Topic Cluster Planner

A topic cluster is a group of linked pages on one subject: a broad pillar page that covers the topic as a whole, and spoke pages that each go deep on one subtopic and link back to it. The free Topic Cluster Planner turns a keyword list, or a Keyword Grouper export, into a full cluster plan. It picks the pillar, splits the keywords into spokes, suggests URLs, intent and page type for each, flags thin spokes that should be sections of the pillar instead, marks spokes you already have pages for, and writes a complete internal linking plan with anchor text. Plan up to 25 clusters at once.

Last updated: 6 November 2026. Written by Saad Raza.

Key takeaways

• Clusters help search engines and readers see that your site covers a subject thoroughly, which supports topical authority.
• Each spoke should answer a distinct question with its own intent. Spokes that would repeat each other belong on one page.
• Internal links hold the cluster together: pillar to every spoke, every spoke back to the pillar, and related spokes to each other.
• Small subtopics with little demand are better as sections of the pillar than as thin pages of their own.

How topic clusters work

A cluster mirrors how people learn about a subject. Someone researching teeth whitening wants an overview first, then details on cost, safety, home kits and how long results last. A pillar page gives the overview and summarises each subtopic in a short section, and each spoke page answers one subtopic in full. Links between them let readers move to the detail they need and let search engines understand how the pages relate.

This structure builds topical authority: the sense that a site is a reliable, complete source on a subject. It also prevents keyword cannibalisation, because each search intent maps to exactly one page. Our guides to topic clustering and pillar pages explain the strategy in depth, and reverse silo structure covers a related linking model.

What the planner produces

How the planner groups keywords

If you paste a plain keyword list, the planner first finds the pillar topic: the most common phrase shared by the keywords, or the topic you type in. It removes the pillar words from each keyword and groups the rest by their most common distinctive word. Similar words are treated as one: cost, price and pricing all become a cost spoke; safe, side effects and sensitivity become a safety spoke. Each spoke’s main keyword is its highest-volume keyword, or its shortest one if you gave no volume.

If you paste a Keyword Grouper CSV export, each group becomes a spoke, and the group that matches the pillar topic becomes the pillar. A spoke with fewer keywords than your minimum and low volume, below half the median spoke volume, is marked as a pillar section. Without volume data, only single-question spokes are made into sections.

How to use the Topic Cluster Planner

1. Paste your keywords, one per line, with search volume after a comma if you have it. For several clusters, separate them with a line containing only ===, and start each with “# pillar topic” to set the pillar yourself.
2. Or paste or upload a Keyword Grouper CSV export.
3. Choose the URL structure: nested under the pillar, such as /teeth-whitening/cost/, or flat.
4. Set the smallest spoke size. Two keywords is a sensible default.
5. List the pages you already have as title | URL, so matching spokes link to their real URLs.
6. Press Plan cluster. Review the map, the spoke table and the linking plan, then download the Markdown and CSV files.

Example output

The Load example button plans a teeth whitening cluster from 17 keywords with 16,370 searches a month in total. The planner finds “teeth whitening” as the pillar and creates six spoke pages: cost (which merges cost, price, the Karachi cost keyword and laser whitening cost), at home, strips, kits, safety (which merges “is teeth whitening safe”, side effects and sensitivity) and how long results last. Laser whitening and before-and-after photos have one keyword each and modest volume, so they become sections of the pillar. Two spokes match existing pages and are marked as such. The linking plan lists 14 links, including a link between the home whitening and kits spokes because they share a subject.

Building the cluster

1. Write or update the pillar first. Give each spoke a short section on the pillar that summarises it and links to it.
2. Brief each spoke. Turn each spoke’s keywords into an outline with the Content Brief Generator.
3. Add the links. Use the internal links CSV as a checklist. Use descriptive anchor text, as our guide to internal linking recommends.
4. Map every keyword to one page. Keep the pages CSV as your keyword map, so new content never competes with an existing page.
5. Measure the cluster as a whole. Track clicks and impressions for all its pages together in Search Console, not just the pillar.

Finding keywords for a cluster

A good cluster starts with a complete keyword list. Expand your topic with the Long-Tail Keyword Expander and the Question Keyword Generator, add the queries you already get from Search Console, and use the Content Gap Finder to see what competitors cover. Check intent with the Search Intent Classifier before you finalise spokes.

Limits to know about

Spokes are grouped by shared words, not by meaning, so two spokes can occasionally overlap, and a keyword can land in a spoke that a person would place elsewhere. Check that each spoke answers a different question before you create it. Suggested URLs are a starting point; keep your existing URLs where pages already rank. The map shows up to 16 spokes for legibility, while the tables and exports include all of them.

Questions about the Topic Cluster Planner

If you would like your site’s topic clusters planned and built, my on-page optimisation service covers keyword mapping, content structure and internal linking, and you can ask for a free audit through the contact page. You can also browse the other free keyword research tools.