Topical drift (part 1)

Hi Siftrs,

Recently, a Siftr subscriber (hi Emily 👋) asked a great question about brand query cohesion, sharing that theirs isn’t quite what they want it to be:

When I look at my BQC [brand query cohesion], it is a bit all over the place, but I am not quite sure how to shift that to where I want it to be. I like your idea on picking out 20 keywords that will push you towards that, but I have TONS of dinner recipes (I consider that my specialty), but mostly rank for coffee, appetizers, and a few main dish meals.

How do we push search engines to see the specialty we want them to see?

Even the strongest food blogs can sometimes drift off course in ways that weaken topical authority. It’s called topical drift.

And while it won’t sink your site overnight, topical drift can slowly confuse search engines (and readers) about your blog’s focus and your expertise.

The good news? You can realign your content, clarify your brand, and boost BQC — but first, you need to understand what building topical authority really means.

(Part two of Siftr’s topical drift newsletter series drops Monday, September 15th. In it, we share a practical framework for fixing topical drift on a food blog for better SEO.)

Subscribe to Siftr newsletter subscription (monthly) to read the rest.