Thematic relevance in SEO, or how to become the essential expert?
Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2025 8:40 am
⏲ Reading time: 11 minutes
Of course, you know that link building is essential to improving your site's authority. Additionally, you need to carefully work on your website's navigation and add links to other pages on your site. But did you know that if you want good results, these optimizations must be done strategically and effectively ?
Indeed, if your page is about underwater photography and the inbound links come from topics like automobiles or gastronomy, then it won't be as effective as if they came from articles about diving or photography. Hence the importance of thematic relevance in SEO !
SEO aims to improve certain aspects of content strategy in order to increase organic traffic. Since the Hummingbird algorithm update, keywords are less considered by Google while semantic search algorithms and link relevance are more important than ever. Thematic relevance of links is today one of the most important elements of netlinking strategy or internal linking strategy .
I usually tell my clients that an external or internal link is still a link in Google's eyes. Think about it!
Quick read: summary of what you will learn by reading this article
In this article, you will discover everything you need to know about thematic relevance in SEO , and in particular.
its definition : score used by search engines to determine the quality of incoming links to a web page;
its importance : this criterion is taken into account by website indexing algorithms;
its calculation : even if the measurement is extremely complex, we explain the basis to you so that you understand the principle well;
Tips for optimizing your site : four steps are important, two of which are absolutely crucial;
a tip to improve your internal link anchors.
To learn everything about thematic relevance in SEO, just read on!
What is thematic relevance?
Topicalbolivia phone number datarelevance is a score used by search engines to measure the relevance of a web page based on the quality of the topics of its links. In short, topical relevance measures the relevance of the links used by a website .
Websites are constantly being ranked by search engines. To do this, they use over 200 ranking factors ! Some of these factors are more important than others. Topical relevance is one of these criteria. It focuses on obtaining and optimizing links. These links should point to relevant pages that share a common theme .
PageRank benin phone number data is the algorithm used by Google to assign a score to pages and websites . The more links pointing to a website, the more authoritative it will be considered and the higher the value of links from that domain. This algorithm has revolutionized SEO and most search engines use their own modified version of PageRank.
Topic-sensitive PageRank is an algorithm that adds topical relevance and topical authority to the original PageRank algorithm. [1] It analyzes the relevant topics of each indexed page and, when a user enters a search query, determines which topics match. This allows it to serve up thematically relevant results.
Why is thematic relevance important?
Keywords can be influenced, and people sometimes use slight variations when searching. That's why search engines today are less concerned with search terms and more focused on understanding the meaning behind the words and the user's intent . In other words, the context of the search is very important .
Thanks to these new models and methods of indexing themes , links and pages (see the reasonable surfer's patent ), Google considers the relevance of a link based on its position on the page, its context and the related subjects present on its source and target pages. [2]
Since thematic relevance has been factored into Google's algorithms, it's become difficult to fool search engines . Tricking algorithms requires a lot of effort, and it's now easier to become a true authority in a specific field than in a set of fields.
Without thematic relevance , search engines can easily be fooled. Black hat techniques were, for a long time, very easy to execute, as all pages had more or less the same value. It was easy to create a constellation of websites for the sole purpose of obtaining links.
With topical relevance , not only does your site need to be authoritative on its topic, but your links also need to come from websites with similar topics. Since topical relevance works like a domino effect, the links published by these sites must in turn come from relevant sources, and so on.
A topic can be defined as an abstract concept expressed through the use of literal terms (key phrases and keywords). Topics tend to evolve over time , and the keywords associated with them are constantly changing. Since topical relevance is constantly evolving, it's important to ensure the relevance of your links.
How is thematic relevance calculated?
Thematic relevance is not easy to calculate due to the many parameters that compose it. Nevertheless, SEOQuantum, through its semantic audit tool , has lent itself to the game.
Let's review the main steps carried out by the algorithms (and in particular our audit tool) which calculate it:
Crawl : extraction of the raw content of a web page.
Analysis of the body of the publication : identification of the main part of the web page.
Keyword extraction : creation of a list of keywords found in the body of the publication.
Extraction of themes : creation of the list of subjects appearing in the body of the publication.
Ranking : assigning a score to each subject.
The notion of thematic relevance is much more complex!
To evaluate it, an algorithm must take into account inbound links and the thematic relevance of each source (source page and source domain). Anchor texts as well as the context of the link play an important role in assessing the value of each link.
SEO optimization of your website's theme
Here are some tips to improve the thematic relevance of your pages:
Publish detailed content that covers the topic thoroughly ( find out what quality content is in SEO ).
Link your pages in a relevant way ( learn more about internal linking ).
Get natural links (websites should be related to your topic) ( here are 17 tips for finding backlinks! ).
Receive social signals from authoritative sites (only by implementing the above factors can this be achieved...).
SEO strategies have changed little since the introduction of topical relevance . Keep doing what you're already doing while keeping the concept of topical relevance in mind. Persevere in obtaining links and social signals, continue to write quality posts while ensuring they are well-related to your topic.
Focus on quality and don't hesitate to reduce the number of links, shares, and posts to focus on a specific topic. Optimizing your SEO strategy based on topic clusters will be unavoidable in the long run. No magic tactic or trick will allow you to rank among the top results effortlessly.
Choose a topic that is not too broad, and this for each article
To improve page SEO through topical relevance, the webmaster or SEO consultant should focus on the overall topic optimization strategy . Remember: keywords should not be your primary focus, but topics should.
To achieve this, you need to create semantic silos and write a lot of content around your pillar page . Each blog covers several topics (the brand's main topics) through posts and keywords.
It is advisable to focus on one theme and address it comprehensively through one or more publications.
Page themes
Here's an example of the "perceived themes" extracted from SEOQuantum's semantic crawler for a website about dog training. Here, the tool identified 23 pages with behavior as the theme.
For your information, this site is ranked in the TOP 3 for more than 350 keywords on the theme related to behavior and in the TOP 10 for more than 650.
Create relevant and thematic links to other content
Each link has a transferable value of importance and theme. This is the famous link juice in natural SEO. Thematic internal linking allows Google and other search engines to better understand the subject of a page through thematic links.
Instead of designing standalone pages without internal links, write posts that direct people (and Google) to other pages in a way that extends your reader's learning experience .
Keep in mind that Google wants to highlight "niche-leading" pages or websites. With good themed internal linking, you show that you approach a topic from different angles and that your level of expertise is excellent .
Of course, you know that link building is essential to improving your site's authority. Additionally, you need to carefully work on your website's navigation and add links to other pages on your site. But did you know that if you want good results, these optimizations must be done strategically and effectively ?
Indeed, if your page is about underwater photography and the inbound links come from topics like automobiles or gastronomy, then it won't be as effective as if they came from articles about diving or photography. Hence the importance of thematic relevance in SEO !
SEO aims to improve certain aspects of content strategy in order to increase organic traffic. Since the Hummingbird algorithm update, keywords are less considered by Google while semantic search algorithms and link relevance are more important than ever. Thematic relevance of links is today one of the most important elements of netlinking strategy or internal linking strategy .
I usually tell my clients that an external or internal link is still a link in Google's eyes. Think about it!
Quick read: summary of what you will learn by reading this articleIn this article, you will discover everything you need to know about thematic relevance in SEO , and in particular.
its definition : score used by search engines to determine the quality of incoming links to a web page;
its importance : this criterion is taken into account by website indexing algorithms;
its calculation : even if the measurement is extremely complex, we explain the basis to you so that you understand the principle well;
Tips for optimizing your site : four steps are important, two of which are absolutely crucial;
a tip to improve your internal link anchors.
To learn everything about thematic relevance in SEO, just read on!
What is thematic relevance?Topicalbolivia phone number datarelevance is a score used by search engines to measure the relevance of a web page based on the quality of the topics of its links. In short, topical relevance measures the relevance of the links used by a website .
Websites are constantly being ranked by search engines. To do this, they use over 200 ranking factors ! Some of these factors are more important than others. Topical relevance is one of these criteria. It focuses on obtaining and optimizing links. These links should point to relevant pages that share a common theme .
PageRank benin phone number data is the algorithm used by Google to assign a score to pages and websites . The more links pointing to a website, the more authoritative it will be considered and the higher the value of links from that domain. This algorithm has revolutionized SEO and most search engines use their own modified version of PageRank.
Topic-sensitive PageRank is an algorithm that adds topical relevance and topical authority to the original PageRank algorithm. [1] It analyzes the relevant topics of each indexed page and, when a user enters a search query, determines which topics match. This allows it to serve up thematically relevant results.
Why is thematic relevance important?Keywords can be influenced, and people sometimes use slight variations when searching. That's why search engines today are less concerned with search terms and more focused on understanding the meaning behind the words and the user's intent . In other words, the context of the search is very important .
Thanks to these new models and methods of indexing themes , links and pages (see the reasonable surfer's patent ), Google considers the relevance of a link based on its position on the page, its context and the related subjects present on its source and target pages. [2]
Since thematic relevance has been factored into Google's algorithms, it's become difficult to fool search engines . Tricking algorithms requires a lot of effort, and it's now easier to become a true authority in a specific field than in a set of fields.
Without thematic relevance , search engines can easily be fooled. Black hat techniques were, for a long time, very easy to execute, as all pages had more or less the same value. It was easy to create a constellation of websites for the sole purpose of obtaining links.
With topical relevance , not only does your site need to be authoritative on its topic, but your links also need to come from websites with similar topics. Since topical relevance works like a domino effect, the links published by these sites must in turn come from relevant sources, and so on.
A topic can be defined as an abstract concept expressed through the use of literal terms (key phrases and keywords). Topics tend to evolve over time , and the keywords associated with them are constantly changing. Since topical relevance is constantly evolving, it's important to ensure the relevance of your links.
How is thematic relevance calculated?Thematic relevance is not easy to calculate due to the many parameters that compose it. Nevertheless, SEOQuantum, through its semantic audit tool , has lent itself to the game.
Let's review the main steps carried out by the algorithms (and in particular our audit tool) which calculate it:
Crawl : extraction of the raw content of a web page.
Analysis of the body of the publication : identification of the main part of the web page.
Keyword extraction : creation of a list of keywords found in the body of the publication.
Extraction of themes : creation of the list of subjects appearing in the body of the publication.
Ranking : assigning a score to each subject.
The notion of thematic relevance is much more complex!
To evaluate it, an algorithm must take into account inbound links and the thematic relevance of each source (source page and source domain). Anchor texts as well as the context of the link play an important role in assessing the value of each link.
SEO optimization of your website's themeHere are some tips to improve the thematic relevance of your pages:
Publish detailed content that covers the topic thoroughly ( find out what quality content is in SEO ).
Link your pages in a relevant way ( learn more about internal linking ).
Get natural links (websites should be related to your topic) ( here are 17 tips for finding backlinks! ).
Receive social signals from authoritative sites (only by implementing the above factors can this be achieved...).
SEO strategies have changed little since the introduction of topical relevance . Keep doing what you're already doing while keeping the concept of topical relevance in mind. Persevere in obtaining links and social signals, continue to write quality posts while ensuring they are well-related to your topic.
Focus on quality and don't hesitate to reduce the number of links, shares, and posts to focus on a specific topic. Optimizing your SEO strategy based on topic clusters will be unavoidable in the long run. No magic tactic or trick will allow you to rank among the top results effortlessly.
Choose a topic that is not too broad, and this for each article
To improve page SEO through topical relevance, the webmaster or SEO consultant should focus on the overall topic optimization strategy . Remember: keywords should not be your primary focus, but topics should.
To achieve this, you need to create semantic silos and write a lot of content around your pillar page . Each blog covers several topics (the brand's main topics) through posts and keywords.
It is advisable to focus on one theme and address it comprehensively through one or more publications.
Page themes
Here's an example of the "perceived themes" extracted from SEOQuantum's semantic crawler for a website about dog training. Here, the tool identified 23 pages with behavior as the theme.
For your information, this site is ranked in the TOP 3 for more than 350 keywords on the theme related to behavior and in the TOP 10 for more than 650.
Create relevant and thematic links to other content
Each link has a transferable value of importance and theme. This is the famous link juice in natural SEO. Thematic internal linking allows Google and other search engines to better understand the subject of a page through thematic links.
Instead of designing standalone pages without internal links, write posts that direct people (and Google) to other pages in a way that extends your reader's learning experience .
Keep in mind that Google wants to highlight "niche-leading" pages or websites. With good themed internal linking, you show that you approach a topic from different angles and that your level of expertise is excellent .