Topical Map Template With a Real Worked Example: Ten Rows From Our Own Map

A topical map template is the row structure of a topical map with no rows filled in. This article fills it with the complete, live Holistic Radar topical map, version 2, dated 7 October 2026, the map this site is built from. It covers the template fields, the framework foundation row, and the attribute filtration verdicts. It then publishes ten rows explained field by field, all 30 core rows, all 36 outer rows, and the bridge from every outer node to the core. It closes with the 17-node launch batch, the 60-day publication schedule, the nine corrections version 2 made to version 1, and the questions teams ask about templates.

What a topical map template contains

A topical map template is a fixed set of columns, one row per accepted attribute, that turns an entity’s query network into a list of pages.

The template has 15 schema fields, set out in full in what is a topical map. Version 2 adds four production fields that record how each row becomes a page:

The raw pair is the entity and attribute before any wording decision. The processed title tag is the pair verbalised with a conjunctive “and”, a plural set, or a hypernym and its hyponyms. The zone class records section and level together. The status records the production stage, from architecture to published.

A blank template takes an hour to reproduce. A populated row takes far longer, because every row needs a harvested query network, a filtration verdict and a section decision. The template is free. The rows are the work.

Whose map this is, and why it is published

The map below is the Holistic Radar topical map for the central entity Semantic SEO, and this site is built from it row for row.

Agencies publish blank templates. Holistic Radar publishes its own populated map for two reasons. First, a populated map shows what a finished row costs, which a blank grid hides. Second, a published map is a checkable claim: every URL in the tables below resolves on this site, and every title tag matches the live page.

Version 2 was rebuilt against the full course text and the Master Handbook. Version 1 was built from lessons dictated one at a time, and the corrections between the two are logged at the end of this article.

The framework foundation row

The framework foundation is the one row that every other row inherits: one central entity, one source context, one pair of functional predicates, and three attribute classes.

A unique attribute identifies one instance of the class and nothing else. Every provider of semantic SEO has topical maps. Only Holistic Radar has the Six-Layer Pyramid, so the pyramid carries information gain and takes the strongest home page headings.

Attribute filtration: which candidates earned a URL

Attribute filtration is the test every candidate passes before it earns a row: prominence, popularity and relevance to the source context.

Rejected rows stay in the map. A rejected row records a decision, and that decision stops the attribute from reappearing in a later brief. Popularity values are estimates until keyword data confirms them.

Ten rows explained, field by field

The ten rows below cover every zone class in the map, and each one shows the decision its fields record.

The full core section: 30 rows

The core section is Semantic SEO plus the source context, and it runs three levels deep: root, seed and node.

Priority follows distance from the central entity. P1 pages define the entity. P2 pages are its nodes. P3 pages are the adjacent services that sit furthest from it.

The full outer section: 36 flat nodes

The outer section is Semantic SEO plus the Know predicate, and every outer node is one definitive page at /learn/ with no sub-pages.

The first 17 rows are the planned outer nodes. The next 19 extend the outer section to the retrieval, trust and adjacent attributes buyers research before they hire. The three adjacent rows are single bridge pages, not clusters, because Web Development, CRO, Paid Media and Email sit outside the entity’s own neighbourhood.

Bridges from every outer node to the core

A bridge is valid only when its justification passage names the concept that connects the outer page to the core page.

Outer pages link to the core generously. Each core page links back to at most one outer node, and only where a definition is needed.

The 17-node quality launch batch

A quality node launch batch is the set of core pages published together on day one, sized at 15 to 20 for a new domain.

Every page in the batch sits one click from the home page. Every fact carries one value across all 17 pages, because a conflict between two pages loses the citation to both.

The 60-day publication schedule

The publication schedule runs 60 days from architecture to momentum, at 3 to 4 pages a week after launch.

No batch goes live during an active core update. Batch sizes stay irregular, so the publication history shows no synthetic pattern.

What version 2 corrected in version 1

Version 2 of the map corrected nine assumptions version 1 made, and every correction is logged so the map’s reasoning stays auditable.

Topical map template versus topical map production

A topical map template is the empty structure. Topical map production is the service that fills it for one subject, with the query network harvested and every row filtered.

Teams with an analyst and time can fill this template themselves. Teams without them commission topical map production, delivered to the same fields and published to the same standard as the map above.

The rows above are the output of one method applied end to end, scored layer by layer from source context to revenue. → Topical map architecture

Topical map template questions

How many rows does a complete topical map have?

A complete topical map has one row per accepted attribute. The Holistic Radar map has 30 core rows and 36 outer rows, plus the rejected rows that record each discard.

Is a spreadsheet or a database better for a topical map?

A spreadsheet suits maps under a few hundred rows. A database suits larger maps, because bridges and anchor counts are queries across rows.

Does a local business need a different template?

A local business uses the same template with one added field: the service area each row serves. Multi-location sites add one row per location and attribute pair.

Does the template need a search volume column?

The template needs a popularity estimate, not a volume figure. Popularity decides filtration. Volume changes monthly and never decides on its own whether a row exists.