From random blog posts to a more structured SEO approach
I’ve been trying to take a different approach to SEO for my SaaS lately.
I’m definitely not an SEO expert — still learning and figuring things out as I go.
Instead of publishing random pages or chasing keywords, I started focusing on one core topic and building around it.
So basically:
- one main page that covers the topic properly
- then smaller pages that go deeper into specific parts
It’s still early, but it already feels way more structured than what I was doing before.
Before that, I was kind of just writing things without a clear direction.
Now it feels more like everything connects.
Curious if others here are doing something similar, or if you’re taking a completely different approach?
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This is basically the topic cluster approach and it works. I'm doing something similar with my site right now.
I have one main diagnostic tool on the site that covers the broad topic, and then individual pages that go deep on specific angles. Each article on Medium or answer on Quora links back to the main page, not to random posts. Everything points toward one central hub.
The difference I noticed compared to when I was just publishing random blog posts is that Google seems to take you more seriously when your content is connected. Instead of having 9 separate pages competing with each other, you have 9 pages supporting one core topic. It signals that you actually know what you're talking about.
One thing I'd add to what you're describing. The smaller pages don't all have to live on your site. I write articles on Medium with different angles than what's on my site, and they link back to the main page. That gives me both the SEO benefit of the cluster structure and the referral traffic from an external platform. Two channels feeding the same hub.
The key thing that changed my thinking was to stop asking "what should I write about next" and start asking "what question does my main page not answer yet." Every new piece of content fills a gap instead of floating on its own.
It's early for me too. Only a few pages indexed so far. But the structure already feels right, and the content that comes through organic search has way better engagement than anything random I published before.
That’s really interesting, especially the Medium part.
Do you use it as your main blog, or more like a secondary one to support your site and build backlinks to your hub? Or is it mainly for reaching a different audience?
More like a secondary channel with a specific purpose. My main content lives on the site. Medium serves two roles.
First, it reaches people who would never find my site through Google right now because most of my pages are not indexed yet. Medium has its own built-in audience of people browsing by topic. So an article about SaaS churn on Medium gets eyes that my site would not get on its own at this stage.
Second, every Medium article links back to the diagnostic tool on my site. So it functions as a referral channel that also happens to give me a backlink. The traffic from Medium has a 73% engagement rate, which is better than any other source I have right now. People who click through from a full article they already read tend to actually use the tool when they arrive.
The important thing is that I never duplicate content between the two. If the site has an article about CAC benchmarks, Medium gets an article about why most founders miscalculate their CAC. Same topic cluster, completely different angle. That way they support each other instead of competing.
If I had to start over, I would set up the site hub first and then use Medium from day one as a feeder. Waiting to build traffic on a new domain alone is painfully slow. Medium gives you something to work with while Google decides to trust you.
The shift from random to structured is where SEO actually starts compounding. Random posts answer questions nobody searched for. A structured approach means every post is building toward a cluster that Google can understand as authoritative on a topic. The intent mapping piece is what most people skip — and it's what separates posts that rank from posts that just exist.
Thanks, that really reassures me — I feel like I’m heading in the right direction.
I’m starting to see how different it is compared to just posting random content.
Do you think most people have already switched to this approach, or not really?
This is exactly the shift that changes results. Random pages are easy to write but Google has no idea what your site is actually about. The moment you build a cluster — one strong page that everything points back to — the whole site starts to make more sense to the algorithm. What's the core topic you picked?
Thank you for your comments; they confirm that I made the right choice.
I am currently testing several websites:
As for the latter, I launched it a little less than a month ago and am already seeing a significant number of impressions, but no clicks so far due to its ranking.
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Hey product builder,
I feel this is an excellent direction as if agents or bots try to index your website, I expect them to have a clear category for your blog. Unlike unfocused content where they get lost.
Interestingly, I heard something similar about posting content on platforms like LinkedIn, if you post unfocused content, your audience get alienated unlike choosing a topic of expertise and focusing on it.
Let us know how it goes :)
Thanks for your feedback; I appreciate it.
I’ll keep going in this direction and see how it goes.
I’d be happy to keep you updated on the project’s progress, and I’m open to any other suggestions.
Paid ads can speed this up if you're running any Google Ads. The Search Terms report shows you the exact phrases people type before buying. Those aren't keyword tool estimates, they're actual buyer language. Worth running even a small budget for a few weeks just to harvest that data. Your highest-converting search terms usually become the best pillar page topics, because you already know they carry commercial intent.
Thank you so much for this idea—it sounds really great.
I hadn’t really thought about using Google Ads this way (more for data than for acquisition), but it makes perfect sense.
We’ve been moving more in that direction as well. The difference is night and day compared to just publishing random pages.
Before, it feels like you’re creating content in isolation. With a core topic, everything starts reinforcing each other instead of competing for attention.
What we found tricky is knowing how deep to go on the main page vs splitting it out. Too much on one page and it gets messy, too little and it feels thin.
Did you decide that upfront or are you adjusting as you go?
Yes, I mapped out the structure from the very beginning before I started writing—mainly to figure out how to organize the main pages and subpages and avoid repetition.
But of course, I continue to make adjustments as I go along.