What Is Topical Authority?

Topical authority is the degree to which search engines view a site as a trusted, comprehensive source on a particular subject, built by covering that subject in depth over time.

Example

A site that has published dozens of in-depth, interlinked articles covering every angle of personal finance is more likely to be seen as topically authoritative on that subject than a general blog with just one finance post.

Why it matters

Building topical authority through content clusters and consistent coverage can help newer or smaller pages rank faster, since the site’s overall subject-matter credibility supports individual pieces of content within that topic.