Mastering SEO with HubSpot's Advanced Tools: A Comprehensive Guide

Gaining web traffic, converting leads, and growing your business without content marketing is challenging. However, content marketing without quality SEO tools and keyword research is like shooting in the dark whenever you publish a blog.

Whether you already use HubSpot or are considering it, understanding how to leverage its SEO tools is crucial for ranking highly and driving the traffic you need to achieve your business goals.

1. What is HubSpot's SEO Tool?
2. Why is HubSpot's SEO Tool Important?
3. How to Set Up Your SEO Tool in HubSpot
   - Research a Primary Topic
   - Select Subtopics
   - Verify Keyword Research
   - Upload Topics into HubSpot
   - Create Needed Content
   - Link Everything Up
4. Final Thoughts

What is HubSpot's SEO Tool?
HubSpot's SEO tool is essential for organizing and optimizing your content. Grouping related keywords and topics significantly enhances your SEO and SERP (Search Engine Results Pages) rankings. This tool allows you to select a primary topic and develop a supporting sub-content that aligns with Google's algorithms, boosting your search engine visibility.

This strategy, known as "topic clustering," is akin to creating a detailed and efficient map for your content. To better understand this, you can envision your primary topic (often represented by a pillar page) as a bustling major city. The various pieces of sub-content, including blogs, videos, and infographics, are the roads and highways that lead into this city. The more roads leading to the town, the more accessible it is for people (and search engines) to find and access it. Here's how topic clustering enhances your content strategy:

Logical Structure: Topic clusters help create a logical structure for your content, making it easier for users and search engines to navigate. A well-organized site structure can improve user experience and reduce bounce rates.
Clear Hierarchy: By clustering related content, you establish a clear hierarchy of information, which helps search engines understand the relationship between different pieces of content on your site.

Authority and Relevance: You demonstrate authority and relevance when you group content around a central topic. Search engines recognize this, potentially ranking your site higher for related queries.
Keyword Optimization: Topic clusters allow for more strategic keyword placement. By focusing on a primary topic and related subtopics, you can cover a broader range of keywords and phrases, improving your chances of ranking for multiple search queries.

Seamless Navigation: Clusters create a network of interlinked content, making it easier for users to find related information. This seamless navigation encourages users to spend more time on your site, exploring various topics.
Content Depth: By linking detailed sub-content to a comprehensive pillar page, you provide users with in-depth information on a subject, increasing the likelihood of meeting their needs and retaining their interest.

Focused Content Creation: Topic clusters allow you to plan your content strategically. Each piece of sub-content supports the primary topic, ensuring that all content serves a specific purpose and contributes to your overall SEO strategy.
Content Gaps Identification: Clustering helps identify gaps in your content, allowing you to create targeted pieces that fill those gaps and enhance your topic authority.

Internal Linking: Effective Internal Linking within Clusters strengthens your site's overall link structure. This helps search engines crawl and index your pages more efficiently and distributes link equity throughout your site.

External Linking Opportunities: As your clustered content gains authority, it may attract more external backlinks, further boosting your SEO efforts. For example, if your business focuses on "digital marketing," your primary topic could be "Comprehensive Guide to Digital Marketing." Supporting sub-content might include blogs on "SEO Best Practices," "Content Marketing Strategies," "Social Media Marketing Tips," and "Email Marketing Campaigns." These subtopics would link to the pillar page, creating a robust network of related content.

Why is HubSpot's SEO Tool Important?
Search engines rank content based on various SEO factors, three of which are especially critical:
1. Site Expertise
2. Site Authority
3. Site Trustworthiness

HubSpot's SEO tool clusters your content to positively impact these ranking factors. By implementing a single strategy, you can address multiple significant SEO signals and experience the benefits of a well-planned campaign. Here’s a deeper look at these factors and how HubSpot's SEO tool can enhance them:

1. Site Expertise
Site expertise refers to the depth of knowledge and expertise in your content. It indicates how well your website covers a specific topic and provides valuable information to users.

Using topic clusters, you can comprehensively cover your primary topic and related subtopics. This demonstrates to search engines that your site is a reliable source of in-depth information.

HubSpot's SEO tool encourages the creation of high-quality, well-researched content that addresses your target audience's pain points and questions. This not only improves user experience but also signals expertise to search engines.

Integrating relevant keywords within your content further establishes your expertise in the subject matter, making it easier for search engines to recognize your site's proficiency.

2. Site Authority
Site authority is the perceived value and credibility of your website. It is often measured by the quantity and quality of inbound links from other reputable sites and your content's relevance and reliability.

The topic clustering strategy involves extensive internal linking, which helps search engines understand the relationship between different pieces of content. This interlinking builds a more robust internal link structure, boosting your site's authority.

Quality content that effectively addresses user queries will attract backlinks from other reputable sites. Clustering your content creates a network of authoritative pages that can attract high-quality inbound links.

Regularly updating and expanding your topic clusters with fresh content ensures your site remains relevant and authoritative.

3. Site Trustworthiness
Site trustworthiness refers to how reliable and credible your website is. User reviews, secure connections (HTTPS), transparent business information, and high-quality content contribute to a site's trustworthiness.

By clustering related content, you create a well-organized site that is easy to navigate. This enhances user experience, reducing bounce rates and increasing time spent on your site, which are positive signals to search engines.

Providing accurate, detailed, and up-to-date information within your topic clusters builds trust with your audience and search engines. HubSpot's SEO tool helps ensure your content meets these criteria.

Engaging content that addresses user needs and encourages interaction (through comments, shares, and backlinks) boosts your site's trustworthiness. Clusters facilitate the creation of such engaging content.

Practical Application: A Janitorial Service in Atlanta, GA
For instance, if you run a janitorial service in Atlanta, GA, and want to attract customers looking for cleaning services, you could set up a topic cluster around the primary topic "cleaning services in Atlanta." Here’s how this would work:

1. Primary Topic (Pillar Page): Create a comprehensive guide on "Cleaning Services in Atlanta." This page should cover all your services, benefits, pricing, and customer testimonials.

2. Subtopics (Supporting Content):
Blog Posts: Write detailed articles on specific types of cleaning services, such as "Office Cleaning Services in Atlanta," "Residential Cleaning Tips," and "Green Cleaning Solutions."
Videos: Produce short videos demonstrating your cleaning processes and customer testimonials.
Infographics: Design infographics showing the benefits of professional cleaning services and the difference between DIY and professional cleaning.

3. Keyword Integration: Use related keywords throughout your sub-content, such as "Atlanta janitorial services," "best cleaning services in Atlanta," and "professional office cleaners."

You create a robust network of related information by interlinking all these pieces of content and linking them back to your pillar page. This method helps Google recognize your expertise and authority in cleaning services, leading to higher SERP rankings. The comprehensive coverage and detailed information also enhance user experience and build trust, ultimately driving more traffic and conversions.

How to Set Up Your SEO Tool in HubSpot

1. Research a Primary Topic
Through pain point research, select a relevant topic for your primary content. For instance, if you sell mufflers to small auto-supply shops, identify their needs via cold calling, interviews, and networking. Once you understand their pain points, research keywords based on those needs. HubSpot's SEO tool can streamline this process:

Use HubSpot's Content Strategy Tool: Enter potential topics and keywords to see suggestions for primary issues and related subtopics. This tool helps you find high-search-volume, low-competition keywords.
Integrate AI-Powered Insights: HubSpot’s AI can analyze industry trends and competitor strategies, providing you with data-driven keyword recommendations.

Once you find a suitable keyword, enter it into HubSpot's SEO section under Marketing > Content > SEO.

Pro-Tip: Choose a broad topic that allows in-depth writing, such as social media marketing, which can be broken into smaller, detailed parts.

2. Select Subtopics
Break down your primary topic into subtopics that address the pain points of your target audience. Ensure these subtopics are relevant and supportive of your primary topic. HubSpot’s SEO tool can assist with this:

Subtopic Suggestions: HubSpot provides related subtopic suggestions based on your primary keyword. These suggestions are driven by search data and competitive analysis.
Content Mapping: Visualize how your subtopics connect to your primary topic using HubSpot’s content mapping feature, ensuring a cohesive and comprehensive content strategy.

 3. Verify Keyword Research
Once you have your topics, ensure they are supported by solid keywords. While HubSpot provides some keyword research capabilities, integrating additional tools can enhance your research.
Google Search Console: Use this tool to see which keywords drive traffic to your site and identify new opportunities.
SEMRush or Ubersuggest: These tools offer in-depth keyword analysis, including search volume, keyword difficulty, and competitive landscape.
HubSpot’s SEO tool can integrate data from these external tools, providing a more comprehensive view of your keyword strategy.

 4. Upload Topics into HubSpot
Enter your topics into HubSpot's topic cluster. This step is straightforward, and HubSpot offers guidance on how to do it:

Topic Cluster Tool: HubSpot helps you organize your content around your primary topic and subtopics. This visual tool makes it easy to see the relationships between your content pieces.
SEO Recommendations: As you enter your topics, HubSpot provides real-time SEO recommendations to optimize your content for search engines.

 5. Create Needed Content
The next step is content creation. Focus on writing blogs and other content types to convert and nurture leads. Ensure your content is:

Multimedia-Rich: Include images, videos, infographics, and other multimedia elements to enhance engagement and user experience. HubSpot’s Content Creation tools offer templates and design features to create visually appealing content.
Includes Backlinks and Inbound Links: Incorporate internal and external links to improve SEO and add additional value to your readers.
Simple and Direct: Ensure your content is easy to read and understand, focusing on delivering valuable information directly related to your primary topic and subtopics.

Pro-Tip: Use HubSpot’s AI-powered content assistant to generate ideas, outline content, and optimize it for readability and SEO.

 6. Link Everything Up
Finally, link your sub-content to the pillar page and interlink blogs to each other. This interconnected structure makes navigating your content more accessible for users and search engines:

Internal Linking Suggestions: HubSpot’s SEO tool offers internal linking suggestions to ensure your content is well-connected.
Content Management: Use HubSpot’s Content Management System (CMS) to easily update and manage your links, ensuring they remain relevant and effective.

Pro-Tip: Create as many internal links as possible to enhance navigation and SEO.


By centering your content strategy around Topic Clusters and utilizing HubSpot’s advanced SEO tools, you’ll improve your search rankings and effectively guide visitors through your sales funnel, converting them into leads. Follow these steps to set up your Topic Clusters efficiently and effortlessly.