When you open your website’s search report, you might see hundreds of queries: best running shoes for beginners, marathon running shoes, how to choose running trainers and so on. Each query has its own click data, but what you may really want to know is: how has the running shoes topic been performing lately?
Topic Clusters bring together search queries relating to the same topic so that you can review their combined performance. In practical terms, they let you categorise individual queries and give each group a clear, recognisable name.
If you are new to SEO, this guide uses a running equipment website to explain what these groups are, how they are created and what they can help you assess.
The website and data in this guide are fictional examples. They demonstrate calculation and analysis methods, but do not represent the performance of a real website or promise traffic growth.
1. What are Topic Clusters?
Suppose you run a website about running equipment. People might find it through these searches:
| What someone searches for on Google | Topic you care about |
|---|---|
| best running shoes for beginners | Running shoes |
| marathon running shoes | Running shoes |
| how to choose running trainers | Running shoes |
| best running watch | Running watches |
The first three queries are worded differently, but they are all about running shoes. Putting them into a group called “Running shoes” creates a Topic cluster for SEO analysis.
Two terms can be easy to confuse here:
- Query: what someone actually types into Google, such as “best running shoes for beginners”.
- Matching term: a term you use to identify a topic, such as “running shoes” or “running trainers”.
Google Search Console reports data by query. In alook, Topic Clusters bring together different queries containing your matching terms, so you can review overall performance by the topics that matter to you.
2. How is a Topic cluster created?
There are three steps: choose a topic, set its matching terms, then combine the search data that matches them.
Step one: Choose a topic that matters to you
Start with one of your website’s main products, services or areas of content.
For a running equipment website, suitable topics could include “Running shoes”, “Running watches” and “Running training”. When you are getting started, creating 3–5 topics makes them easier to review and refine.
Step two: Add matching terms for the topic
For example, you could add this topic:
Topic name: Running shoes
Matching terms: running shoes, running trainers
The topic name is a label that helps you recognise the group. The matching terms are what determine which queries are included.
In alook, a query is included in the topic if it contains either matching term. A query only needs to contain one of the terms, and matching ignores capitalisation.
- “best running shoes for beginners” contains “running shoes”, so it is included.
- “marathon running shoes” contains “running shoes”, so it is included.
- “how to choose running trainers” contains “running trainers”, so it is included.
- “best sports shoes” contains neither term, so it is not included automatically.
Choose matching terms by looking at the queries people actually use. Matching is based on literal text: the system will not treat “sports shoes” and “running shoes” as the same term simply because their meanings are related.
Step three: Review the matching data together
Suppose you have the following data for the same 28-day reporting period:
| Query | Clicks |
|---|---|
| best running shoes for beginners | 120 |
| marathon running shoes | 90 |
| how to choose running trainers | 60 |
| best running watch | 80 |
The click total for the “Running shoes” topic is:
120 + 90 + 60 = 270 clicks.
The 80 clicks from “best running watch” do not belong to this topic, so they are not included.
Those 270 clicks already existed in your search data. Creating a topic only brings them together for reporting; it does not generate additional traffic.
3. How does it help with SEO analysis?
See whether a topic is growing or declining overall
Looking at a single query can sometimes give you the wrong impression about the wider trend.
Using the “Running shoes” topic again, compare two consecutive 28-day periods of the same length:
| Query | Previous-period clicks | Current-period clicks |
|---|---|---|
| best running shoes for beginners | 80 | 120 |
| marathon running shoes | 60 | 90 |
| how to choose running trainers | 80 | 60 |
| Running shoes topic total | 220 | 270 |
“how to choose running trainers” fell from 80 clicks to 60, a decline of 25%. However, the whole “Running shoes” topic grew from 220 clicks to 270, an increase of about 22.7%.
A decline in one query does not mean that the whole topic is performing worse. Topic grouping helps you understand the overall direction first, before returning to individual queries to investigate what changed.
Identify which area of the business needs attention first
Large changes can be hidden even when your website’s total clicks remain steady.
| Topic | Previous-period clicks | Current-period clicks | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Running shoes | 220 | 270 | +22.7% |
| Running watches | 180 | 130 | -27.8% |
| Total | 400 | 400 | 0% |
Looking only at the total, the website appears stable. Separating the topics shows that running shoes gained 50 clicks while running watches lost 50.
If running watches are one of your main product lines, you may want to prioritise reviewing the related queries and pages. Rankings might have fallen, content could be out of date or people’s search needs may have changed.
Topic data points you towards areas that deserve attention. To understand the specific cause, you still need to consider the relevant queries, pages and timing.
Give your content work a consistent focus for monitoring
Suppose you update a running shoe buying guide and add several articles for beginners choosing their first pair. You can then keep monitoring the “Running shoes” topic instead of selecting a long list of queries again each time.
If topic clicks grow over several periods, that gives you a reason to investigate how those pages are performing. If there is no change, you can check whether the content addresses real questions, whether its pages are receiving impressions and whether their rankings have improved.
Content updates and growth happening at the same time are not enough to prove that the updates caused the growth. Your analysis should also account for seasonality, promotions and changes in search demand. A single fluctuation should not be treated as a long-term conclusion.
4. Why are Topic Clusters important?
Most website goals relate to a type of product, service or customer problem, rather than one fixed wording of a search query.
If your report contains 1,000 queries, comparing each one individually takes time. Reviewing a few important topics first can help you answer questions such as:
- Which area is attracting more clicks from search?
- Which area is declining and should be investigated first?
- Is a content area I have recently invested in showing a change worth monitoring?
Topic grouping makes analysis more relevant to your business. Clicks show that people reached your website through search, but you will need conversion data to determine whether those visits led to registrations, enquiries or orders.
5. How do I get started in alook?
- Open Your sites and select the website you want to analyse.
- Find Topic Clusters under SEO overview, then click Add Topic clusters.
- Enter a Topic name, such as “Running shoes”.
- Enter the Matching terms, such as “running shoes, running trainers”. Separate multiple terms with commas or line breaks.
- Click Save topic cluster. The table will refresh to show the topic’s clicks for the selected date range and whether its trend is growing, declining or unchanged.
If you are unsure which terms to enter, click Analyze and add with AI in the dialog. AI will use recently synced queries from the website to generate topic names and matching terms, then save the new topics directly. Existing topics remain in place, and duplicate suggestions are skipped.
You should still review AI suggestions in the context of your business. To change a topic’s name or matching terms, or to delete it, click Edit in the relevant row under SEO overview. All topic actions are available there.
If no search data is available yet, you can sync the website first or create a topic manually.
Start with the business area that matters most to you. After monitoring it for a while, use your actual search queries to add matching terms or narrow the matching scope.
To review the performance of all blog articles or a particular type of product page, use Content Groups. Content Groups categorise pages using their URLs, whereas Topic Clusters group search queries.
6. Points to remember before using Topic Clusters
Will adding a topic improve my rankings?
Adding a topic only changes how your data is grouped. It does not alter your webpages, search rankings or clicks. Its value is in helping you identify areas to improve or continue monitoring.
Can one query belong to more than one topic?
Yes. For example, if the “Running shoes” topic has the matching term “running shoes” and the “Marathon equipment” topic has the matching term “marathon”, the query “marathon running shoes” will be included in both topics. Different topics can overlap, so you should not add all topic click totals together and treat the result as your website’s total clicks. Within a single topic, a query is counted only once even if it matches more than one term.
Why does my new topic show 0 clicks?
First, check whether the selected date range contains search data with queries that include your matching terms. Then check that the terms reflect the wording people actually use. Entering only a topic name without valid matching terms will not produce a meaningful total.
Google Search Console also hides some queries for privacy reasons, and query data is limited by the available reporting data. As a result, totals based on visible queries may not cover every click to your website. See Google’s Search Console performance report documentation for more information.
You can now add a topic for your website: choose an important area, enter the matching terms people commonly use and review how that area performed over the past 28 days.