Tips on How to Use Pillar Content to Improve Your SEO

Trying to land on the first page of Google is one of the biggest challenges any marketer can face. Not only do you have to adapt to the continual algorithm search changes, but there are many different SEO-related techniques you need to take into account. Simply put, if you skip on just one of these techniques, you can bet that one of your rivals is filling that gap.

One of these methods is producing pillar content.

Now, unless you’ve chosen to live under a rock in recent times, it’s likely you have heard about content pillars and topic clusters. These elements have gained considerable traction over the past few months – although pillar content has actually existed in some form since 2013.

Yet even if you have heard about the world of pillar pages, that doesn’t necessarily mean you are aware of how they work or why they even matter. That’s why this guide is here to help. Along with explaining what pillar content is, it will show how it can be used to improve your SEO efforts.

What is pillar content?

First of all, let’s take a minute to breakdown what pillar content actually is and how it works. In essence, a pillar page is effectively a cornerstone for a specific topic on your website. The pillar page is a general overview of a topic, with it being used to link to other on-site content.

The pillar content takes the form of a single page. With it typically clocking in at 3,000 to 5,000 words, this page isn’t light on content. What it does is spotlight the most important aspects of a topic, helping to create a long, scrolling page that answers all the questions a reader may have had when they first conducted a Google search.

As mentioned in the opening paragraph of this section, the pillar page is used to bridge the gap to other relevant content on your website. This content, also known as the topic clusters, supplies a more detailed take on points highlighted by the pillar page. For instance, the pillar page may offer a broad overview of content marketing. However, the topic clusters could cover subjects like ‘Writing the perfect headline’ or ‘How to conduct keywordKeywords are the words and phrases that potential customers might search for to find your business. research’. These will be mentioned briefly on the pillar page, but readers will be directed to these separate pages for the full insight.

How does building pillar content help with SEO?

So you understand how pillar content functions. Yet how does this actually help with your SEO content strategy? Let’s take a look at some of the main points.

Builds internal linking

It’s not just external backlinks, which are important. Google and other search engines are also appreciative of internal linksHyperlinks, also known as links, are the connection points on a webpage that take you to other webpages.. These links help them to gain a greater understanding of what the content is actually about. For instance, if you write a blog post about ‘How to promote your business with Twitter’ and link this back to a pillar page about social media marketing, Google is going to have a strong idea of what both pages are as a result.

Boosts user engagement

First of all, the pillar page itself is a large piece of content. If it’s written and structured well, it is going to keep a user engaged for a long time. Then when you throw in the organization of your content, where it is effortless for a reader to jump from page to page, this is going to ensure they stick around on your website. Just remember: the longer someone remains on your site, the more this will be judged favourably by those all-important search engine providers.

Covers more search queries

When someone is looking for, say, a new laptop, they’re rarely going to only type the word “laptop” into the search bar. It’s a vague query, and it will throw a wide assortment of irrelevant results in the direction of the user. This is why search requests are continually getting more specific, longer, and conversational. Well, with long-form content like a pillar page, you have a better chance of covering a wide variety of long-tail keywords – the type that people are using to find the content they desire. As a result, the pillar will naturally show up in a greater number of search queries.

Become an authority

Producing high-quality, informative pillar content – and supporting topic clusters – is going to see your website being viewed as an authority within your industry. When this happens, your pillar page will receive a lot of healthy attention – including backlinks from social media and blogs via other content writers.

Increase page ranking

When you add all of the aforementioned points together, you end up with one result: an enhanced Google page ranking for your pillar content. Yet the benefit isn’t only exclusive to that one page. It’s a benefit that is felt right across your website.

How to produce effective pillar content

After reading the list of advantages, you understandably want a slice of the pillar pie for yourself. Yet before you dive right into producing this type of content, there are a few important steps you need to take to ensure success.

1. Settle on a topic

If you want to craft a pillar page, you need a topic to cover. That’s self-explanatory. However, you have to take care when deciding on the right subject for your pillar content. First of all, it needs to fall in line with your business. You only want to be creating content that is of interest to your target audience.

In addition, the core topics for your pillar page shouldn’t be too narrow or broad. If you go with a subject matter that’s too narrow, for instance, you won’t have enough content for the supporting topic clusters. This is bad as the main aim is to build up the number of internal links across your website. On the other hand, if you pick a topic that is too broad, the topic clusters could end up losing relevance.

To help you come up with a suitable topic, first produce a list of ideas as if you were writing a blog post. You can also analyse your competitors and see what content they are producing. Once you have gathered a list of interesting subjects, see if a common denominator exists between them all. For instance, you could have a blog post which is titled “How to write more compelling headlines”. Well, now you could take a step back and have the pillar page about content marketing strategies. This then also opens the door to many other sub-topics.

2. Keyword research

When it comes to the best examples of content pillars, an effective keyword strategy is the foundation for success. After all, you need Google to know what your content is about, and this is done by targeting keywords and search terms it recognises.

When implementing keywords during the content creation process, it’s important to not just target a couple of short-tail phrases. Your pillar content is a substantial slice of content. Due to this, there’s plenty of potentials to prop it up with an assortment of keywords – all of which can be added naturally. Even if certain targeted keywords have a low search volume, it’s worth adding them to the equation. Along with there being less competition – thus easier for your website to hit the first page – added keyword depth gives Google the impression you know more about your topic of choice.

3. Producing your pillar page

Your topic is selected. You’ve gathered a collection of keywords to include. Now it’s time to craft your pillar content. Some approach this in much the same way as blog writing. An effective blog writing strategy includes:

• Well-researched and informative details throughout
• A structure that is easy to scan and retains attention
• An engaging writing style that connects with your audience

Of course, quality content writing is no walk in the park. This is particularly the case when you have to contend with keyword implementation, long-form content, cluster topics, etc. This is where content creation services come in handy. Along with ensuring your pillar content is produced the right way, content writing services also save you time that can be used in other areas of your business.

4. Connecting the dots

Content marketing pillars are only truly effective once they have been connected to your cluster topics. When adding the cluster topics, try and do so by having the hyperlink text match each page’s main keyword phrase. Also, this isn’t a one-way street. On each cluster topic page, ensure you link back to the pillar content.

A general rule of thumb is the most internal links you can add, the better. Just take care when including these, so it doesn’t hamper the user experience. The pillar page is the centrepiece, so you want it to be easy to navigate with clearly distinguished internal links. A good idea is to separate content into individual sections, and you can add an anchor at the bottom of each one. This helps with delivering a consistent, uniform layout.