What is topical authority?
Topical authority is an SEO industry term for how fully a website covers one subject, from first questions to buying decisions, so people and search engines treat it as a go-to source. Google's own system called topic authority applies to news searches.
Cited from the66th.com/glossary/topical-authority
How topical authority works
A plumber in Calgary with only a drain cleaning service page answers one question: who can do the job. A buyer asks several before calling. A site that answers each of them, written by people who do the work and linked back to the service page, covers the subject the way the buyer researches it.
That fuller coverage is what the term describes. It belongs to the set of pages and the links between them, more than to any one page.
| The buyer's question | The page that answers it |
|---|---|
| Why is my drain slow? | A guide to the causes, with photos from real jobs |
| What does drain cleaning involve? | A step-by-step guide to what the crew does on site |
| Clean the drain or replace the pipe? | A comparison of the two jobs |
| Who can come today? | The drain cleaning service page |
What Google says
Google uses the name topic authority for a system that helps it surface expert sources for news searches in specialized areas such as health, politics or finance. It looks at how notable a publication is for a topic or place, its original reporting and its reputation. That system is about news publishers. Google has not published a topical authority score for other websites, so we use the term as shorthand for the guidance below.
Google's guidance on helpful content asks related questions of every site: does it have a primary purpose or focus, does its content show first-hand expertise and depth of knowledge, and will a reader leave having learned enough to reach their goal. It lists producing lots of content on many different topics, in hopes some of it performs, as a warning sign.
What it means for your business
For a business, topical authority means answering, on your own site, the questions your buyers ask on the way to hiring you, written by the people who do the work. It matters when competitors with fuller sites rank above a strong service page. It also sets a limit: depth on the subjects you sell, rather than breadth across everything your industry touches.
Planning that coverage for each service is part of our SEO services.
Common mistakes
- Publishing thin posts on loosely related subjects. Go deep on the services you sell, with pages only your team could write.
- Writing guides that never link to the service page. Link each supporting page to the page that sells, so a ready buyer is one click from booking.
- Summarizing what other sites already say. Add figures, photos and lessons from your own work.
- Covering every subject in your industry. Pages outside what you sell draw readers who will never hire you, and they blur the site's focus.
Related terms
Sources: Google Search Central Blog, Jen Granito, Understanding news topic authority, 23 May 2023; Google Search Central, Creating helpful, reliable, people-first content, 5 October 2026.