Learn SEO, one short lesson at a time
Plain lessons on how sites get found on Google and recommended by AI. Written by the people who build growth plans every week.
Topical maps
What a topical map is, why it decides what ranks, and how to build, publish and measure one. Lessons in the order to read them.
- 1What is a topical map? Parts, links and orderA topical map plans every page a site needs on its subject, linked and in order. Its parts, where the idea came from, and two real maps opened up row by row.
- 2Topical authority: what it is and how to build itTopical authority with evidence beyond Google's docs: Koray's formula, a Microsoft patent, court records, and a real store that grew before it had many links.
- 3The other half of topical authority: links, mentions and reputationDo you need backlinks for topical authority? What links and mentions do that your pages cannot, what AI answers cite, and a store that grew 29x on few links.
- 4Topical map vs topic cluster vs keyword listA keyword list records searches, a topic cluster groups one subject's pages, a topical map plans the whole site. See all three on one store, with real data.
- 5How to build a topical map, step by stepBuild a topical map by hand in nine steps: source context, core and outer sections, searches, page or section, links and order. Worked map to download.
- 6One page per keyword? When a search deserves its own pageOne page per keyword is the wrong rule. Four questions decide whether a search gets its own page or a section, tested on ten real pairs, with a worksheet.
- 7Topical map examples: three real maps, opened upThree real topical maps opened up row by row: an online store, a service business and this library, with searches, publishing order, links and free CSVs.
- 8Topical map template for Google Sheets and Excel (free)A free topical map template for Google Sheets and Excel: six lines at the top, one row per page, a tab for searches with no page, checks and a worked example.
- 9What is a pillar page? Where it sits in a mapA pillar page heads one branch of a topical map. What makes a page a pillar, where the idea came from, and real pillars from a store and a service business.
- 10Internal links inside a topical map: who links whereWhich page links to which in a topical map, where the link sits, what its words say, what to do with pages not built yet, and one real branch, link by link.
- 11Keyword cannibalization: how to find, fix and prevent itFind keyword cannibalization by hand in Search Console, decide between merge, redirect, re-aim or leave, and give every search one owner page in your map.
- 12Publishing order: which pages of a map go live firstWhich pages of a topical map to publish first: six rules reconciled into one order, seasonal lead times, links to unpublished pages and a real branch.
- 13Expanding a topical map: what to add once the first pages are liveWhen a topical map is ready to grow, the four ways to expand it, how far is too far, where new page ideas come from, and how to add pages without breaking it.
- 14Content pruning: what to do with pages that do not belongContent pruning gives every page on your site one verdict: keep, update, merge, redirect, remove or noindex. The decision path, the checks and an audit sheet.
- 15Topical maps for ecommerce storesHow a store's topical map works: collections and products first, guides that feed them, which filters become pages, variants, out-of-stock pages, real rows.
- 16Topical maps for local and service businessesHow to plan a topical map for a local or service business: service, location and town pages, the doorway line, map pack limits, emergencies and real rows.
- 17Topical map tools and generators, tested on one siteI ran free topical map generators, AI clusterers, a chat assistant and shared-results clustering on one made-up salon and scored them on 7 checks.
- 18How to tell if a topical map is working after you publishWhat ranking looks like in the weeks after you publish a topical map, the six Search Console checks that show it working, and how AI answers change the reading.
Semantic SEO
The ideas under a topical map: entities, source context, information gain and how search engines and AI answers read a site. Lessons in the order to read them.
- 1Semantic SEO in plain words: entities and query fan-outSemantic SEO means writing for search engines that read things, not strings. Entities, query fan-out and passages, with dates, sources and a page checklist.
- 2Koray Tuğberk Gübür's topical map framework, in plain wordsKoray Tuğberk Gübür's topical map framework in plain words: each term with its source and year, the formula in every version, and what search engines confirm.
- 3Source context, central entity and central search intentThe three decisions Koray Tuğberk Gübür makes before any topical map, in plain words: why your site exists, what it is about and what visitors come to do.
- 4Core and outer sections: the two halves of a topical mapThe core section holds the pages that earn, the outer section the pages that explain and link in. Where to draw the line, real map numbers, and what is proven.
- 5Semantic content networks: turning a map into linked pagesA topical map is a plan. A semantic content network is the pages built from it: their angle, headings, order of ideas and links. Koray's parts, with one page.
- 6Information gain: how to make a page add what the top results lackInformation gain has three meanings. What Google's patent really claims, the research behind it, and a hand test to add what the top results lack.
- 7Cost of retrieval: why fewer, clearer pages can outrank moreCost of retrieval in SEO: what search engines spend on your pages, what Google, Bing and the court record confirm, and how to estimate yours in Search Console.
- 8Getting a topical map cited in AI answersHow AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Copilot, Perplexity and Claude choose the pages they cite, which crawlers to allow, how to see your citations, and what they cost.
- 9Where the topical map came from: topic maps to SEOThe topical map borrows from library classification, thesauri, concept maps, the ISO topic maps standard and link research. Who made each, when, and what to reuse.
Claude for SEO
How to use Claude for real SEO work, step by step, and where it still gets things wrong.
- 1Claude for SEO: what it is good at and where it gets it wrongI ran 34 SEO tests on Claude: six jobs it did well with data, five it got wrong without, why, a jobs table, Anthropic's crawler rules and what it costs.
- 2Build a topical map with Claude, then check every rowI built a topical map with Claude from my own facts and keyword export: eight real prompts, every mistake it made, how I caught each, and a checklist to keep.
- 3Claude skills for SEO: what they are and how to write oneWhat a Claude skill is, where it works and how it differs from a prompt or MCP, plus an SEO skill built from scratch and tested on live pages, to download.
- 4Content briefs with Claude: a template and a real testWhat a content brief is, the nine parts a good one holds, and how to draft one with Claude: a free template, real prompts, and every error caught in the test.
- 5Claude Code for SEO: setup, step by stepSet up Claude Code for SEO from zero: plans and prices, installing on Mac and Windows, a first session, four real jobs with outputs, and safe permissions.