Topically Relevant Content Significantly Outperformed Content That Didn’t Cover a Topic in-Depth

2 min read

We recently analyzed 1 million Google search results to answer the question: Which factors correlate with first page search engine rankings?
We looked at content. We looked at backlinks. We even looked at site speed. Backlinko released aspects of our research, highlighting the core values of MarketMuse’s technology and methodology offering.
From Brian’s notes:

“With the help of our data partners (including MarketMuse), we ran the largest search engine ranking factors study ever. Most other studies analyze around 10,000 keywords. This is a great start. However, it doesn’t begin to capture the breadth of millions of searches that happen every day. That’s why we decided to analyze 1 million Google search results. Yes, we looked at the traditional ranking factors (like keyword usage and site speed). However, we know that Google is getting better at understanding a page’s true topic. And we wanted to know how this influenced SEO in 2016. To find out, a subset of our data was procured and analyzed in MarketMuse. Our analysis found that content scored as highly Topically Relevant content clearly outperformed content with a low score. This supports the idea that in-depth, comprehensive content outperforms shallow content in Google’s search results.”

MarketMuse is the industry-leading technology for content planning and evaluation via semantic relevance. It combines advanced artificial intelligence, natural language processing, and machine learning algorithms to produce actionable insights for inbound marketers.

MarketMuse helps content marketers, search engine marketers, agencies and e-commerce managers establish and build topical authority, improve content quality and get the most out of every dollar spent on content.

Content Ideation
Content Inventory and Auditing
Content Planning
Content Updates and Existing Content Optimization
Topical Authority
Entering New Markets with Content and Site Strategy
Topic Research and Topic Gap Analysis
Finding and Fixing Low-Quality Content Issues
Landing Page Strategies
Editorial Planning and Editorial Plan Reviews

MarketMuse is a full-service agency that focuses on:

Creative and comprehensive coverage
High-quality content
Topical authority
User intent targeting
Competitive targeting
Business goal-focused content planning

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Jeff Coyle

Co-founder & Chief Strategy Officer at MarketMuse

Jeff is Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer at MarketMuse. He is a cross-disciplined, data-driven inbound marketing executive with 18+ years of experience managing products and website networks; focused on helping companies grow. You can follow him on Twitter or LinkedIn.