Every new content site has the same dilemma: cover one topic deeply or cover many topics shallowly. The answer is not “balance” — it depends on what stage your site is in. Below is a stage-based decision rule, a content plan template you can paste into your repo, and the Search Console check that tells you when to flip strategies.
Background
In the first 60 days, search engines have no idea what your site is about. Going too broad creates topical confusion; going too narrow leaves you with nothing to crawl. The right pattern is depth first inside one hub, then breadth across hubs, then depth again as you fill gaps. Most indies do this in the wrong order because the right order feels slow.
How to tell
- Your site is less than 60 days old and has fewer than 30 articles — strongly prefer depth in one hub.
- You have a single hub with 30+ articles and no other content — time to add a second hub for breadth.
- You have 3+ hubs but each only has 10 articles — go deep on the one with best early traffic.
- You see Search Console impressions concentrated on one hub — double down on that hub before opening new ones.
- Average position in the lead hub is < 30 — depth is paying off.
Quick verdict
For a brand-new site, go deep first inside one hub until you reach roughly 30 articles. Then add a second hub. Avoid spreading thin across 5 hubs in the first 90 days.
Before you start
- Pick the anchor hub honestly — strongest by knowledge AND demand.
- Have a content collection schema that enforces single-hub assignment.
- Plan to use Search Console data, not gut feel, to decide when to open hub 2.
Step by step
- Pick a single anchor hub. Strongest by knowledge × demand, scored on a 1-5 scale:
# scripts/hub-score.yml
candidates:
- id: indie-dev
knowledge: 5
demand: 4
competition: 3 # lower = better
score: 6 # knowledge + demand - competition
- id: ai-tools
knowledge: 3
demand: 5
competition: 5
score: 3
- id: prompt-library
knowledge: 4
demand: 4
competition: 4
score: 4
# pick the highest score- Plan 25-30 long-tail articles inside the anchor. A 20-line YAML you can keep in the repo:
# content-plan/indie-dev.yml
hub: indie-dev
pillar: "How to launch an indie content site in 2026"
cluster:
- astro-deploy-firebase
- firebase-hosting-go-live-checklist
- firebase-custom-domain
- firebase-cache-and-deploy-update
- firebase-route-404-causes
- what-is-firebase-hosting
- firebase-hosting-free-tier
- is-vercel-good-for-content-sites
- vercel-deploy-astro
- vercel-custom-domain
# ... 15-20 more
cadence: 3/week
target_complete: 2026-07-15-
Set a publishing pace and stick to it for 8 weeks. 2-3 articles per week. Do not open a second hub until hub 1 has ~25 articles.
-
Wire a hub-progress check into prebuild:
// scripts/hub-progress.mjs
import { readdirSync, readFileSync } from 'node:fs';
import matter from 'gray-matter';
const counts = {};
for (const f of readdirSync('src/content/articles/en/indie-dev')) {
const { data } = matter(readFileSync(`src/content/articles/en/indie-dev/${f}`, 'utf8'));
counts[data.category] = (counts[data.category] || 0) + 1;
}
const lead = Math.max(...Object.values(counts));
const anyOther = Object.values(counts).filter(c => c !== lead).some(c => c > 10);
if (lead < 25 && anyOther) {
console.warn('WARN: opened a second hub before anchor hit 25');
}- Identify hub 2 from real demand signals, not vibes. Pull the queries Search Console is showing you on hub 1:
curl -X POST "https://www.googleapis.com/webmasters/v3/sites/$SITE/searchAnalytics/query" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
--data '{
"startDate":"2026-03-22","endDate":"2026-05-22",
"dimensions":["query"],"rowLimit":200
}' \
| jq -r '.rows[].keys[0]' | head -40Look for repeated nouns that don’t fit hub 1 — those are candidates for hub 2.
-
Alternate publishing 60/40 in favor of hub 1 for the next 8 weeks, until hub 2 also has ~25 articles.
-
At 100 articles, audit hub traffic and double down on the top performer. Output of the prebuild script + Search Console:
hub articles impressions(28d) clicks(28d) CTR
indie-dev 34 42,000 1,260 3.0%
ai-tools 28 11,200 180 1.6%
prompt-library 22 4,300 62 1.4%
# → indie-dev wins; allocate next 20 articles there- Only after 150-200 total articles consider opening hubs 3 and 4 in parallel.
Implementation checklist
- Anchor hub is chosen via written scoring, not vibes.
- Content plan YAML lists at least 25 cluster slugs for the anchor.
- Prebuild warns if a second hub opens before the anchor hits 25.
- Search Console data drives the hub-2 decision.
After-launch verification
- After 8 weeks, anchor hub has 20+ indexed articles.
- Average position for cluster queries trends from > 50 toward 20.
- Search Console impressions concentrate (>70%) on the anchor hub — that is what depth looks like.
Common pitfalls
- Opening 5 hubs in month 1 because you have ideas in many directions — you will have no topical authority anywhere.
- Going so deep into one hub that you cover sub-sub-sub topics no one searches for. Cap depth at “real queries from Search Console + adjacent autocomplete”.
- Abandoning hub 1 the moment hub 2 feels exciting; partial hubs do not rank.
- Calling a hub “deep” with 8 articles — depth means at least 20-30 in 2026.
- Ignoring what Search Console data tells you about which hub actually has traction.
- Treating hub-2 selection as a creative decision instead of a data decision.
FAQ
- What if I have multiple hubs I am equally excited about?: Pick the one with the strongest combination of demand and your knowledge edge. The others can wait 90 days without losing anything.
- How do I know when a hub is “deep enough”?: When you have 25-30 articles covering the main long-tail variations and at least one strong pillar article tying them together.
- Does Google reward topical authority?: Yes, especially in 2026. Sites that cover a topic deeply rank higher even for individual long-tail queries within that topic.
- Can I use AI to fake breadth?: You can, but Google now detects shallow AI breadth quickly. Real depth requires fact-checked, structured human input.
- Should the pillar article come first or last?: Last. Write the cluster articles first; the pillar emerges from what you actually learned. Drafting the pillar first leads to abstract, low-utility writing.
Related
- How to design content-site sections so they scale
- Planning a long-tail keyword site from day one
- How to pick a niche that has search demand
- Judge search demand before building
- Set publishing cadence
Tags: #Indie dev #Website planning #SEO #Pillar / Cluster #Content ops