Do you guys think topical authority is becoming overrated in 2026?

small sites outranking big ones isn't necessarily about google preferring quality over clusters. usually it's about better intent matching, freshness, or just less competition for that specific query. topical authority still works, just not as a magic wand. content quality always wins long term
 
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a little overrated maybe, because just posting many related articles is not enough now if the content quality is weak.
 
Yes I noticed that too, few high quality pages with relevant material and complete information can work better than large amounts of low quality supporting materials. It looks like Google is more on relevance than publication numbers nowadays.
 
I’ve been seeing the same thing on my projects, where one solid piece that actually solves a problem beats a whole cluster of filler posts. I stopped chasing huge content maps and started asking what a real person would want to know next. Funny enough, that shift cut my workload and bumped rankings. Google feels way pickier in 2026, but in a good way if you focus on substance.
 
Jimmy Borowski said:
I’m still new to SEO, but I have noticed some small sites with only a few detailed articles ranking better than sites with tons of supporting posts.
Do you guys think Google prefers quality and consolidation more than massive topical clusters now?
Click to expand...
The relevance of imo topical authority is still important but it was exaggerated because of the many supporting articles published. it would be better to get fifteen highly valuable pages than one to two hundred unwanted articles.
 
I think detailed guides work better because they keep all information in one place and avoid competing pages on the same topic.
 
Jimmy Borowski said:
I’m still new to SEO, but I have noticed some small sites with only a few detailed articles ranking better than sites with tons of supporting posts.
Do you guys think Google prefers quality and consolidation more than massive topical clusters now?
Click to expand...
Yes Google prefers quality and relevance.
 
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