Content clusters provide businesses with the opportunity to boost their search rankings through value-packed and internally-linked educational content. When created strategically, content clusters help you generate more leads and build authority in your niche too.
The combination of well-researched and highly-targeted content clusters and engaging lead magnets (like interactive ScoreApp quizzes!) can help attract new audiences to your products and services.
However, there are some mistakes you can make along the way that we want you to avoid.
In this blog post, we’ll cover the most common content cluster mistakes so you can maximise the potential of your content and bring in as many perfect-fit leads as possible.
What is a content cluster?
First, let’s talk about what a content cluster is.
A content cluster is a new thematic method of organising the content on your website.
Every content cluster starts with a pillar: a hub page that provides a broad overview of a larger topic.
From this pillar, you create a content cluster: a series of sub-pages that are connected to the broad topic but cover an individual subject within it.
Then, you inter-link each cluster topic with each other, and the overarching pillar, to signal to both your reader and search engines that they are connected.
You might also have heard of content bursts – but these have different goals and need to be approached differently.
A content burst is a set of strategic content created around a topic for a limited period, pointing readers toward a lead magnet to boost organic traffic, lead generation, and sales.
Content clusters are a longer-term approach to marketing, as you will continue to update content and add new cluster topics under your pillars over time.
The main long-form content type used for building content clusters is blog posts. However, you could also apply this theory to the strategy for your YouTube videos or podcasts.
How can content clusters boost your lead generation results?
Did you know that content clusters are a recommended SEO strategy from Google?
Specifically, Google encourages us to lead with person-first content, rather than content written to “manipulate search engines”.
We’ve all read articles that shoehorn a keyword phrase into every line. It isn’t an enjoyable – or valuable – experience!
Now, Google ranks content that demonstrates EEAT: Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness.
So, what does this have to do with content clusters?
People use search engines to ask complex questions. Content clusters let you answer them in detail.
With a pillar, you target high-level broad keywords. With each sub-topic, you can target more focused and niche long-tail phrases.
You then link each content cluster article back to your pillar content and your pillar to them in return.
A well-designed content cluster signals authority to search engines, as it lets them know you have created a structured collection of information around a subject.
Above anything else, Google wants to show readers the most helpful search results first. A well-designed content cluster will tick all their boxes – and bring you more leads as a result.
Within your overall content strategy, you need an effective lead magnet to hook people in.
There is no magic number for how many lead magnets you should develop for a content cluster, as different audiences and topics require different things.
The most important thing is that any lead magnet you create delivers loads of value.
ScoreApp quizzes, for example, provide personalised reports to each person who fills them in, and you can easily segment your audience and send them to your relevant cluster content to build authority and trust.
9 Content Cluster Mistakes to Avoid
Ok, now let’s get into what not to do…
1. Unfocused content clusters
Each piece of your cluster content needs to focus on a specific subtopic that can be directly related to the overall pillar page.
If your cluster content is too broad or doesn’t logically link to your main topic, it will confuse readers and search engines. Not only does this diminish the SEO benefits that content clusters provide, but it will reduce the number of qualified leads you attract.
For example: If your pillar is “The Ultimate Guide to Digital Marketing”, you don’t want to start talking about other types of marketing like print marketing or telemarketing. These would form their own content clusters!
Instead, you will want to dive into the topics within digital marketing individually, such as:
- Social media
- Blog posts
- Video
- Podcasts
- Email marketing
Creating content clusters takes time. You need to be strategic to get the best return on your efforts.
The key to a focused content cluster is planning. You need to be clear on the overall topic and each relevant sub-topic that will sit underneath.
Semrush has written a great blog that provides some guidance on planning your content clusters.
Well-linked content clusters allow you to prove your expertise over and over again. Not only does this help you generate leads, but you will also become the natural choice for a purchase.
2. Unrelated topics to your main offers
Now you’re attracting leads through your content clusters. So, what are you offering them?
To make the most of the traffic you’re generating, you need to have something to sell.
Make sure your content clusters are designed to upsell. You could write 50 blog posts about an interesting topic. However, if they don’t relate to your main offers, your readers will stay just that, rather than becoming leads.
For example, if you offer website design services, you could write a blog post about the importance of investing in copywriting to improve conversions.
At the end of this sub-topic, you should offer a copywriting service that complements your offering and makes your customer’s life easier.
With ScoreApp, you can integrate your quiz with your email marketing platform or CMS to segment your audience based on their answers and provide links to relevant cluster content alongside tailored product or service recommendations.
3. Poor internal linking structures
The real power behind your content clusters comes from strong internal linking between your pillar page and your supporting sub-posts.
If you forget to strategically interlink your content, it will weaken the cluster’s SEO potential and your lead generation opportunities.
Create a spreadsheet to keep track of each of your content clusters. Add in the name of your pillar and each sub-topic, and then make notes for all the links you make between pieces.
Keep updating this as you add new pieces to your content cluster to maximise the potential of every post.
4. Ignoring search intent
Each piece of content in your cluster should be tailored to answer the specific needs of your target audience, to help guide them further down your customer journey.
To capture new leads, you need to understand their search intent, and answer questions before they have even asked them!
Sit down and brainstorm all the questions people could be searching about your main pillar. This will help you choose the correct sub-topics to cover.
Here are some questions you could ask yourself:
- Which topics do my target audience care about?
- Which topics are most relevant to my products and services?
- What content do you already have to hand?
- Which topics have performed well in the past?
- Which topics are my competitors talking about?
This is where a lead magnet comes in – and you can use different ones for different stages of the journey to keep people moving and engaging with your content cluster.
You will likely need a different lead magnet for each product or service you offer, and you may require individual ones for specific sub-posts.
Your customer journey will broadly be split into three different parts: Awareness, Consideration, and Conversion.
Based on your audience’s needs, here are lead magnets you could use for each stage:
Awareness: An interactive quiz that generates a personalised report for your lead.
Consideration: A comparison piece or a sub-topic from your cluster with more information, based on the area your lead needs the most help with.
Conversion: A free trial, demo, or discount for the related product or service you offer.
5. Not regularly updating content
Remember how we talked about the difference between content clusters and content bursts?
Content clusters need to be regularly updated. Letting these posts stagnate can harm their relevance and search rankings.
Update your pillar page with fresh information at least once a year. You may need to do this more frequently if a topic is regularly evolving and changing.
The best way to remember to do this is to add a reminder to your diary. Otherwise, it will slip off your to-do list!
If an article refers to an annual report or other regularly updated statistic, note the date it typically comes out on your content spreadsheet. That way, you will remember to look for the updated information when the following year’s information is published.
6. Ignoring call-to-actions
It’s not enough to have great content. You need to tell people what to do next.
Each piece of content within your cluster needs an actionable call-to-action (CTA) to encourage the reader to engage with you further.
This CTA will change depending on the content itself, but could include:
- Subscribing to your newsletter
- Downloading a resource
- Contacting you to arrange a free trial
If you have a relevant quiz or mini-course, you should also include CTAs to signpost people towards them within your cluster posts.
7. Not creating original content
When creating a cluster, it’s easy to base it on the work of other people.
Being inspired is one thing. But if your content clusters are repurposing other people’s ideas, you might find that it detracts from your lead generation opportunities.
Creating resources from original research gives you another opportunity to establish yourself as the authority in your niche.
Instead of sharing other people’s opinions, stories, and case studies, you will be creating your own using real feedback!
You can link your original research to your pillar page and each cluster page – but the SEO benefits are even greater than that.
Other websites will often link to your research to include it in their content, which boosts your authority and your opportunity to be found by even more leads!
Quizzes provide a brilliant opportunity to collect original research data in an engaging way. You can design insightful questions, and collect, segment, and analyse data to help create your content cluster topics.
We have dozens of ready-to-use templates and real customer Scorecards you can use as inspiration.
8. Not doing a deep dive into the topic
A common content cluster mistake is choosing too broad a topic as your overall pillar page.
This can lead to shallow content that lacks focus or insight.
People read your content because they want to learn about specific topics in detail. You need to choose a topic that is broad enough to generate many subtopics, but specific enough that you can provide in-depth value through each cluster post.
For example: if you run a marketing agency, making your pillar “The Ultimate Guide to Marketing” is too broad. There are too many big topics under this umbrella that could be covered as pillars in their own right.
Choosing “The Ultimate Guide to Content Marketing”, however, is still a broad topic, but it has lots of niche topics you could cover in detail.
9. Not analysing what’s working (or what isn’t)
Finally, the only way to understand if your content cluster is effective is by tracking your results.
Don’t forget to regularly evaluate where your leads are coming from, and use data and analytics to optimise your content and do more of what works.
Here are some of the analytics you should keep track of on your website:
- Number of post views
- Average time on a page
- Bounce rate
- Click through rates
- Conversion rates
You should also monitor how often your cluster posts are shared, how they perform on social media, and any feedback or comments you receive.
Don’t forget about your quiz data too!
With ScoreApp, you can access every detail about the people who fill out your quiz – even if they don’t finish it. You can analyse overall scores, category scores, individual answers, and even how long people spend answering each question.
Get more sales from content clusters with ScoreApp lead magnets
When created effectively, content clusters can help you establish yourself as the go-to authority in your niche, improve your search engine rankings, and – most importantly – create engaging, value-packed content that turns curious readers into hot leads!
ScoreApp is an all-in-one platform that can help attract leads to your content clusters and provides all the tools you need to create a consistently full sales funnel.
Sign up today, and you can also join the waitlist for our brand-new Lead Generation Toolkit, which includes invaluable assets such as:
- Video scripts to help you create a mini-course lead magnet
- Social media swipe files
- Blog post templates to speed up your content cluster creation
- Email templates and prompts
- Promotional tools and graphics templates
And much more!
Discover how much easier creating content clusters can be, and try ScoreApp today for FREE.
