What Are Power Hubs (Topical Authority)?
You don’t need to be Forbes or Healthline to dominate the SERPs. You just need to organize your content like they do.
We used “Power Hubs” to grow a health site’s traffic by 61% in 6 months… and go from 1,405 to 2,288 ranking keywords.
Here’s how you can do the same (even if you’re not a DR90 giant):
First, what are “Power Hubs”?
They're strategically connected content clusters that convince Google you're THE authority on a topic.
Each Power Hub is built around:
• 1 comprehensive pillar page
• 4–8 in-depth cluster pages
• Smart internal linking between them
Why Power Hubs work so well:
• Rank for 5-10X more keywords with the same effort
• Keep users on your site longer
• Create multiple entry points to your content
• Reduce the risk of algorithm updates
Here’s how to build one:
Step 1: Pick your pillar topic
Open Ahrefs Keywords Explorer. (or SEMRush)
Search a broad topic in your niche (e.g., “vitamin D”).
Click “Terms Match,” then use the “Group by terms” filter.
You’re looking for groups with:
• High search volume
• Multiple variations
• Informational value
• Commercial intent
Example: “vegan pasta recipes” is ideal. It has depth and variations. “Pasta” alone is too broad.
Step 2: Find 4–8 strong clusters
Now take that pillar term (e.g., “vegan pasta recipes”) and plug it back into Ahrefs.
Use the same process to find related, more specific subtopics:
• “vegan pasta salad recipes”
• “pasta sauce recipes vegan”
• “vegan pasta dough recipes”
Each one becomes its own page, covering the subtopic in full.
Step 3: Write the pillar page
This is your foundation for the entire Power Hub.
It should:
• Cover the main topic comprehensively
• Include a table of contents
• Link to every cluster page
• Provide genuine value on its own
Search your main keyword in Google and analyze the top 5 results:
• What subheadings do they use?
• What questions do they answer?
• What content formats do they include?
• What's missing that you could add?
Then make yours better with original examples, unique data, better visuals, clearer structure.
Step 4: Write your cluster content
Each cluster page dives deep into its specific angle.
Same research process as the pillar:
• Study competitors
• Cover key variations
• Go deeper
• Link back to your pillar
Cluster pages allow for specialization.
While your pillar page gives a comprehensive overview, cluster pages dive deep into specific areas.
This creates the perfect balance between breadth and depth that Google rewards with higher rankings.
Step 5: Link everything the right way
Use this structure:
• Pillar → ALL cluster pages
• Each cluster → Pillar page
• Clusters → Other relevant clusters
• Other site pages → Both pillar and clusters
Be intentional with anchor text:
• From pillar → use keyword-rich anchors
• From clusters → use broad-topic anchors
• Vary your anchor text naturally
Bonus tip: Link from high-authority pages
If you have existing pages with strong backlinks or traffic, add contextual links from them to your new Power Hub.
This passes authority to your new content and helps it rank faster.
