What Are Topic Clusters and Pillar Pages in SEO? (With Examples)

Wondering why your blogs and website content aren’t ranking well?

We hear this a lot within SEO.

You might be posting daily pieces on your site, fuelled with extensive keyword research, unique industry insights; quite frankly, marvellous images (for those sneaky image SEO placements). Yet, your content isn’t even breaking pages 2 and 3.

While you might think that your website is being outright ghosted by the old Google algorithm overloads, the answer may very well lie in your SEO strategy and the overall structuring of your content.

Case in point: topic clusters.

In this blog, we’re going to cover what topical clusters are, why they are fundamental to your content strategy in the age of zero click searches and AI, as well as providing an example of how you can structure your topic pillar pages and content clusters.

Shall we get into it?

 What Is a Topic Cluster?

A topic cluster is a series of interlinked pages on a website designed to comprehensively inform (and subsequently rank) around a single topic. A topic cluster will feature:

• A pilar page (the authoritative hub around a topic).
• Cluster pages (subtopics content).
• Contextually relevant internal linking (the glue that builds topical authority within the topic cluster).

Essentially, think of it as content tiering.

You have the topic/central theme that is supplemented by the tier 1 pillar page – this will broadly cover the core information around the topic. Then offset from this are a series of longer tailed but relevant cluster content targeting pieces.

This approach boosts your website’s topical authority, improves internal linking, and enhances the user experience. By covering a subject thoroughly and demonstrating depth, topic clusters signal to search engines that your site is a reliable, authoritative source. Over time, this structure can help improve rankings for both broad and long-tail keywords, while making it easier for users to navigate your content.

 

What is Pillar Content?

So, with this in mind, what exactly are pillar pages?

In essence, they are pieces of content on a site that act as the central authoritative piece of information around a topic – they are the cornerstones of the ‘topic cluster’.

Unlike the cluster content which is more targeted toward specific searches and questions within a topic, a pillar page will provide the user with a comprehensive overview of information around a topic – acting as a one stop resource of information.

Pillar content also helps search engines understand the main theme of your site and how supporting content relates to it, which can improve overall rankings and user experience. Think of these as the tier 1 pieces of content within a topic cluster.

What is Cluster Content?

 On the other side of the coin, we have cluster content – this is fundamentally the tier 2 content pieces within a topic cluster that act as the supporting pieces for the pillar page content.

 Cluster content is designed to cover a particular aspect of the main pillar piece in much greater detail, covering an entire blog piece as opposed to one paragraph or a sentence where it may have been mentioned within the pillar piece. This cluster content might be answering a common question, exploring a niche angle, or targeting a long-tail keyword, the choice really does depend on the topic, targeted user and what they are searching.

Fundamental to these pages, each piece of cluster content must link back to the central pillar page and to other relevant cluster pieces. This structure helps search engines understand the relationship between your content and reinforces site topical authority on a subject.

Topic Cluster Examples

But how does this look in practice when planning out your content?

Example 1: Pet Food Ecommerce Business

As an example, let’s say you own a pet food business that caters to all different types of domestic animals and the USP is focused on providing the best quality ingredients for your pet.

You might have different pillars related to the different animals and (instead of a focus on price and value) how to provide them with the best nutrition. For instance,

Pillar 1 – Dog nutrition

Pillar Page (core topic information piece):

• The complete guide to feeding your dog properly

Content Clusters (supporting content):

• Dry vs. wet dog food: pros and cons
• Reading dog food labels: what to look for
• Best dog food for allergies and sensitive stomachs
• How often should you feed your dog?
• Human Foods That Are (and Aren’t) Safe for Dogs

Your other pillars would likely be based around other animals that the business sells food for, with unique content clusters based around key user searches and questions (for instance, if cat nutrition was a pillar, you might write a piece around the myths of milk for cats).

 Example 2: Private School Review Business

Another example might be a business that provides a database of private school reviews to parents of prospective pupils. Given the audience you are targeting as well as the USP of the business you want to make sure that the site pillars cover all stages of the admissions process as well as things like school types (boarding, prep, senior etc) and city/international school content. For instance, you might have a pillar on:

Pillar 1 – Private school admissions

Pillar Page (core topic information piece):

• Everything you should know about private school admissions

Content Clusters:

• Tips for getting into competitive private schools
• How to prepare your child for a private school interview
• What is the ISEB common pre-test?
• What you need to know when applying to senior schools
• Private school admissions for international students

The Importance of Internal Linking

 Fundamental to topic clustering is ensuring your internal linking is up to snuff. All cluster pages around a topic need to be strategically linked together and especially adept at linking back to the pillar page given its position as the core information source of authority around a topic.

All of these pages are strategically linked together, creating a content ecosystem that helps search engines understand the relationship between your content pieces.

Also remember to vary up your internal linking anchor text too with various types such as calls to action, brand mentions and image links.

 The Importance of Structured Content

Before jumping into the benefits of a topical cluster structure, it’s important to understand why and how they have become a core weapon to any SEO content toolkit.

It sounds cliché, but search behaviour has changed a lot in recent years. From the early to late 2010s focus on short keyword based queries, user searches now encompass a more comprehensive approach with longer tail queries (zero click and topical searches) – read our post on the evolution of voice search for more info on this.

Search engines have closely adapted to this, with Google now placing significant ranking value on websites with the highest topical authority around a user search. In addition to this, search engines now look beyond simple keyword to search matching and focus on an all-encompassing semantic search approach.

What this means is that search engines see the topic as a whole with regards to ranking, looking at contextual meaning and intent behind a user search.

Fundamentally, it’s no longer viable to just create content, assign it a target keyword and call it a day. Your content approach needs to be more all-encompassing with a topic based internal linking approach.

Benefits of Content Clusters

 So with this in mind, what exactly are the benefits of topic clustering?

Improved Topical Authority

 We’ve briefly touched on it above, but search engines are now far more sophisticated than ever. They can look beyond exact keyword matching and more at meaning, intent, and context when it comes to user searches.

Topic cluster structuring meets this semantic search by highlighting a domain expertise around a topic (compared to keyword targeting in isolation). What’s more, the strong internal linking within a topic to the relevant pillar pages creates a dense network of content that highlights the semantic link between each piece to the search engine.

In short, internal linking to the pillar page and to other cluster pieces:

• Improves the pillar page standing as a primary information source around a topic.
• Shares the link equity of the pillar page to the different content clusters, improving their overall topical authority and position within the SERP.

What does this mean?

Well Google is more likely to perceive your site as an expert and trustworthy source around a topic (and searches relating to that topic as a whole).

Again, think semantic search and those click searches – by having greater topical authority, you are more likely to rank for those contextually relevant searches, even if they don’t directly align with your targeted keyword.

You are also more likely to rank higher for some of those higher difficulty and greater searched keywords which sounds like a win in our books.

This feeds into the next benefit.

Greater SERP Visibility

 Yep, greater SERP visibility – the bread and butter of our SEO efforts, ranking higher in the SERPs and generating greater quality traffic across the customer funnel.

 When you have a topic cluster on a website that clearly demonstrates topical authority, search engines will recognise the domain as a defining source of information on a subject. This sends strong signals of relevance and expertise to the crawlers, improving your content rankings within the SERP and even enabling you to rank in more unique placements such as AI overviews and featured snippets

What’s more, your pillar and cluster pages ensure you have potential searches across the funnel covered, from specific to longer tail queries. Ultimately, this means you have greater visibility across a topic driving more organic traffic and enhancing your competitive edge in the SERPs.

Let’s not forget also, having strong internal linking within your topic cluster also has the benefit of making your site more discoverable and easier to crawl by the search engine, this makes the process of indexing and ranking far more streamlined.

Enhanced User Experience

Ever find it where you have high bounce rates on category pages, or blog pieces?

It’s likely the case that these pages have very few internal links of minimal relevance. Effective pillar clustering however significantly enhances the user journey across a website by creating a logical and intuitive pathway within the different topics.

Think of it like this – instead of having a selection of different individual articles linking every now and then, users arriving at a pillar page can easily navigate to more specific and relevant sub-topics. This is more likely to increase user retention, allowing people to stay engaged on a site without reaching the ‘end of the road’ and having to perform new searches.

Such an approach is likely to reduce metrics such as bounce rates and send strong positive engagement signals to search engines.

 Streamline Content Strategy

For those who like a bit more structure in their content planning, you’re also in luck!

Instead of brainstorming blog ideas and chasing those soon irrelevant keyword trends 5 minutes before writing, topic cluster structuring forces you to identify broad, overarching themes relevant to your audience and business goals well in advance.

Once you have planned out your core pillar topics you can easily map out the relevant sub topics that you want to write about based on relevancy and what your users are searching (we would also suggest diving into your SEO software stack here and using something like AlsoAsked).

This clear framework not only makes it easier to brainstorm new content ideas and identify gaps in your existing coverage but means you can plan out your content months as opposed to days in advance.

The Future of SEO Content

So, there you have it. Hopefully now you’ll agree that topic clusters, pillar pages and content clusters are kind of a big deal when it comes to SEO and content ranking in the year 2025. Why not give it a try?

 

Incidentally, our team here at Talking Stick Digital do also specialise in SEO and content writing, so if you’re looking to improve your organic standing, why not give us a call?

We offer a free digital audit across your marketing channels, and would love to assist you and your business across any of our digital marketing services. Get in touch for more information.