Topic clusters are a great way to improve SEO performance and, therefore, to increase relevant organic traffic to your website.

They also help to keep your content marketing organised and hyper-focused on the topics that your target audience actually cares about.

I often find that the best way to understand an approach like the topic cluster model is to see it in action.

So in this article we’ll take a look at 5 topic cluster examples from some of the best in the business and from my own experience as an in-house content marketer and freelance content writer: 

1. Hubspot topic cluster example: sales qualification
2. Semrush topic cluster example: content strategy
3. Zapier topic cluster example: remote work
4. Ravio topic cluster example: equity compensation
5. Lune topic cluster example: carbon project types

Hubspot topic cluster example: sales qualification

Hubspot have been talking about topic clusters since 2017, when they made the decision to restructure the Hubspot blog based on the topic cluster model.

Because of this, the Hubspot blog is a great place to head if you want to see how the topic cluster model works in practice for a content library.

Here’s one example topic cluster for sales qualification as a topic area. 

Pillar page: The ultimate guide to sales qualification

Cluster content:

• 16 sales qualification questions to identify prospects worth pursuing
• How to identify gatekeepers, influencers, decision makers, and blockers
• How to build a sustainable qualification framework
• The BANT framework 

Semrush topic cluster example: content strategy

Semrush is another great one for topic cluster examples. Which is unsurprising really, given that they’re an SEO tool themselves.

Here’s one example of theirs of a topic cluster for the topic of content marketing strategy.

Pillar page: The Ultimate Guide to Creating a Content Marketing Strategy

Cluster content:

• Marketing 101: What Is Audience Research?
• Target Audience: What It Is & How to Find Yours [+ Examples]
• What are backlinks?
• 18 Content Promotion Strategies to Use in 2024
• Influencer Marketing: What Is It and How to Build a Solid Strategy
• Paid Advertising 101: A Beginner’s Guide
• A Guide to Content Calendars (+ Free Templates for Making One)

Zapier topic cluster example: remote work

Automation tool Zapier has also seen success through adopting the topic cluster model for their content marketing.

Here’s an example of a Zapier topic cluster for the topic of remote working. Their pillar pages are particularly interesting to me, as they take things to the extreme by simply listing in bullet points the various pieces of cluster content for that topic area.

Pillar page: The Ultimate Guide to Remote Work

Cluster content:

• Why Zapier has always been remote 
• Automated workflows for remote working
• How to brainstorm remotely 
• The 7 biggest remote work challenges
• This is what a remote office looks like
• The best online whiteboard tools for remote teams 
• 25+ fully remote companies 

Ravio topic cluster example: equity compensation

Of course, this list of topic cluster examples wouldn’t be complete without including a couple of the content clusters that I’ve created myself over the years.

First up is Ravio’s equity compensation topic cluster.

Pillar page: The complete guide to equity compensation for startups. 

Cluster content:

• How to use equity refresh grants for employee loyalty and retention
• Should you grant equity compensation to all employees?
• What is the most common vesting schedule in European tech?
• How Ravio calculates equity benchmarks using the Black-Scholes Model

Lune topic cluster example: carbon project types

Another of mine – Lune’s topic cluster focused on the topic of carbon project types.

Pillar page: An overview of carbon project types 

Cluster content:

• Deep dive on afforestation carbon projects 
• Deep dive on Direct Air Capture (DAC) carbon projects
• Deep dive on enhanced weathering carbon projects
• Deep dive on ocean carbon removal carbon projects 
• An interview with the founders of Treeconomy 
• What makes a high quality carbon project? 
• Ex-ante vs ex-post vs pre-purchase carbon credits