Topic modeling and topic clusters go hand in hand when it comes to creating useful content. It’s like peanut butter and jelly, baking and cakes. You have the photo!<\/p>\n
Here’s a recipe to make it work.<\/p>\n
Use topic modeling and topic clusters, not just keyword research<\/h2>\n
Thematic modeling<\/a> it’s how machine learning detects and understands topics and related topics across multiple pieces of information. This can help you understand which pieces you should create as part of a theme cluster.<\/p>\n Thematic clusters<\/a> are the actual groups of linked related pieces of content that have a similar theme.<\/p>\n As Google’s algorithm continues to evolve, it’s clear that it favors topic clusters because they better match the user’s full search journey and user intent.<\/p>\n When driving keyword research<\/a> you’ll usually end up with hundreds of different terms and still not have a clear understanding of what it takes to adequately cover a topic. It’s a case where more is not always better.<\/p>\n With topic modeling, you have a clearer roadmap to more successful content.<\/p>\n Topic modeling reveals how experts write about that topic, which directly reflects how readers typically navigate a topic.<\/p>\n Here is a short example with the keyword phrase and subject “how to grow tomatoes”. As you can see, comparing keyword research to topic research is like comparing apples and oranges. They are fundamentally different approaches.<\/p>\n Ideally, ours MarketMuse theme model<\/a> recommends 50 semantically related topics, but even the small excerpt below provides critical insight into the coverage needed.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Image by MarketMuse, October 2022<\/p>\n In SEO, a thematic model<\/a> fulfills a double function: prescriptive and descriptive.<\/p>\n prescriptive<\/strong> it means that it indicates which topics should be covered. Google loves this.<\/p>\n In the case of MarketMuse, ours patented theme modeling technology<\/a> scans thousands of pages to help you discover these topics faster.<\/p>\n Try searching for your first theme template, now.<\/a><\/p>\n Topic modeling serves as a map for producing complete content.<\/p>\n In the case of “how to grow tomatoes”, following the map reveals:<\/p>\n There is one particular disease (blossom end rot) that many tomato growers have to deal with. At the very least, you should acknowledge this in your article, but it would be better to offer a solution. There is a pest (tomato worm) that needs to be addressed as well as the disease. The soil is an important factor for the success of tomato cultivation. You will need to consider growing different varieties (determinate and indeterminate). Tomato cages are a useful and popular accessory for growing tomatoes. You want to talk about buying tomato transplants as well as growing them from seed.<\/p>\n Plus many other related topics that help make the article more relevant.<\/p>\n Screenshot from MarketMuse Research, October 2022.<\/p>\n Original content isn’t simply rehashing what others have said.<\/p>\n Original content goes beyond what’s already out there, adding value to the conversation.<\/p>\n You can achieve this quite easily with the help of a robust topic model, based on the analysis of various data sets.<\/p>\n Now that you have yours first theme model built<\/a>you have seen that our optimization screen ensures that we cover all related topics, just like an expert.<\/p>\n You will then need to map the top 20 SERP results to your topic model to determine deficiencies.<\/p>\n Run models on each of your content URLs to understand your models and topic groups, then determine where your content gaps are.<\/p>\n The easy way:<\/strong> Do this step automatically with MarketMuse<\/a>. Just visit the ‘Compete’ tab and create content around the red squares.<\/p>\n Screenshot from MarketMuse Compete, October 2022<\/p>\n Here, you’ll see a heatmap with the top 20 results along with their URL and content score. Next to it are all related topics in order of relevance.<\/p>\n The colored squares show how well each URL covers the topic, based on the number of mentions.<\/p>\n Red squares show that these topics are mentioned zero times by competitors; these are the ones who have to build content.<\/p>\n You now have a verified theme model to create content.<\/strong><\/p>\n Still not convinced of the need to go further to differentiate your content?<\/p>\n Note that Google has a patent (US20200349181) that can analyze any document to determine if it provides additional information. According to the patent filing history, they have been with this type of algorithm for quite some time.<\/p>\n So far, we’ve used topic modeling to uncover high-quality, comprehensive individual leads and fill gaps in your industry.<\/p>\n Now, let’s see how it can help develop topic groups.<\/p>\n Let’s go back to the “how to grow tomatoes” theme model.<\/p>\n How do we create a content cluster, a section or an entire site on the same topic?<\/p>\n Instead of briefly mentioning these topics on one page, we will create dedicated pages for each topic. This provides a much greater opportunity to explore these topics in depth.<\/p>\n Start with “How to Grow Tomatoes” as your own pillar page<\/a>and then create separate pages for each supporting topic, such as “flower end rot”.<\/p>\n Image by MarketMuse, October 2022<\/p>\n Then create separate theme templates for each of these pages and create their high-quality supporting content.<\/p>\n Finally, add another layer to the cluster using model topics for the term “ground current” as individual support pages.<\/p>\n Image by MarketMuse, October 2022<\/p>\n Repeat this process as needed to explore the topic, building the cluster to an even larger level.<\/p>\n The last piece of the puzzle is to internally link your pages to build authority and provide a path for your audience to explore the topic further.<\/p>\n Once again, we use topic modeling to help.<\/p>\n On the “How to Grow Tomatoes” pillar page where you talk about blossom end rot, link to the new page on that topic using ‘blossom end rot’ as the anchor text.<\/p>\n Doing it this way puts all the SEO stars in alignment, so to speak.<\/p>\n Image by MarketMuse, October 2022<\/p>\n Both your pillar page (about growing tomatoes) and your supporting content (about flower end rot) are semantically connected because “flower end rot” appears in the topic model for “how to grow tomatoes”. The link itself reinforces the connection as it also uses the term “flower end rot”.<\/p>\n Often times, you may have pre-existing content that fits within a topic group that you may not know exists.<\/p>\nThe difference between keyword lists and topic models<\/h3>\n
\nDescriptive<\/strong> means you can verify if an article covers these mandatory topics.<\/p>\nHow do I discover my first theme model?<\/h3>\n
How topic modeling produces high-quality content<\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\nHow to use topic modeling to create original content<\/h2>\n
Step 1. Compare your theme model with your competitors<\/h3>\n
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<\/p>\nStep 2. Create topic groups with your verified content models<\/h3>\n
![\"How](\"https:\/\/cdn.searchenginejournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/mm-cluster-1-635c4dd877bd8-sej-768x251.png\"\/)
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<\/p>\nStep 3. Link your topic groups to scale with topic modeling<\/h3>\n
![\"How](\"https:\/\/cdn.searchenginejournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/blossom-end-rot-link-635fc6c0b2f90-sej-768x837.png\"\/)
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