Topical Authority: 3 Trends that Will Reshape Content & SEO in 2023

Welcome to 2023.

I wanted to write a quick piece on a topic that’s near and dear to my heart as a content marketer and SEO strategist.

That’s Topical Authority.

In my opinion, this is the defining concept of modern SEO — and absolutely essential to remaining relevant and generating real traffic and conversions.

In this new year, there will be three major trends that will change the way content ranks and why.

What is Topical Authority?

 First, let's define what Topical Authority is. Topical authority is a way of thinking about the level of expertise your site presents to readers and Google. To achieve this, it is important to ask yourself: "Are we clearly expert-level authorities on the topics that are valuable for our business?"

To achieve this:

• Create deep content
• Create a wide range of deep articles on the same broad topic
• Connect these articles into a cluster
• Connect related clusters to other clusters

Let's dive into the reasons why Topical Authority is going to be such a big deal moving forward.

Trend #1 - HCU (Helpful Content Update)

 This update to Google’s algorithm began rolling out in Q2/Q3 of 2022.

A lot of people treated it like a nothing-burger when it didn’t instantly shake up the SERPs.

But I think they’re wrong.

HCU wasn't a one-time change, it's a system that will grow and evolve over time. It’s a new part of Google’s core algorithm and they’re continuing to tweak the way it’s weighted and impacts what shows up in the results.

Data shows that December's HCU update had a MAJOR impact on SERPs:

👉 Nearly 100% of first-page SERPs impacted

👉 About half of top-3 results impacted

👉 Consistently changed rankings across most topics

Google is doubling down on ranking content based on the quality of your entire site rather than individual pages. HCU assigns a site-wide quality score that affects your rankings across the board.

In other words: Shitty content can weigh down your whole site.

Google is doubling down on ranking content based on the quality of your entire site rather than individual pages. So, every page needs to be high quality, not just pillar posts or key pages.

Trend #2 - AI + Content

 We’re drowning in new content.

And with ChatGPT and other GPT-3 tools, there’s going to be more than ever. Whole sites — and even established sites — are churning out hundreds or thousands of articles at a time.

Bots can write content — sometimes better than human writers.

Apply a simple SWOT analysis to the current landscape and the reality is clear.

AI is a threat.

Volume of content is a weakness for human writers.

So what are our strengths and opportunities?

The one big advantage that human writers still have over AI is depth of knowledge.

This means that there’s one big opportunity: Go deep.

👉 Things like real-world data, models, and forecasts, data-backed opinions, and unique perspectives cannot be replicated by AI (yet).

👉 Build a library of content that goes deep on the topics where you and your company can truly establish themself as an authority.

👉 Cranking out more low-quality content won't save you.

Only building topical authority can save you from the AI takeover. 🤖

Trend #3 - The Economy

 It’s no secret that we’re in a time of economic uncertainty.

With the economy becoming a concern for businesses in 2023, marketing budgets are also being affected.

Anything that isn’t linked directly to revenue is under scrutiny.

The reality is that the bull market has spoiled us as marketers. We’ve had lots of latitude to get creative, test crazy ideas, and spend money without always understanding what works and what doesn’t.

Ask yourself: How many random, experimental topics have you explored as part of your content strategy? How many of those were clear winners — with data to back up the investment?

How much content is sitting idle on your blog, doing nothing for the business?

If you’re like most companies, the answer is: Most of it.

A study by Ahrefs found that over 90% of pages get no search traffic, representing a huge loss of potential revenue and a waste of money.

(To be fair, it’s worth noting the content could be getting traffic from other channels.)

But, if your goal is SEO, that simply won’t fly in a bear market.

In this new environment, companies can't afford a spray-and-pray approach or to crank out content en masse. The key is to have a calculated, careful, and deliberate content strategy.

You need a clear roadmap to ROI and data that shows progress toward that goal. Companies can't afford to waste money on ineffective content strategies, they need to focus on driving real revenue for the business.

This means:

👉 Focus on smarter, tighter, and more focused content in 2023

👉 Hone your areas of expertise and build deep authority on the core topics that drive real revenue for your business

—

In 2023, Topical Authority will reign supreme.

To win at SEO in 2023, don’t go broad — don’t go wide.

Go deep.

Build authentic topical authority.

✌️

Watch the full discussion with Stephen Jeske on Topical Authority 👇