How to Plan Site Architecture With a Topical Map
Use this guide to interpret the Topical Map Generator output while keeping required inputs and operating instructions on the tool page.
What Is a Topical Map?
A topical map is a structured plan of all the content a website should publish to become a recognised authority on a given topic. It groups keywords and article ideas into clusters — a main pillar topic with a set of supporting sub-topics that each answer a specific related question. Google's algorithm increasingly rewards sites that cover a topic comprehensively rather than publishing isolated articles targeting individual keywords.
Without a topical map, most sites end up with content that covers popular topics multiple times (causing keyword cannibalization) while leaving large gaps in less obvious but equally important subtopics. A topical map fixes both problems at once — it shows you what to write and in what order.
How to Use This Topical Map Generator
The generator requires an Anthropic API key. Paste the key into the tool before generating; it is sent to this site's server for the request, which forwards it to Anthropic, and it is stored in your browser only if you click the Save button.
Enter your main topic or niche — for example "email marketing" or "local SEO for restaurants" — then optionally add the target audience and choose the content goal, map depth, and output language. The tool generates a pillar-page topic, supporting topic clusters, and specific article ideas. Article titles are prompted to reflect realistic search intent, but the output does not label or score intent as a separate field.
Export the map and use it as your editorial calendar. Start with the pillar page, then publish cluster articles systematically. Internal link from each cluster article to the pillar and to related cluster articles. As you publish more of the cluster, Google's understanding of your site's authority on that topic deepens — which tends to lift rankings across the whole cluster, not just the individual pages.
Why Topical Authority Beats Keyword-by-Keyword SEO
Targeting individual keywords in isolation is how SEO worked in 2015. In 2026, Google's ranking systems evaluate a site's overall depth on a topic — not just whether a single page includes the target keyword. A site that has published 15 well-written articles covering every angle of "email marketing for ecommerce" will consistently outrank a site that published one high-quality article targeting that exact phrase, even if the single article is technically better. The topical map is how you build that depth systematically instead of accidentally.
Related tools: Keyword Research Tool · Keyword Clusters Tool · SEO Content Gap Finder