Perfecting Your Topic Selection
Last updated
Last updated
While you can generate a single topic map to cover a niche, certain niches have a very dense amount of information, which often means you can generate multiple maps for a single niche.
For example, "MORTGAGE" could be a topic that offers broad categories.
You could also create a topic map for "FHA LOAN" or "CONVENTIONAL LOANS" or "VA LOANS".
An easy way to tell if you are in a niche that could benefit from multiple topic maps is to check the SERP.
In the screenshot, you'll see many SERP features: rates, overview, calculator, process, refinance, relief, popular terms, interest rate, planning, key terms, about, meaning, purpose, contents, house meaning.
The richer the SERP the more obvious it becomes that you have a dense topic.
For service businesses like "roofing", you can use a couple approaches.
Roofing
Roofing Contractor
Residential Roofing
Commercial Roofing
The more specific you get, the more likely you'll get the exact keywords you want, but the more limited your map will become.
The more broad you go, the more likely you'll have little pockets of info missing, but for a 1st sweep, broad is usually the best way to go.
When you add terms like "business", "contractor", and "service", you'll get more topics around the business perspective. Categories from the business perspective usually expand into legal, environment, and management, but they also go deeper into the service details.
Topic maps are primarily concerned with unpacking the root entity. Location is not the entity of focus, so a topic map that uses "ROOFER SEATTLE" is not the suggested way to do topic maps.
The only time you should add location to a topic map is when the location impacts the entity itself.
For example, Lawyer Phoenix Arizona.
Laws change from location to location so the entity of Lawyer has an understood connection to LOCATION.
Marijuana in Texas is another example where location can impact the entity. Legalization is a massive attribute of the entity "marijuana", therefore, a topic map built around Marijuana in Texas can potentially work.
IMPORTANT NOTE
You should probably start with the main entity "Roofing Guide" or "Roofing Services" or "Residential Roofing" or "Roofing" and build a topic map around this topic first. You can always add a custom category that uses the location. If you add a custom category with location, the fetched research will not include much about the location, so this category might not provide the best results, but it is worth testing out if you really want a keyword with location.
Don't worry, it only costs 1 credit to generate categories and you can edit the category names, delete categories, or create your own. The topic map tool is flexible. The only thing that is changing is the backend AI that is fetching the research to help generate the map. We find keywords and questions and NLP terms based on the topic you've selected.
Some topics are very small and you won't have a large topic map as a result. The more narrow your topic, the smaller your topic map will become.
