Do you optimise your content for topical authority? (Hub and spoke)

You publish great content, but it doesn’t rank, get cited by LLMs, or drive consistent inbound leads. Instead of being seen as an authority, your content feels scattered, useful in isolation, but weak as a system. This is usually because the content isn’t optimized for topical authority.

What is topical authority? (and why it matters!)

Topical authority is when search engines and LLMs clearly understand that you are an expert in a specific domain, not just a single keyword.

Modern search (Google + LLMs like ChatGPT, Copilot, Claude) rewards:

• Depth over breadth
• Clear answers over vague opinions
• Structured, interlinked content over isolated pages

Rules-style (or in other words empirical) content is perfectly suited to this world.

Build topical authority with content clusters

Topical authority is built through interlinked clusters, not single pages.

What a good cluster looks like

• Hub: An Article (opinionated, narrative, thought leadership )
• Spokes: Empirical content (precise, technical, authoritative answers)
• Proof: Case Studies (evidence that it works)

Why content clusters work

1. They help you rank for competitive keywords: Clusters signal depth and coverage, not just relevance.
2. Most searches are long-form (i.e. multiple keywords per search): Google process more than a billion unique queries per day, and the majority are long-tail
3. They create link magnets: Long-form, authoritative content naturally attracts backlinks.
4. They reinforce technical signals: Internal linking, consistent terminology, and semantic coverage strengthen authority.

Use the right content types

Not all content plays the same role. Each has a job in building authority. The following are examples from our system - your system will likely be different but the same ideas apply.

Articles (e.g. Blogs) = hubs, not the authority source

Articles act as the hub in a hub-and-spoke model.

They:

• Can be subjective
• Can explore opinions and trends
• Have a half-life (relevance fades)

You should have several active hero hubs at any time, aligned to:

• What you're great at
• What you want inbound leads for
• Products or services you're pushing

But remember: Articles should point to your empirical content (rules in our case) - not the other way around!

Check out one of our articles about EF Core Migrations.

Empirical content (e.g. Rules) = Authority engines ✅

These are your strongest asset.

They are:

• Technical
• Specific
• Empirical
• Opinionated (one best way)

This is exactly what:

• Developers expect
• LLMs prefer
• Search engines reward

Rules should:

* Target long-tail, question-based queries

* Use multiple relevant H2s and H3s

* Give firm guidance, not “it depends” articles

Remember: LLMs value content the same way engineers do: clear structure, concrete answers, and strong opinions.

Case studies = proof of authority

Case studies validate your topical authority with evidence

A strong case study includes:

• Client context and industry
• The problem
• How you solved it
• Measurable results
• Testimonials (videos are great if possible)

Aim for at least 1-2 contemporary case studies per key service.

For example: SSW's case study about Bupa.

Optimise for LLM discovery

LLMs are already major traffic drivers.

Key facts:

• Blogs (e.g. articles) make up for ~34-40% of cited sources in ChatGPT responses
• Vendor/product pages are only ~5-6%

That means:

• Informational content wins
• Your empirical content often will outperform product pages
• Authority beats promotion

If your content doesn't answer questions clearly, it won't get cited.

Query Deserves Freshness

AI-powered search favours fresh, intent-aligned content.

Best practice:

• Review and update core content annually
• Update sooner for major changes

This isn't TikTok-speed freshness, however stale content does lose authority

Summary

To optimise for topical authority:

• Lead with your empirical content, not product pages
• Target long-tail, question-based queries
• Build content clusters, not isolated posts
• Use Articles as hubs, empirical content as authority and case studies as proof
• Keep core content fresh
• Write for the readers first, LLMs second

✅ Figure: What SSW's hub-and-spoke model looks like

If you do this consistently, rankings, citations, and inbound leads follow naturally.