How to Measure Topical Authority

Establishing topical authority is essential for any business looking to improve its SEO strategy and rank higher in search engine results.

Building topical authority is about creating content that demonstrates your expertise in a particular topic area. The more authoritative your site appears, the more likely search engines like Google are to rank your content favourably.

In a previous blog, What is Topical Authority in Your SEO Strategy and How to Build It, we discussed what topical authority is and why it plays a crucial role in your content strategy and SEO efforts.

Now we’re ready to take the next step. Let’s focus on how you can measure your website’s topical authority.

Quick Recap: What is Topical Authority?

Topical authority refers to your website’s perceived expertise, relevance, and trustworthiness on a specific subject or set of topics. Search engines analyze the depth, breadth, and accuracy of your content in relation to the topic you are covering, rewarding websites that provide valuable, comprehensive information.

Essentially, the higher-quality content you produce around a given topic, the more likely search engines are to view your site as an authority on that subject.

In building topical authority, consistency is key. This means publishing well-researched, comprehensive content that covers various subtopics within your industry. The goal is to become the go-to resource for search engines and users alike when they seek information on that particular topic.

Why it’s important:

1. Improved Search Rankings: Search engines prioritize websites with comprehensive content in specific subject areas. Building topical authority helps improve your search rankings.
2. Increased Organic Traffic: As you develop topical authority, your content becomes more visible in search engine results pages (SERPs), driving more organic traffic to your site.
3. Higher User Engagement: When users view your site as an authoritative resource, they are more likely to engage with your content, stay longer on your site, and return for future inquiries.
4. Trust and Credibility: Consistently publishing expert-level content enhances your brand’s credibility and helps build trust with your audience.

Now that we understand what topical authority is and why it’s important, let’s explore how you can measure it. 

So, How Can Your Business Measure Topical Authority?

Since topical authority is a concept and not a hard data point like organic traffic, for example, there are no definitive metrics that you can use to truly know your website’s topical authority. However, there are a variety of factors, such as higher rankings and more organic traffic, that are an indication that your website is seen as a topical authority by search engines.

With that in mind, here are a few key things you can look at to measure topical authority and ensure that your website and SEO strategy is heading in the right direction.

1 - Monitor How Your Keywords are Performing

One of the primary ways to gauge your topical authority is by tracking the performance of your keywords. If your content is optimized and you are building authority, you should see improvements in your keyword rankings over time.

Here’s how to keep track:

• Track High-Volume Keywords: Pay attention to how your most important keywords perform in search rankings. Are you ranking for keywords related to your core topics? As your authority grows, you should see higher rankings for relevant, high-volume keywords.
• Monitor Long-Tail Keywords: Long-tail keywords are often easier to rank for and have less search volume every month, but still contribute to building your website's authority. Consistent ranking for long-tail keywords within your topic areas can be a strong indication that search engines see you as an expert in the field.
• Keyword Ranking Tools: Use tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, or Moz to track keyword movements and ensure your content strategy is on the right track.

2 - Analyze Backlinks to Your Site

Backlinks from other authoritative websites signal to search engines that your content is valuable and trustworthy. The more high-quality backlinks you accumulate, the more search engines recognize your website as a topical authority.

When measuring topical authority, keep these backlink factors in mind:

• Monitor Referring Domains: Track the number of unique domains linking back to your website. A diverse backlink profile signals that various sources across the web find your content valuable.
• Check the Authority of Referring Domains: The quality of your backlinks is just as important as the quantity. Links from high-authority websites, especially those within your industry, are more impactful. Tools like Moz’s Domain Authority, Ahrefs’ Domain Rating or SEMRush's Backlink Analytics can help you assess the quality of your referring domains.
• Organic Backlinks: Gaining backlinks naturally (without outreach) is a good indicator that your content is being recognized as authoritative and useful by others in your industry.

3 - Set up Topics in the SEO Tool of HubSpot

Using HubSpot’s SEO tool, you can create and manage topic clusters - a critical component of building topical authority. Topic clusters involve creating a central “pillar page” around a broad topic and linking it to related subtopics through blog posts or other content. This internal linking structure signals to search engines that you have extensive knowledge on the subject.

To measure topical authority using HubSpot’s SEO tool, follow these steps:

• Identify Core Topics: Define the main topics you want to be known for and build content around them.
• Create Pillar Pages: Develop in-depth pillar pages that serve as comprehensive guides on these topics.
• Link Supporting Content: Ensure each blog post or piece of content related to the pillar topic links back to the pillar page. This helps consolidate authority and signals to search engines that your site covers the topic in-depth.

4 - Track Your Website’s Organic Traffic

A rise in organic traffic is a clear indication that your content is resonating with both users and search engines. While topical authority is not the only factor that influences organic traffic, it is a strong indicator of your site’s overall authority in a particular niche.

Here’s how to measure organic traffic:

• Use Your CMS: Check the organic search traffic section of your CMS, whether it be WordPress, HubSpot or another, to monitor the volume of visitors coming to your site from search engines. You can also find valuable organic traffic data from Google Analytics. 
• Watch for Long-Term Growth: While traffic fluctuations are normal, a steady increase in organic traffic over time often means that your site is becoming more authoritative in your field.
• Track Organic Traffic by Topic: If you’re using topic clusters, you can track organic traffic to pillar pages and supporting blog posts. Growth in traffic to these pages suggests you’re building authority on the subject.

Not sure how to create a content and Inbound Marketing strategy that builds topical authority? Reach out to SummitBound Marketing today. Our team of Inbound Marketing and HubSpot experts would love to help you increase organic traffic and improve your lead generation efforts through topical authority.