Academy
Cluster 03 / 08
Content SEO
The strategy layer that decides what to write, how to structure it, and when to refresh it. Search intent, keyword research, topic clusters, E-E-A-T, audits, and topical authority.
Content SEO is the strategic layer above on-page optimisation. The on-page article handles title tags and meta descriptions; the content layer decides what to write in the first place, how to structure clusters, when to refresh, and how to build topical authority that compounds over years.
This is the Content SEO cluster — seven articles that establish the strategy framework. Read in order if you're building a content programme from scratch, or jump to the chapter that matches the gap in your current operation.
The compounding rule: get the strategy right and every article published reinforces topical authority on the theme. Get it wrong and articles ship for years without ever cohering into authority.
Articles in this cluster
Read in order, or jump to the chapter you need. Each article ends with a link to the next one.
01Chapter 01 of 07Keyword research
How modern keyword research actually works in 2026 — discovery, intent classification, difficulty scoring, clustering, and the prioritisation framework that decides what to write first.
11 min readRead chapter
02Chapter 02 of 07Search intent
The four intent categories that decide which content format wins, how to read intent off the SERP in 30 seconds, and the intent mismatches that quietly tank rankings.
9 min readRead chapter
03Chapter 03 of 07Topic clusters
Pillar pages, supporting articles, internal links — the architecture that signals topical authority and lets a site rank for hundreds of related queries from one well-built theme.
8 min readRead chapter
04Chapter 04 of 07E-E-A-T
Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness — what each signal actually means in 2026, where Google reads them from, and the on-page changes that move the needle.
9 min readRead chapter
05Chapter 05 of 07Content audits
How to systematically score every URL on your site for keep / refresh / merge / kill, the data sources that drive each verdict, and the audit cadence that compounds over years.
9 min readRead chapter
06Chapter 06 of 07Content refreshes
When refreshing existing content beats writing new content, the structural changes that move rankings, the cosmetic ones that don't, and the scoring framework for picking refresh candidates.
8 min readRead chapter
07Chapter 07 of 07Topical authority
What topical authority actually is, the signals that build it (and the ones that don't), and the multi-year programme structure that turns a generalist site into the recognised expert in its niche.
9 min readRead chapter