What Are Topics and Why They Matter
Topics are high-level content categories that organize your niche into distinct themes. Each Topic groups related Pages (content opportunities) that share a common subject area.
Why Topics matter:
Strategic clarity — See all the content themes you need to cover at a glance
Prioritization — Compare Topics by traffic potential, difficulty, and opportunity
Content gaps — Identify areas where you have no coverage
Resource planning — Estimate the scope of content needed for each theme
Instead of facing thousands of keywords, you see 5-20 organized categories. This makes content planning manageable.
How RankDots Creates Topics
RankDots builds Topics through a two-stage AI process:
Stage 1: Page Formation (SERP-Based Clustering)
Keywords that share 3+ common URLs in Google's top results are grouped into a Page. This ensures each Page represents a distinct content opportunity that Google recognizes.
Stage 2: Topic Formation (Semantic Clustering)
Pages with related themes are grouped into Topics using AI. The system analyzes Page names and content patterns to create meaningful categories.
Example: For a project about "HubSpot":
Topic: "HubSpot CRM & Sales Features"
Page: HubSpot CRM
Page: Free CRM Software
Page: Pipedrive CRM (comparison)
The number of Topics scales with project size: smaller projects may have 5-10 Topics, larger ones 20-50+.
Navigating the Topics View
The Topics module displays your content categories as cards in a grid layout.
Each Topic card shows:
| Element | Description |
| Topic name | The theme or category (e.g., "HubSpot Pricing & Comparisons") |
| Easy Traffic Wins | Potential traffic you could gain (green number with arrow) |
| Sample Pages | Preview of 3 Pages inside this Topic |
| "Explore all X pages" | Link to see all Pages in this Topic |
| Volume | Total search volume across all Pages |
| Difficulty | Average ranking difficulty (0-100) |
| Intent | Visual bar showing search intent distribution |
Available Controls
Sort by — Order cards by Easy Traffic Wins, Volume, Difficulty
Filters — Filter by metrics, intent type, or search criteria
Show filters — Expand filter panel for advanced options
The "Ungrouped" Topic
Pages that don't fit into any semantic category appear in an "Ungrouped" Topic. These may be:
Outlier content ideas
Highly specific niches
Opportunities worth manual review
Key Metrics at the Topic Level
Easy Traffic Wins
The total potential traffic gain across all Pages in the Topic. Higher = more opportunity. Calculated from keywords where you can realistically rank.
Search Volume
Sum of monthly search volumes for all keywords in the Topic. Shows the total audience size for this theme.
Difficulty
Average keyword difficulty (0-100) across the Topic. Lower scores mean easier ranking opportunities.
Intent Distribution
Visual breakdown of search intent:
I — Informational (seeking knowledge)
C — Commercial (researching before purchase)
T — Transactional (ready to buy)
N — Navigational (looking for specific site)
Pages Count
Number of content opportunities within the Topic. More Pages = more content to create for comprehensive coverage
Using Topics to Identify Content Gaps and Priorities
Finding Quick Wins
Sort Topics by Easy Traffic Wins (descending)
Look for Topics with high traffic potential AND lower difficulty
These represent your best opportunities for fast results
Identifying Gaps
Review all Topics and ask:
Do I have existing content for this theme?
Are competitors covering this while I'm not?
Is this relevant to my business goals?
Topics with zero current coverage but high relevance = content gaps.
Drilling Down: From Topics to Pages
To explore a Topic's content opportunities:
Click the Topic card or click "Explore all X pages inside"
You'll see the Pages table filtered to that Topic
From the Pages view, you can:
See all content ideas within that Topic
Sort by Easy Traffic Wins, Volume, or Difficulty
Click "Create content" to generate an article
Click "Go to document" for Pages with existing content
To return to all Topics, click "Topics" in the breadcrumb or sidebar.