Bard top really excels in his laning phase. I believe he is the number one toplane overall in the current metagame. The key is to harass with auto attacks constantly in lane, and use the q to last hit. The best way to efficiently do this is by trying to land a q so that it last hits a minion and the second one hits the enemy laner. This way, you don't lose any down time from last hitting and you can spend that time harassing. At the same time, this roots the enemy champion and allows you to smack him even more. Once the enemy champion is relatively low on hp, don't be afraid to flash auto + q + ignite them! You'll be getting first bloods in no time.

After getting the sheen, you'll be able to dish out tons of damage - and the enemy will never see it coming. This tactic amplifies in the same manner once you acquire the trinity force. Once you have mobility boots, trinity force, and frozen mallet, you can easily chase down targets with magical journey, your shrine (w), your q (slow/root), your ult (stasis), movement speed from the phage component of trinity force, mobility boots, frozen mallet slow. Those targets won't be getting away any time soon!

Once you have the ability to chase down those targets, you can start building either defensive items or offensive items. The most common offensive item is blade of the ruined king, because you'll be attacking a lot anyways. If you need an in between item versus magic damage, Wit's end is an underrated item that I would definitely recommend.

Another smart item is Zhonya's Hourglass, because it works really well with your ultimate (almost like Lissandra ult and Zhonya's or Vladimir's sanguine pool (w) and Zhonya's.

The final defensive item is really up to you. Honestly, you can just get anything from thornmail to banshees veil. You can even pick up a Zephyr for all I care! You're pretty much unstoppable at this point - more than a fed Hecarim. If you don't believe me, try it out for yourself!

There is no late game. You already won.