{"id":821,"date":"2018-10-08T12:57:42","date_gmt":"2018-10-08T12:57:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/slicktimesavers.com\/blog\/?p=821"},"modified":"2019-08-11T11:11:49","modified_gmt":"2019-08-11T11:11:49","slug":"what-is-topic-modeling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/slicktimesavers.com\/blog\/what-is-topic-modeling\/","title":{"rendered":"What is Topic Modeling?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Topic<\/a>The infographic provided by Marketmuse.com<\/a>
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Long has creating content around specific keywords gone.\u00a0 Google has increasingly updated their search engine algorithms with Hummingbird, Vincent’s Change and RankBrain.\u00a0 You can no longer depend on creating content without it being topic relevant.<\/h3>\n

If you are following who ranks on page one of Google many times the specific keyword your searching for is not contained in the results being displayed in the Google search results.<\/h3>\n

To give you a better understanding I ran across this article on MarketMuse about topic modeling.\u00a0 The author did a fantastic job addressing what this means. A thumbs up on this detailed article.<\/h3>\n

Topic Modeling for SEO Explained<\/span><\/h1>\n
Posted by<\/span> Rebecca Bakken<\/a> at Market Muse<\/div>\n

Search engines like Google have a vested interest in concealing exactly how they rank content. But there\u2019s only so much you can hide in the information age. It\u2019s known that search algorithms use topic models to sort and prioritize the 130 trillion pages<\/a> on the web. While we may never eliminate the unknowns of SEO, we can use what we do know to an advantage.<\/p>\n

Search algorithms are getting <\/span>increasingly<\/span><\/span> intelligent. The introduction of Hummingbird made that <\/span>abundantly<\/span><\/span> clear. <\/span> Writing high-ranking content<\/a> is no longer a matter of using as many keywords as possible. Instead, the algorithm employs\u00a0models that measure the topical comprehensiveness of a page. It then matches it to a search query<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As a result, comprehensiveness has become a proxy by which search engines measure content quality. Moreover, Hummingbird made it easier to determine how Google ranks\u00a0content.\u00a0Fortunately<\/span><\/span> for us, it provided a baseline for experimentation. Comparing rankings before and after the update has proven to be insightful.<\/span><\/p>\n

How Do We Know Search Engines Use Topic Modeling?<\/p>\n

Using a nascent version of MarketMuse, Neil Patel’s data science team assessed the rankings of <\/span><\/span>nearly<\/span><\/span> 10 million words of content<\/span><\/span>. Their goal was to see <\/span>how Hummingbird was prioritizing pages<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

They found that the No. 1 factor for predicting high rankings is topic comprehensiveness. It’s even more important than page authority and backlinks.<\/span><\/p>\n

Topic modeling is an integral part of search algorithms. We\u2019re not the only ones who think so.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve got some time on your hands, you can read this extensive research paper by the University of Maryland<\/a>. It details the many applications of topic models. These include query expansion, information retrieval, and search personalization.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s difficult to envision a way to <\/span>efficiently<\/span><\/span> produce SERPs without topic modeling. There’s too many pages on the web. The way in which queries <\/span>are entered<\/span><\/span> is vast and complex. There are various <\/span>on-page SEO<\/span><\/a> factors taken into account for each search.<\/span><\/p>\n

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So it’s safe to assume that topic modeling is a <\/span><\/span>requirement<\/span><\/span> for providing fast, <\/span><\/span>relevant results<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Which means content marketers should care. Here’s why.<\/span>
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Developing a content strategy that produces results begins with understanding search engines. But you don\u2019t need to be a data scientist to crack the code.
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Although later on we\u2019ll discuss the history of topic modeling. Then we’ll explore the different types of algorithms for data-curious content marketers.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

What SEOs Need to Know About Topic Models<\/h2>\n
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Google\u2019s algorithm utilizes <\/span><\/span>topic modeling to prioritize pages<\/span><\/a> that have deep coverage of a given subject<\/span><\/span>. So the best way to rank is to:<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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