Why Publishing Broadly Didn’t Drive Real Search Ownership

Instead of broad themes, build topic clusters for SEO that mirror micro-moments—people act on a need to learn or solve a problem the second it pops up. Example? “How to give feedback to engineers.” Not a big, abstract question. Just the thing they’re stuck on right now, in plain language. People search in micro-moments, hitting Google at that exact point of friction. That’s what most of us miss. The needle isn’t moving on broad topics. It’s moving on timely, actionable problems.

Here’s the challenge I want you to try. If someone Googles a problem in your space—a precise, actionable issue—does your site show up with a direct answer? Not just your homepage but a specific post mapped exactly to their question. That’s real ownership. That’s being the source, not just someone talking about the field in general. To own a pillar, your site has to solve problems exactly the way people describe them.

I had the volume. But I couldn’t name a single pillar I owned. If I couldn’t see the structure, Google couldn’t either. All those scattered posts were whispers in the wind, never adding up to an answer that stuck.

How Search Intent and Authority Actually Work

Broad topics miss the mark. Real users aren’t searching for “leadership” or “management.” They want answers to sharp, immediate problems. It’s the mismatch that stunts rankings. If your article covers everything, it rarely nails what the searcher actually needs.

Search engines see and reward sites that build topic clusters for SEO, not just words. When your site organizes around pillar pages—core, comprehensive guides—and deeply interlinked spokes addressing specific challenges, it looks different in the crawl. The way those pages connect, mapping out precise problems and solutions, signals to Google that you really know the terrain. It’s almost like you’re building out a living, breathing map of a single topic with clear paths from every corner back to the center.

Imagine your site’s “feedback” cluster—a clear example of topic cluster SEO. The pillar page walks through how to give feedback to engineers, why it breaks down, common pitfalls, and best practices. Each spoke drills into a focused issue—maybe handling defensive reactions, running post-mortems, or scaling feedback in remote teams. Internal links weave everything together, guiding readers and search bots alike. The result? Google crawls this cluster and thinks, this person owns the feedback topic. Every relevant query has a mapped answer, and your authority is unmistakable.

So let’s pivot. Instead of chasing breadth, picture a handful of sharp pillar topics, each with its own cluster in a pillar and spoke model. That’s what real search ownership looks like.

What Are Pillars and Spokes? (And How One Feedback Cluster Works)

A pillar is your home base in a content pillar strategy. A sweeping, in-depth guide on a real, recurring problem like giving feedback. Spokes are the sharp subtopics branching off—narrow, high-intent posts that break the big idea into answers for actual questions. This flips all-your-posts-on-everything into one anchor surrounded by direct links, reframing scattered breadth into deep, interlinked depth. The pillar model means your main hub sits at the center, anchoring the overarching topic for readers and search engines (source).

Let me ground this with a real example. “The Complete Guide to Giving Feedback as an Engineering Manager” isn’t just a roll-up of abstract advice. From a pillar page SEO perspective, the pillar page covers a full sweep. Scope (from prepping feedback to follow-up), clear structure (sectioned for common sticking points, from remote feedback to performance reviews), and links out to specific answers. You’d walk through frameworks, classic failure modes, timing, and examples. The table of contents is more than navigation. It’s a map for deep dives.

Occasionally, you point the reader off to a spoke with detailed guides. Handling defensive reactions. Feedback for different levels. Making criticism actionable. Common emotional landmines. Every spoke links back, so the reader and Google both know: this is where the topic starts and ends.

Honestly, reworking site structure feels a lot like tackling a cluttered pantry. Once things are grouped together, you spend less time rummaging—and clusters do the same for search, cutting friction for your readers.

Let’s get practical. One spoke in your feedback pillar zeroes in on something everyone asks. Feedback for senior vs junior engineers. It’s a nuanced issue, and breaking it out into its own focused article admits that a one-size-fits-all answer never worked well.

Another spoke goes where the emotions flare up. How to handle defensive reactions. If you’re serious about covering feedback, you need real strategies for hard moments. Not just vague positivity, but tools people actually use when the conversation gets tense.

How to Build Topic Clusters for SEO with Problem‑Based Pillars and Interlinked Clusters

Start by laying everything out on the table. Take a full inventory of your current posts and sort each one by the reader’s real intent. Not just the topic you thought you were writing about, but the problem someone would type into search. Handling difficult feedback. Running effective retros. Promoting staff engineers. You’ll notice gaps—places where you thought you’d covered a topic but never hit the specific questions people actually ask.

Here’s the honest truth. Pausing the push for new articles might sting, but it’s often necessary. Rebuilding your structure takes focus, and spreading yourself thin only fragments what little authority you’ve built. If you’re like me, you may feel restless not publishing—but this is the moment to step back, group what matters, and accept that a short publishing pause will pay off.

Six months ago I would have dismissed the idea of a publishing break. The habit was almost automatic. But looking back, the posts I rolled out quickly never lined up to form clusters—they were just isolated efforts.

You don’t want scope creep sneaking in. Another right-sized pillar is promoting engineers to staff level. It’s a tightly focused problem that engineers and managers actually Google, rather than vague musings on career growth. Stay direct here. Cluster only what truly belongs.

With pillars chosen, design your pillar pages as comprehensive guides. Think deep dives on each unique problem. Each pillar should link out to focused spokes. Tightly scoped posts tackling sub-questions like written vs verbal feedback. Internal linking for SEO isn’t just decoration. They’re pathways, guiding both readers and search crawlers back to your core pillar and across related answers. Every spoke circles back to its pillar, ensuring none of your expertise gets siloed or lost in the shuffle.

If you’re worried this shift means missing out on traffic or halting your momentum, you’re not alone. It’s easy to fear that narrowing scope risks relevance or that you’ll lose time without new posts rolling out. But what’s really happening is a compounding effect. Each focused, interlinked cluster grows authority with the right audience, stacking trust instead of scattering it. The hard part is giving up the comfort of constant output for a slow, foundational build—but the payoff is real. Shift your energy. The readers landing on your pillar pages will be the ones looking for exactly what you offer.

Measuring Progress and Keeping Pillars Strong

You’ll want to track the metrics that actually reflect ownership. Not just total traffic or vague visibility. Watch for rankings on your key pillar and spoke queries, not just the broad ones. Qualified traffic tells you if the right readers are landing (real managers, not random browsers). Internal link paths matter more than most people think. The more seamless the routes between your pillars and spokes, the easier it is for users (and search crawlers) to understand your structure. Engagement depth is another marker. If people come in through a spoke and stick around for two or three more pages, you’re building real interest.

Don’t set and forget this system. Every few weeks, scan for gaps and add new spokes when you see rising search intent. Put pillar page refreshes on a quarterly calendar. Outdated guides hurt trust fast. Thin, overlapping posts? Combine or prune them so every piece adds sharp, targeted value. Check regularly for keyword cannibalization. It creeps in when spokes start competing for the same intent.

To be honest, there are still weeks I feel the pull to just hit publish on something new and broad. I know the discipline matters, but sometimes it’s hard to resist old habits. Maybe that tension never fully goes away.

None of this is about quantity. It’s a pivot from trying to win “enough” to being known for solving real problems. When you focus on recognizable issues and build tightly linked clusters, you stop chasing volume and start signaling expertise anyone can trust.