Q: To grow authority, should I publish new cluster pages or refresh existing ones?

Q: To grow authority, should I publish new cluster pages or refresh existing ones?

Short answer: depends on whether your coverage gap is breadth or depth. If real sub-questions in the topic have no page, publish new ones, that's breadth. If your existing pages are shallow or outdated, refresh, that's depth. Most sites need both, but in a specific order.

Diagnose by listing every sub-question in the topic and checking two boxes per question: do you have a page, and does that page actually answer it well? Missing pages are breadth gaps. Weak existing pages are depth gaps.

Generally fix depth on your pillar and top children first, because a strong core makes new children rank faster. Then expand breadth.

In practice: a complete-but-shallow cluster gains more from refreshing the hubs than from adding the 15th thin page. Strengthen the core, then widen.

Got a refresh-versus-expand call to make? Send it in.