Topical Research

Topical Research is where you turn a core idea, brand context and personas into a structured outline of topics and keywords. The output is a four level hierarchy that later feeds SERP Clustering and the Topical Map.

Use this page as a guide for setting up a research run, generating topics, editing the outline and exporting your work.

Topical Research helps you:

• Expand a core topic into Main Topics and subtopics in up to four levels
• Generate scoped keyword sets tied to those topics
• Shape and refine the outline before any clustering or map work starts

The outline you build here becomes the starting point for:

• SERP Clustering
• Topical Map

1. Open your project in Floyi.
2. In the left navigation, select Topical Research.
3. You will see the research workspace for that project, including context inputs and the outline table.

You will get better results if you set up Brand Foundation and at least one persona first.

• Brand profile: Brand Foundation
• Personas: Audience Insights

You can technically run Topical Research without them, but the topics will be less aligned with your positioning and buyers.

At the top of the Topical Research view you will see several input sections. Use them to frame the run.

Common fields include:

1. Brand Foundation

   • Select the brand profile that applies to this project.
   • Floyi will use this to align topics with your product, positioning and language.

2. Buyer personas

   • Choose one or more personas from Audience Insights.
   • This tells Floyi which buyer journeys to focus on.

3. Core topic

   • Enter the main theme you want to explore, for example
     • “Email deliverability for SaaS”
     • “Revenue recognition for B2B subscription companies”

4. Optional user inputs

   • Additional keywords, topics or entities you want to make sure are considered.
   • Notes about audience stage, product tier or constraints you care about.

After you fill or adjust these sections, make sure you save. Use the edit button in each block to update content, then click save inside that block.

Once your context looks right, move to the Topical Research Outline section.

The outline is a table with columns for:

• Main Topic (MT)
• Subtopic level 2 (ST2)
• Subtopic level 3 (ST3)
• Subtopic level 4 (ST4)
• Keyword or query

You generate different parts of the outline with the control buttons above the table.

Typical actions:

1. Generate MT

   • Creates Main Topics only.
   • Use this when you want to review and clean pillars before expanding further.

2. Generate MT + ST2

   • Generates Main Topics plus second level subtopics in one step.
   • Good starting point when you already trust the core theme.

3. Generate ST2

   • Adds or refreshes second level subtopics for existing Main Topics.

4. Generate ST3

   • Expands ST2 nodes with a third level of subtopics.

5. Generate ST4

   • Adds a fourth level of subtopics for more granular planning where needed.

6. Generate Keywords

   • Generates keywords attached to the most granular topics.
   • If ST4 exists, it uses those first. If not, it uses ST3.

Each generation action:

• Uses credits
• Shows a credit estimate based on the AI model you selected
• Appends or fills the relevant columns in the outline table

You can run these actions in stages. For example, generate MT, edit and save, then generate ST2.

Once topics and keywords appear in the outline, you can shape them before clustering.

1. Click Edit outline or the edit button above the table.
2. The table will become editable with selection controls.

Inside edit mode you can:

• Select all rows

  • Use the header checkbox or a dedicated “Select all” control.

• Select specific rows

  • Use checkboxes to pick individual topics or keyword rows.

• Add a new row

  • Use the plus icon or “Add” control to create a new topic or keyword row.
  • Fill in the relevant columns, such as MT and ST2, then the keyword.

• Edit text inline

  • Click any cell to rename a topic, adjust a label or correct a keyword.

• Delete selected rows

  • Remove topics or keywords that are clearly off scope or duplicates.

When you finish editing:

• Click Save to apply changes.
• Click Cancel to exit edit mode without saving your latest adjustments.

You can repeat this edit cycle as many times as you need. Manual edits do not use credits.

If you started with topics only, you can add keywords later.

1. Clean your topic hierarchy first, at least down to ST3.
2. Run Generate Keywords.
3. Review the new keyword rows:
   • Remove queries that do not fit your strategy
   • Add missing variants that matter to your buyers
   • Fix obvious naming issues

You can rerun keyword generation after adjusting topics, but remember that each run uses credits.

When you are happy with the outline, you can export it.

• Click Export to Excel or the equivalent export control.
• Floyi will create an XLSX file that mirrors the table structure:
  • Columns for MT, ST2, ST3, ST4 and keyword
  • One row per topic or keyword entry

Exports are helpful for:

• Sharing your plan with stakeholders
• Doing additional tagging or notes in a spreadsheet
• Keeping a static snapshot before you move on to clustering and maps

If you update the outline later, export a fresh copy instead of editing an old file.

Topical Research uses credits when you:

• Generate topics at any level
• Generate keywords

Key points:

• Each button shows a credit estimate before you confirm the run.
• Editing the table by hand is free.
• Larger outlines cost more to generate, especially when using heavier models.

Typical approach:

• Use a stronger model for your initial MT and ST2 generation.
• Consider lighter models for ST3, ST4 or keyword expansions if you want to conserve credits.

If you are out of credits, Floyi will stop you before starting the job and prompt you to add or manage credits.

Topical Research outputs drive later parts of your Floyi workflow.

• SERP Clustering

  • Send the keyword column or selected rows into SERP Clustering to group by search intent and real SERPs.

• Topical Map

  • Use the combination of outline and clustered keywords to build a clean Topical Map for your site.

• Planning and briefs

  • The themes you validate here influence what appears later in your Planner and briefs.

If you are new to Floyi, a simple pattern is:

1. Set your Brand Foundation and one main persona.
2. Run Topical Research for one core theme.
3. Clean the outline.
4. Move those keywords into SERP Clustering for deeper work.

That gives you a focused, strategy aligned topic set instead of a random keyword list.