Two powerful approaches, Topic-Based SEO and Entity-Based SEO, have been making waves over the past couple of years. But what are they, and are they even different?

Let's dive in and demystify these concepts, one step at a time. And then we can look at the million-dollar question: how can you use them to boost your website's ranking?

What is topic-based SEO?

Topic-Based SEO is a strategic approach to search engine optimization that focuses on creating content clusters around broad topics or themes relevant to your niche or industry. Instead of targeting individual keywords, Topic-Based SEO aims to establish topical authority by covering all aspects of a particular topic. This involves:

1. Identifying Core Topics: Research and select topics that align with your audience's interests and business goals.
2. Creating Content Clusters: Develop a network of interlinked content pieces, with each piece focusing on a specific subtopic or aspect of the core topic.
3. Internal Linking: Connect these content pieces through internal links, creating a hierarchical structure that guides both users and search engines through your content.
4. Using Semantic Keywords: Incorporate related terms and phrases (sometimes referred to as semantic or LSI keywords) that add context and depth to your content, signalling to search engines your topical authority.

Topic-based SEO is a powerful strategy for improving your website's visibility and attracting a larger audience. By focusing on creating comprehensive, informative content around relevant topics, you can establish yourself as a trusted authority in your field and drive long-term success in organic search.

So far so good?

Great, let’s move along and take a peek at entity-based SEO.

What are Entities in SEO?

In the context of SEO, entities are distinct, unique, and well-defined things that help search engines to understand how your content relates to the query. The existence of information related to relevant entities within your content can help Google to understand the relevancy of your web-page to any to any given topic.

Any noun representing a specific thing can be considered an entity. Such as:

• People: Joe Biden, John Mueller (anybody see what I did there?), Taylor Swift,
• Places: New York City, Eiffel Tower
• Organizations: Apple Inc., Google (I’m at it again), World Health Organization,
• Concepts: Artificial Intelligence, The World-Wide-Web (yup, that too), Climate Change,

So, how Does Entity-Based SEO Work?

When you search for a term, Google tries to identify the entity you're referring to and provide relevant results based on its understanding of that subject and its connections to related entities.

Entity-based SEO focuses on helping search engines make these connections by providing clear, contextual information about the entities mentioned in your content. This involves using:

• Structured Data: Marking up your content with schema.org vocabulary helps search engines identify the entities mentioned on your page and their types (e.g., person, place, organization).
• Internal Linking: Linking between relevant pages on your website helps establish relationships between entities and demonstrates your topical authority.
• Topical Authority: Creating comprehensive content that covers a topic in depth signals to search engines that you are an authority on that topic and its related entities.

Okay, so by this point, you may be a little confused about the difference between topics and entities and how they relate to Search Engine Optimization.

Let’s think about this a little bit more.

What is the difference between topic and entity-based SEO?

While Entity-Based SEO and Topic-Based SEO are related, they are not exactly the same. Think of Topic-Based SEO as your blueprint and Entity-Based SEO as the finer details. Together, they create a comprehensive SEO strategy that's greater than the sum of its parts.

Here's how they work in harmony:

• Stronger Topical Authority: By covering both broad topics and their related entities in-depth, you show search engines you're a subject matter expert.
• Pinpoint Relevance: Entity-based SEO helps search engines understand the nuances of your content and deliver it to users searching for specific things.
• Keyword Expansion: By understanding entities, search engines can associate your content with a wider range of relevant search terms.

All sounds good right, but how do we combine these in practice? Firstly we need to identify the entities which relate to our chosen topics.

Using generative AI to discover entities for SEO

Don't worry, you don't have to be an entity-whisperer to uncover these hidden gems! Generative AI tools, like ChatGPT, can be a fantastic resource for identifying entities related to your topics. They're trained on massive datasets and can quickly generate lists of relevant entities to enrich your content.

When I asked Gemini to ‘give me a list of entities related to SEO as a topic’ this is what it came back with.

Key Concepts:

• Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
• Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs)
• Keyword Research
• On-Page Optimization
• Off-Page Optimization
• Technical SEO
• Content Marketing
• Link Building

Search Engines:

• Google
• Bing
• DuckDuckGo
• Yandex

SEO Tools and Platforms:

• Google Search Console
• Google Analytics
• Semrush
• Ahrefs
• Moz

Metrics and KPIs:

• Organic Traffic
• Keyword Rankings
• Click-Through Rate (CTR)
• Bounce Rate
• Conversion Rate
• Domain Authority
• Page Authority

Influential People and Organizations:

• Rand Fishkin (Moz) - a bit dated there Gemini!
• John Mueller (Google)
• Danny Sullivan (Google)
• Search Engine Journal
• Search Engine Land

Still confused by the difference between topics and entities?

You're absolutely right. The distinction between entities and topics can be a bit nuanced, especially in the context of SEO. Let's clarify this using the example of keyword research.

Again, the data here is generated by Gemini.

Keyword Research as a Topic:

• Encompasses a broad area of knowledge and practice within SEO.
• Includes various subtopics, concepts, and techniques related to finding and analyzing keywords.
• It's a thematic umbrella under which various entities and specific keywords reside.

Example subtopics within the broader topic of "keyword research":

• Keyword research tools and software
• Long-tail vs. short-tail keywords
• Search intent and keyword relevance
• Keyword difficulty and competition analysis
• Integrating keyword research into content strategy

Keyword Research as an Entity:

• Refers to the specific concept or activity of researching and analyzing keywords for SEO purposes.
• It's a distinct, well-defined thing that can be identified and categorized by search engines.
• It can be associated with specific attributes, properties, and relationships within the knowledge graph of search engines.

Example attributes of the entity "keyword research":

• Definition: The process of identifying and analyzing search terms that people enter into search engines.
• Purpose: To understand user intent and optimize content to rank higher in search results for relevant keywords.
• Tools: Semrush, Ahrefs, Google Keyword Planner
• Related entities: SEO, search engine, content marketing, search intent

Ok, so now we know what topics and entities are, we need to pull it all together.

Using topics and entities to create an SEO strategy

Using the topic of SEO as an example, if we want to be seen as an authority on the topic, we need to develop content that not only defines it as a concept but also dives deeper into its related topical entities.

Within an SEO content hub, we might develop articles on Keyword Research or Link Building (concepts), how to measure performance (Metrics and KPIs), or how to stay current with the world of search (Influential People and Organizations).

In terms of entities, we can then look at our topic of keyword research as an example of how to shape entity-focused content.

In our article related to this, we want to consider the attributes of Keyword research identified. We’d need to include (or link to) content that defines its meaning and purpose, different keyword research tools and platforms, and how it relates to other entities, such as content marketing and search intent.

Applying this approach to combining our various subtopics and entities takes time. You also need to consider how you utilise your personal or organizational expertise to create genuinely insightful and helpful content, but that’s another topic in itself.

Nobody said SEO was easy, right!?

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