A first topic cluster, step 1: pick one subject

A topic cluster is a group of posts on one subject. One long post covers the whole subject, and shorter posts each take one part of it. They all link to each other. This series builds a first cluster in three steps, and this is step one: pick the subject.

Find a topic cluster in what readers ask #

Look at the questions your readers send you, the calls your team takes and the words people type into your site search. Write each one down as the reader said it. After a week you will have a list of thirty or forty questions.

Now group them. Most lists fall into four or five groups, and one group is nearly always bigger than the rest. That group is your first subject. It is what people already want from you.

Check that you can cover it well #

A cluster needs depth. Before you commit, list six or seven parts of the subject that each deserve a short post of their own. If you cannot find six, the subject is too small. If you find twenty, it is too big: split it and pick one half.

Then check who will write. Each part needs someone who knows it from real work. A cluster written from other blogs adds nothing new, and readers notice.

Write the subject in one line #

End this step with one sentence that names the subject and the reader, such as "boiler faults, for home owners who want them fixed today". Keep it on the wall. Every post in the cluster should serve that line.

Google's own guide to creating helpful content asks the same thing: who is this for, and does it help them?

Next, in step 2, plan the posts, you turn the list of parts into a plan with one Pillar post at its centre. Then step 3 links the cluster so each post leads to the next.