What is a pillar page?
A pillar page is the main page or blog to which every other page and blog link. These are pages that cover all aspects of the main topic group broadly. They often offer comprehensive information with room for more in-depth analysis by your sub-topic.
These sub-topics are called “Cluster content” and are linked to the pillar page. For example, you may write a pillar page about “air conditioning” and a subtopic “reverse cycle air-conditioning is better”. As you can see, you have a broad category and a piece of cluster page (or blog) with a more specific topic.
Pillar pages content is also longer than normal pages or blog posts. It is meant to cover all aspects of the topic you are trying to rank for but not in too much depth.
The whole idea behind it is to answers questions about a particular topic and link it to a more in-depth cluster page.
Benefits of a pillar page
The main benefit of a Pillar page is that it provides users with all the related information they are searching for. Here are some more benefits they offer:
- Increase time spent on your website. The more content available, the more time they will spend doing so.
- Decreased bounce rate. A high bounce rate means that your users are not finding what they need. Having a pillar page can help users find what they are looking for, which means they will stay on your website.
- Promotes Backlinks and social media shares. A good Pillar page will get shared and often build backlinks.
- Create ongoing traffic. Pillar pages can be evergreen content, meaning that they will not diminish value over time (If you maintain and update it regularly).
- Increase your Google ranking. The shift from keywords to authority means that Google looks for authoritative content. Pillar content can increase your authority and ranking thanks to the high word count, backlinks and shares.
- Organises your pages. This is a great way to organise your main traffic pages and link cluster content together. This organisation not only looks good to your users but also helps Google understand.
Pillar pages need extra effort to develop, but it is well worth it if you can tick even 1 of the benefits it can offer.
Steps to implement pillar content
Step 1. Understand your audience. Start analysing your audience and complete a buyer persona for your users. A buyer persona will uncover pain points, demographic, values, and other important information.
Step 2. Identify your target audience pressing needs. Uncover issues your audience have, understanding their needs to develop relevant content for your pillar posts.
Step 3. Create quality content. It takes time and effort to create quality content that is engaging and helpful to your audience. Also, make sure your content has an eye-catching headline and content that hooks your audience.
Step 4. Promote your pillar pages. The last thing you want is to have a pillar page without traffic, so link them to your pages and share your page. You can use your social media or even reach out to influencers.
Step 5. Update your pillar content. This final step is crucial in keeping the traffic to your pillar content flowing. Update and make sure these pages stand out from the rest of your content.
Conclusion
Now you understand what a pillar page is so you can see why they are crucial for your website. Pillar pages are the “anchor” for the rest of your topic pages, allowing you to go into a more depth blog or page about specific content.
A pillar page could be what your content strategy needs! Your content strategy could be suffering without pillar content, as it helps organise and plan your content linking.
Thanks for reading! If you found this post helpful, please consider sharing it with a friend!
Dorin
Not sure how to start your pillar strategy?
We are ready to help! Call or email us, and let’s talk about your content marketing strategy. We can help support your team, inject some fresh ideas into the process, and amplify the results you’re trying to achieve.
