everything being discussed on that topic.

Note: Google's main goal is to give the right answers to users' search queries as quickly as possible. So instead of thinking about one article focused on a single keyword, write in terms of main and sub topics. 

Finding a good seed keyword is the starting point of your strategy. You can pick seed keywords from Knowledge Graph from Google, but they are hard to pin down. For a faster route, you can use Google Images. Search a broad topic and open the image results, and you will see the keywords Google associates with that topic. 

Once you have the seed keyword, you can expand the list by using Keywords Explorer to find related topic keywords, and from there create rich, engaging content for readers.

In detail, here are some ways to pick a good seed keyword for topic-based keyword research:

• Top-ranking results 

As the name suggests, this is the top-ranking page for the quality and difficulty of the target keyword:

Image from the Ahrefs tool

At a glance, you can see how many keywords this page ranks for. Since this is a top-ranking result, the keywords here are usually the main topics you want to cover, or are somewhat related to them:

Image from the Ahrefs tool

For example, with the keyword "project management" above, you will see the pages ranking at the top for it. When you click in, you will see the "organic keywords" of the top page, and you can collect and select keywords from there.

• Keyword Ideas and questions

Still in the "Overview" section, you will quickly see the top questions asked around the topic. This table helps you better understand what users care about and create fitting content to improve your topical authority.

Image from the Ahrefs tool

• SERPs

Image from the Ahrefs tool

SERPs (search engine results pages) are among the best places to get more SEO data and keyword research. You can see the websites with topical authority that rank at the top for the topic you care about.

• Traffic share by domain

The Traffic share by domain report is also worth a look. It shows the domains that receive large organic traffic based on your seed keyword: 

Image from the Ahrefs tool

Identify your big competitors, then use their domains as a reference to find more keywords. Choosing the domains carefully and using the tool Content Gap will make it easy to discover many more keywords.

You may also want to read:

• Detailed guide to effective keyword research
• Top 12 Google keyword research tools most trusted by SEOers

Write content as topic clusters (Topic Cluster)

Writing in topic clusters (Topic Cluster) brings many SEO benefits. It focuses on one main topic and develops content in depth, which search engines rate more highly (Search Engine). You do not need to put too much priority on optimizing for keywords, because search engines will recognize them automatically. So do not "try too hard" with keyword stuffing, or the website may be treated as spam, which hurts its ranking. The example below is typical of a topic seen as having good traffic potential:

To develop content into topic clusters effectively, you need to:

• Identify the core topic
• Create pages that carry the main content
• Use backlinks to link and build credibility for the website

This builds a rich, varied content system and strengthens your position in your specific area of expertise.

Optimize for user search intent (User Intent)

Each search engine uses different algorithms to understand and respond to user search intent. Thanks to these algorithms, we can understand what users really want from the keywords they type into the search box.

Example:

• When a user enters a keyword containing "as their main", they may be looking for instructions on how to do a specific task, and your job is to provide the highest-quality, most detailed information about it.
• If the keyword contains "know", the user may be looking for useful information to understand a topic, and you need to provide clear, detailed and accurate content on it.
• For keywords containing "track", the user may want information about a specific website or place, and you will need to give the information needed to meet their needs.

By optimizing for user search intent, you can develop quality content that reflects what they want to know and guides users toward specific actions on your website. 

See more: 6 effective ways to do search intent SEO and increase website traffic

Write Authority Content

Usually, you will want a main page for the product or service you offer, or for the topic you want to be the expert on. Start with articles on focused topics, then split them into sub-categories with more specific targets so users can see the close link around the main topic.

Next, you will need supporting articles. Instead of writing about a topic in general, get specific with detailed, in-depth content and, above all, make sure it fits the user's intent. These content pages usually focus on long-tail keywords. To help build topical authority, each piece of content you create needs to be:

• Well written and relevant to the topic of yours and what your audience actually wants to read.
• Apply E-E-A-T (Experience: user experience – Expertise: professional knowledge – Authoritativeness: authority – Trustworthiness: reliability)
• Cover as many topics as possible.
• Match the user's search intent.
• Internal link related topics.
• Keep updating content so it does not become outdated.

Website structure 

Website structure is not only about arranging pages sensibly. It also involves keyword optimization and internal linking. A well-structured website needs to:

• Place the keyword in the title, meta description and article content, which helps search engines capture the information better.
• Create internal links between related articles to give extra information and guide readers to similar content on the site.
• Construction sitemap that hold landing pages and key content, which makes reading smoother and improves the user experience and satisfaction when looking for information. 

This not only raises your website's position on search engines but also builds a loyal community of readers and supports the website's sustainable growth.

Build relevant links to strengthen Topical Authority

When building links to strengthen Topical Authority, make sure your website links to other relevant websites. 

MONA has a typical example: A coffee blog that gets a link from a large coffee website makes a good impression. By contrast, a link from a finance blog is less relevant and so means little for the website. 

The key here is relevance. Specifically, some backlink building strategies include:

• Guest Blogging – Create helpful content for websites related to your topic.
• Skyscraper Technique – Create a leading resource on the topic.
• Ego bait – Mention the key figures in your field and reach out to them.
• HARO – Add "expert quotes" to your articles.

SEO services at MONA – No. 1 SEO service on the market today. With more than 8 years of experience in SEO and a highly qualified team, we are confident we can bring your website to TOP Google effectively and sustainably. When you choose MONA's SEO service, you will get: A detailed check, analysis and assessment of your website's status Overall website optimization Optimization of content and landing pages for the website Optimization of off-site factors Regular project updates and monitoring If you are looking for a SEO company professional, reputable and high-quality, please CONTACT US via hotline 1900 636 648 for a consultation and to receive the full-scope SEO price list quickly and in the most detail!

Why is Topical Authority important for SEO?

Why is Topical Authority so important for SEO? Topical Authority improves search performance by building credibility through high-quality, trustworthy content. This helps a website rank higher in search results.

Specifically, here are the reasons Topical Authority plays an important role in SEO:

• • Stronger brand recognition: Building Topical Authority establishes your business's position in the market and increases brand awareness and trust in customers' minds.
  • Reach the Top quickly and sustainably: Developing Topical Authority helps your website hold top positions on search engines and be less affected by new Google algorithm updates.

• High success rate: When the Topical Authority SEO method is carried out by an experienced SEO specialists team, the success rate is above 90%
• More conversions for the website: Topical Authority helps strengthen organic traffic and keyword rankings, which increases the chance of conversions and revenue.
• Builds trust from users and Google: High-quality, credible content from Topical Authority builds trust with both users and Google, and makes users more likely to return to the website.
• Supports natural link building: Topical Authority attracts many websites to share content naturally, which drives traffic to the website and increases the chance of conversions.
• Lower advertising costs: Although it takes time to implement, Topical Authority delivers lasting results and saves your business advertising costs.

By applying the right Topical Authority SEO strategies and creating quality content, you can build credibility and reputation for your website in specific areas of expertise. Through today's article, MONA hopes you now understand What is Topical Authority, how to do Topical Authority SEO effectively, and how to apply it successfully in your website's marketing strategy.