Let's dive into the world of Topical Maps!

What are they and why are they a game-changer?

Let's see how they help to organize your website's content, and why you want a clear and structured hierarchy of topics and keywords.

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#seo #topicalmaps #contentplanning 1️⃣ So what exactly is a topical map?

Well, think of it as a roadmap for your website.

Instead of highways/roads, a topical map outlines the main topics and subtopics.

It creates a logical flow of information that benefits both users and search engines. 🌊

Fast start for a @TopicalMap client!

- 1st Post Published - Feb. 24th
- 19 total posts today (3/22)
- DR 1, new domain
- Jump started 3/9 (core update released 3/15)
- Core keyword rank #6 already

Here's more info... 👇

#seo #topicalmap #topicalauthority @TopicalMap They're a SaaS with only a homepage when we started working with them.

They're not launched yet either, that's in April. Can you imagine what happens after they launch?

Links start!

Having trouble tracking anchor text for internal links to avoid over-optimization?

Here's a really easy tip...👇🧵 In your content plan or internal link spreadsheet, create a comment with a list of anchors that you can use.

As you use anchors, put a dash to check off that you've used the anchor already.

I don't advise removing the anchor because you may forget it's been used (I do!)

If someone else orders a Topical Map using the same seed keyword, will they get the same topical map?

That's a FAQ.

I always do one fresh, but there's a small possibility it's the same. But it also wouldn't matter if it was the exact same TM.

Execution matters... 🧵 First, I do a fresh topical map because things change. Whether it's new topics in the industry or changes in SERPs due to search intent.

A TM from last year on "NBA Teams" would be different from a TM this year. Different players, records, league champions, etc.

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Still working on the Keyword Clustering Tool Case Study. Been busy with topical maps and then got sick, so haven't been able to collect the data.

But there are some interesting results so far, along with things that make you go hmmm...

Here's one stat so far... 🧵👇

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https://twitter.com/yoyaoh/status/1585142391526551552

13 tests with 10 tools. Some tools had different algo settings to adjust.

When it came to non-clustered keywords, only 2 tests came up with the same single keywords.

I'll get more into it in a blog post after analyzing the topic clusters, but here's the raw data...

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Here’s my 5 Step Content Creation Process

I use Frase for many of the steps, but you can replace with other tools.

Here we go 🧵👇 1. Research 1-2 Target Keywords for the Content

Put them into Google to see the results that come up.

There are probably other keywords you’re targeting for the article, but I only choose 1-2 here because you can quickly go down a rabbit hole.

I do this inside Frase

I wasn’t an English major and hated writing essays. But I’m killing it with niche sites and content.

Why?

Because niche site content isn’t your English class from school.

Anyone can write niche site content... Write logically - make it easy to read and understand.

Write as-if you're teaching your kids about the topic.

Use hemingwayapp.com to know when your content is difficult to read. 7-8th grade level content is best.

Remember, your readers and Google are the same...

These are some of the top YouTube channels if you want to learn about SEO and building niche sites.

Who are you watching and listening to?

🧵👇 Matt Diggity

@mattdiggityseo youtube.com/c/MattDiggity

After reviewing many niche sites from clients and others, I see a lot of people making the same mistakes over and over again.

Here are the 5 common SEO mistakes that Niche Sites make:

🧵 1. No Topical Focus on the Blog

Topics are all over the place

So someone lands on your site and reads that article. Do you have related articles that they may want to read?

Or is your site a one-and-done?

Is it because your site is only going after low-competition keywords?

Here's a really easy way to get Google autocomplete keywords, search volume and CPC.

Find all the related long-tail and related keywords.

Oh, it's all Free too!

Here's how 👇 🧵 I've fallen in love with @low_fruits and it's really become a favorite keyword research tool.

I buy credits for SERP analysis, but you can use LowFruits to get keywords and metrics for free.

1. First, sign up for a LF account: hapy.link/AWB7

I've published 1000s of blog posts.

Here are the 5 most common content mistakes that will stop your content from ranking.

Don't ignore #seo and #content best practices

👇 🧵 1. Not making an outline before writing

A content brief helps make sure you hit the topics needed to "answer" the search query?

If you outsource, give your writers a brief. Don't expect them to do 'your' research for you.

I've also seen briefs prevent fluff from writers.

I've finally figured out how to speed up sites on Ezoic.

I tested site 1 first by adjusting Leap settings. Once I saw the speed scores head up, I adjusted site 2 and can now see the upturn as well.

Here's the one setting I changed 👇🧵 I adjusted the Find Delayed Scripts settings:

- Go to the 'Speed' tab
- Select 'Optimization Settings'
- Under 'Script Execution' -> Select 'Advanced Settings'
- Under Script Delay -> Select 'Find Delayed Scripts'
- Select 'No' delay for some of the js scripts

So I just launched TopicalMap.com where you can order topical maps for your sites.

Maybe I'm shooting myself in the foot, but I wanted to share how to make your own topical maps - for free!

Increase topical authority to dominate the SERPs!

Here we go 🧵👇 1 - Start with your seed topic you want to create a topical map for.

For this example, I'm sticking with the Niche Surfer theme and using:

𝗦𝘂𝗿𝗳𝗯𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀!

Now, Google "surfboards"

Get your spreadsheet ready too. You're going to put all the keywords you find into it.

Will your niche site succeed or fail?

I look at the different factors when starting and building niche sites that can lead to Success or Failure. 

Disclaimer: These are lessons learned from my experiences with my sites and others I have access to. Nothing is ever 100%.

1/ Niche Selection

Failure: Choosing a niche that you love as the only factor.

Success: Choosing a niche where you can define what the audience loves and wants to know about (and you can love it too).

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I would rather have 5 niche sites and 1m visitors

than 1 niche site and 1m vistors.

Here's why... 👇 🧵 Diversity of income and traffic lowers your risk exposure.

Multiple sites in the portfolio lower your risk of losing everything if something happens to the 1 site.

Multiple niches and industries covered by your sites lowers your risk with seasonality and industry issues.

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This is the topical map I created for a new niche site that's had a great start.

The big branch with 42 articles is where I started.

Here's my topic/keyword research process for new sites:

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M1 Update:

https://twitter.com/yoyaoh/status/1547044702934863873

#nichesites #topicalmaps To preface the steps, think of this as a site about dogs. Easier to 'see' with an example.

The general niche is "dogs" and all the branches are the various topics about dogs.

The topical map shows where I can go for the next couple of years at least.

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My 2 sites that were hit in the Google May Core update have regained all the traffic and are still climbing!

Here's what I did...

Not Included:
- Building backlinks
- Publishing new content

#SEO #NicheSite

1/ 1. Tightened up topic clusters through internal links.

I was loose with what links to what in the early articles of building clusters.

So I went back and made sure all the internal links were relevant to clusters. That included links going in and out of clusters.

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It seems like Google had another mini-update a couple of days ago because the two sites that were hit have started to recover their previous rankings.

The main "fixes" I made after the update was announced to be completed...

1/ 1. Cleaned up interlinking, so that anchor text was diversified.

2. Tightened up silos with interlinking. Links needed to be more relevant.

3. Added or replaced photos to be more 'original'.

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I used to have a lot of bots scraping my sites to make copies of it. It was a constant cat and mouse game.

But I was able to set up WordPress to stop those scrapers and I haven't had to chase down any sites for a year.

Here's what I did...

1/ I install the Wordfence plugin and use their Rate Limiting tool.

That limits how fast visitors (bots and humans) can make requests and view pages.

This has also helped save the server's resources for actual visitors.

The screenshot contains my settings...

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