How to Build Topical Authority with a Strategic Website Structure

This article has been inspired by the first lesson in WA traffic training section. Just watching that video my brain exploded with ideas. I thought the best way to ease my brain clutter is to shared it here in WA.

I really wish that I have been introduced to the idea of topical authority early on. This would have made my approach to building a website more focused. The strategy introduced to achieve topical authority is one that can dictate the whole website content structure.

Achieving topical authority is a powerful way to dominate search engine rankings and establish credibility in your niche. Search engines prioritize websites that provide comprehensive, well-structured content covering a subject in depth. This article outlines an effective method to structure your website strategically, ensuring that each targeted keyword builds authority and relevance over time.

Step 1: Choose Your Main Keyword

The foundation of your website’s authority begins with selecting a primary keyword or keyphrase that aligns with your niche. This keyword should have strong search demand and align with your overall website theme. Ideally, it should be broad enough to allow for multiple supporting topics while being specific enough to differentiate your site from competitors.

For example, if your website focuses on "Forex Trading," you might choose “Forex Trading Strategies” as your first primary keyword.

I also believe that a website can be built around a topic with several top level keywords or keyphrases. I also believe that those should be around three to five, but not more than that. I don't see an issue if one decides to have only one main keyword for the website.

Choosing such a keyword or any keyword in your strategy should follow - in my opinion - the balance between traffic and competition.

Step 2: Create a Pillar Article

Once your main keyword is chosen, the next step is to write a pillar article. A pillar article is an in-depth, authoritative piece that comprehensively covers the chosen topic. It should serve as the central hub of information, linking out to more detailed supporting articles.

For example, your pillar article titled “The Ultimate Guide to Forex Trading Strategies” would provide a broad overview, touching on various subtopics such as technical analysis, fundamental analysis, and risk management.

Step 3: Write 10 Supporting Articles Targeting Subkeywords

Each supporting article should focus on a subkeyword related to your main topic. These articles provide depth and allow your website to cover the subject comprehensively, signaling to search engines that you are an authority in the field.

For example, supporting articles for “The Ultimate Guide to Forex Trading Strategies” could include:

1. How to Use Moving Averages in Forex Trading
2. Understanding Fibonacci Retracement in Forex
3. The Role of Fundamental Analysis in Forex Trading
4. Best Risk Management Strategies for Forex Traders
5. How to Trade Forex with Price Action Techniques
6. A Guide to Trading Forex with MACD
7. How to Identify Supply and Demand Zones in Forex
8. Using Support and Resistance for Forex Entries
9. Scalping vs. Swing Trading: Which Forex Strategy is Best?
10. The Impact of Market Sentiment on Forex Trading

Each of these articles should link back to the pillar article, forming a strong internal linking structure that improves SEO and user experience.

Step 4: Expand Authority by Creating Second-Level Pillar Content

After the first layer is complete, you have a strategic choice:

• Start a new pillar article targeting another primary keyword, following the same structuring method.
• Identify a high-performing supporting article and elevate it to a secondary pillar article.

For example, if “How to Use Moving Averages in Forex Trading” is gaining traction, you could turn it into a deeper pillar article with 10 additional subtopics, such as:

1. Simple vs. Exponential Moving Averages: Which One is Better?
2. How to Use Moving Averages for Trend Identification
3. Moving Average Crossovers: A Trading Strategy Breakdown
4. Common Mistakes When Using Moving Averages
5. How to Combine Moving Averages with RSI for Better Entries
6. How to Use Moving Averages in Different Market Conditions
7. Moving Averages vs. Bollinger Bands: A Comparison
8. How to Use Moving Averages for Scalping
9. The Role of the 200-Day Moving Average in Long-Term Trading
10. Moving Averages and Volume: A Winning Combination

This approach deepens your site’s content hierarchy, making it an even stronger authority on the topic.

Step 5: Maintain Consistency and Optimize Continuously

Building topical authority isn’t a one-time effort. Continue analyzing search performance, updating content, and expanding your structure to maintain and improve rankings. Key tasks include:

• Regularly updating pillar content with new insights and data.
• Interlinking new articles with existing content to strengthen connections.
• Monitoring search rankings and optimizing for emerging keyword opportunities.
• Improving on-page SEO, such as meta descriptions, headers, and image alt text.

Conclusion

Structuring your website strategically using the pillar and cluster model is a proven way to achieve topical authority. By carefully selecting keywords, writing in-depth pillar articles, and expanding your content hierarchy over time, your website can establish dominance in search rankings and attract targeted organic traffic. This method ensures long-term SEO success and positions your website as a trusted resource in your niche.

This method makes a website's content totally connected to each other and each piece of content is supported and/or giving support. A website becomes as a hive of clustered content.

I hope I was able to explain what happened in my mind after watching the first video in WA Traffic training section, and special thanks to the trainer who provided that training.