For a long time, search engine optimization (SEO) was dominated by the keyword.
Everything revolved around keywords. They were the lifeblood of SEO, of optimizing a page so that it ranks higher in a search engine’s results. Because of this, SEO basically entailed finding the right keywords and then putting them on a page – or pages – on a website (among other things).
Now, though, a new way of using keywords has come to the table: topical optimization.
What in the world is topical optimization, and how can it help your website rank better than just using a keyword-focused approach? Uptick Marketing in Birmingham, Alabama has the answers.
Explaining Topical Optimization
Topical optimization is ultimately optimizing a website around topics, instead of keywords.
Let’s back up and first look at what it means to optimize for a keyword. Traditionally, we’ve taken keywords, like “digital marketing,” and incorporated them into web pages. Lately, we’ve done this by selecting just one keyword – the focus keyword – and putting it all throughout a page (or a blog post). The page was then optimized for that one keyword.
But really, people don’t think in terms of keywords. They think in terms of topics. A topic is broader than a keyword and includes lots of different keywords.
For example, let’s use “digital marketing.” That’s the main topic for the Uptick Marketing website. From “digital marketing,” we can develop a list of sub-topics that go below that word but are connected to it. Continuing with the Uptick Marketing example, our sub-topics may include “digital marketing strategy,” “digital marketing software,” “online marketing companies,” etc.
Below those sub-topics, we can delve into smaller, more focused areas. Let’s take “digital marketing strategy.” We can come up with stuff like “social media marketing strategies” or “email marketing strategy.”
The cycle continues – as you go deeper into the subject matter. (See how many blog topics you can come up with using this method?)
How does this differ from keyword-focused SEO? Instead of just focusing on one keyword at a time, one page at a time, we can come up with tons of different keywords for a broad topic like “digital marketing” and optimize tons of pages.
Why Topical Optimization?
Why would we want to do this?
What would you rather have: one page that ranks well for a single keyword, or dozens of pages that work well for a dozen different keywords that all relate to the same topic? You’d probably pick the latter. In that case, you’d be right – because that’s what Google wants to see, as well.
The goal is topical dominance: having as many pages rank for a single topic as possible.
Going for topical optimization means that you’ll add a lot of pages to your website, complete with comprehensive, unique, and original content. But that’s okay, that’s what you’re supposed to do.
Remember, we’re looking to dominate a topic by becoming an authority in our field, and that means giving Google plenty of signals through web pages that rank.
Topical optimization is a better approach than just selecting a handful of keywords and hoping to rank for them by putting them on a page. Or, by picking just one keyword and putting it here and there on your website.
The goal is to dominate a topic completely and give Google plenty of reasons to think your website is the most relevant and useful website for the topic that relates to your business.
How We Do SEO
Uptick Marketing as a whole tends to favor the topical optimization side of the debate. We want you to rank for several keywords all related to a particular topic. We do this by performing keyword research around topics and selecting relevant and competitive keywords.
This way, you have a better chance of ranking for one of those keywords (hopefully all of them).
If you want to break SEO and take it to the next level, get started by working with a provider who can help you optimize for topics instead of just keywords. It’ll make a huge difference and is the perfect way to get your marketing campaign off to a great start.