# Topic clusters: the hub, the spokes, and the links that make them one thing

A topic cluster is one hub page covering a subject at the level of an overview, and a set of pages each covering one part of it, linked in both directions. It works because it gives search engines one obvious page for the broad query and many for the specific ones. Here is how to build one that is not just a list of links.

Updated 2026-09-15 · Source: https://porteur.ai/guides/topic-clusters

## What a cluster actually is

Three things: a hub page about the whole subject, several pages about one part of it each, and links running both ways. The pattern is also called a pillar page with its cluster, or hub and spokes. The names do not matter; the links do.

- The hub answers the broad query ("search console") and says what the subject is, what the parts are, and in what order to work through them.
- Each spoke answers one specific query ("crawled currently not indexed") completely, so it never needs the hub to make sense.
- Every spoke links up to the hub; the hub links down to every spoke; spokes link across where one genuinely depends on another.
- One page per query cluster, so no two spokes compete for the same search.

Google does not have a "cluster" feature. What it has is a system that reads internal links to understand structure, and pages that rank on specificity. A cluster is a way of building for both at once.

## What makes a hub a real page rather than a list

Most hubs fail the same way: a heading, two sentences and twenty links. That page has no reason to rank for the broad query, because it answers nothing, and nobody links to it, because there is nothing to cite.

| The part | The list version | The hub worth publishing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Opening | "Here are our articles about page speed." | What page speed is measured by, which three numbers Google uses, and what they are for. |
| Middle | A grid of titles. | The order to work through the subject, and why: what to fix first on a site that has never been measured. |
| The links | Twenty equal links. | Grouped by the decision the reader is making, each with one line saying when they need it. |
| The end | Nothing. | What to do this week, and how to tell whether it worked. |

A hub is the page you would write if someone asked you to explain the subject in ten minutes. The links are how they continue afterwards, not the content.

> A test: remove every link from the hub. Is anything left that a reader would thank you for? If not, it is a category page, and category pages do not rank for broad queries.

## How many spokes before a hub is worth it

Below four or five spokes, the hub and the spokes compete: the hub covers everything thinly and each spoke repeats it. Build the spokes first, and add the hub when the subject has enough parts that a reader would get lost without a map.

1. **Write two or three spokes** Pick the specific queries you can answer best. They rank on their own, because specificity is what a small site wins on.
2. **Watch the queries they pick up** In Search Console, the Performance report shows the searches those pages appear for. The broad ones you are shown on and rank badly for are the hub's query.
3. **Write the hub when there are five or more** Now the hub has something to organise, and something to link to that already ranks.
4. **Add spokes as the questions arrive** Every new spoke gets linked from the hub the day it is published, not in a later tidying pass that never comes.

There is no upper limit that matters. A subject with thirty parts is a subject with thirty spokes, as long as each part is a real question somebody asks.

## The link pattern, exactly

The links are the cluster. Get them wrong and you have a folder of unrelated pages.

1. Every spoke links to the hub, once, high on the page, with the subject as the anchor text: "page speed" rather than "click here" or "our pillar page".
2. The hub links to every spoke, grouped, with one line of context each.
3. Spokes link across only where one needs the other: the guide on layout shift links to the guide on image dimensions because the fix lives there.
4. The breadcrumb on each spoke names the hub, which gives a second path and marks the hierarchy.
5. Nothing links to a page that does not exist yet, however good the plan.

The anchor text is the part people get wrong. Internal anchors are fully under your control, so write them as the subject of the page you are linking to. That is the description search engines read, and it is what tells a reader whether to follow.

## A worked map for one topic

Take a fictional product, yourproduct.com, that helps people import data. The subject is data import, and the cluster looks like this.

| Page | The query it answers | Links to |
| --- | --- | --- |
| /guides/data-import (hub) | "data import" | Every spoke, grouped by file type and by problem. |
| /guides/import-csv | "how to import a csv" | Hub, plus the encoding spoke. |
| /guides/csv-encoding-errors | "csv encoding error" | Hub, plus the CSV spoke. |
| /guides/import-from-google-sheets | "import from google sheets" | Hub. |
| /guides/import-limits | "csv import row limit" | Hub, plus the pricing page. |
| /glossary/delimiter | "what is a delimiter" | The CSV spoke. |

The hub ranks for the broad query because it explains importing data properly. The spokes rank for the specific ones because each answers one completely. The product page gets linked from the spoke where limits are the reason someone pays.

## The four mistakes that break a cluster

- Two spokes on the same query. They split the impressions and neither wins. Merge them and redirect one.
- A hub that repeats the spokes. The hub says what the subject is and how the parts fit; it does not explain each part.
- Links added only at the hub. A spoke with no link back is an orphan in everything but name.
- A cluster built from a keyword tool rather than from questions. If you cannot say who asks the question and why, the page has no reader.

> Cannibalisation shows up in the Performance report as two of your pages trading places on one query, with neither above the other consistently. That is the signal to merge.

## How to tell whether the cluster is working

Judge the cluster, not the pages. A spoke that loses a little while the hub gains and the group gains overall is a cluster doing its job.

1. **Filter the Performance report to the folder** Set a page filter that contains the cluster's path. That is the cluster's total impressions and clicks.
2. **Compare periods** The last 28 days against the 28 before, then against the same period last year once you have the history.
3. **Read the queries, not just the totals** New queries appearing is the cluster earning breadth. The same queries with better positions is it earning depth.
4. **Check the hub separately** If the hub has impressions on the broad query and no clicks, the title is the problem, not the cluster.

## Questions

### What is the difference between a topic cluster and a pillar page?

The pillar page is the hub: the page covering the whole subject. The cluster is the hub plus its spokes and the links between them. People use the terms interchangeably, which is harmless as long as everyone means the same structure.

### Should the hub or the spokes be written first?

The spokes. Specific pages rank faster on a small site, and until you have several the hub has nothing to organise. Write the hub when the subject has five or more parts and the reader would benefit from a map.

### How long should a hub page be?

Long enough to explain the subject and short enough to be read: the pages ranking for the broad query are the brief. A hub that only lists links is too short whatever its word count, because it answers nothing.

### Do topic clusters actually help rankings?

Not as a feature Google recognises by name. They help because one page per query prevents cannibalisation, internal links tell search engines what a page is about and make deep pages reachable, and thorough coverage is what the helpful content guidance describes.

### Can a page belong to two clusters?

Yes, and it often should. A guide on image optimisation belongs to both the speed cluster and the content cluster. Link it from both hubs and give it one breadcrumb, from the hub it fits best.

## Read next

- [Pillar page](https://porteur.ai/glossary/pillar-page): A pillar page is a hub that covers a whole topic and links to deeper pages. See when to use it, how to structure the cluster and what to measure.
- [Internal linking for a small site: which pages link to which](https://porteur.ai/guides/internal-linking-for-seo): Decide which pages rank. Build hubs, write clear anchors, fix orphans, and crawl your site to map links you control.
- [Topical authority](https://porteur.ai/glossary/topical-authority): What topical authority means, how to plan a topical map, link hubs, and read real signals without chasing third party scores.
- [Keyword cannibalization: two pages, one search, and how to fix it](https://porteur.ai/guides/keyword-cannibalization): Two pages ranking for one query cost you clicks. See it in Search Console, pick a winner, merge or canonicalise, and know when to keep both.
- [Topical map](https://porteur.ai/glossary/topical-map): A topical map is the searches in a category, grouped into clusters, and the pages to answer each. Build it, measure it, and avoid the traps.
- [How to build a glossary that earns traffic and links](https://porteur.ai/guides/how-to-write-a-glossary): Which terms deserve an entry, the shape that makes one useful, how entries link to your guides, and the line where a glossary turns into thin pages.
- [When to merge two pages, and how to do it without losing the ranking](https://porteur.ai/guides/when-to-merge-pages): Two pages target the same searches. Here is when to merge, which URL to keep, how to fold content, and how to redirect without losing the ranking.

Paste your URL and the free check reads your site and the searches around it in about thirty seconds, then shows which pages already compete with each other and which subject is worth a hub. Free check: https://porteur.ai/