2. Audit the Existing Content on Your Website

Pillar pages provide a substantive amount of information that can be divided into numerous formats such as ultimate guides, longreads, hub pages, & more. It is an opportunity to create a better user experience & be rewarded by search engines with high-level, authoritative content.

The conte...

Interlinking your cluster content to your pillar page is an essential part of the information architecture. If you want your pillar content to rank, you’ll need to optimize your links (both internal and backlinks from external sources) to start getting traction.

Remember that the pillar pag...

As the great Sun Tzu famously said, “Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” While we are not discussing the art of war here, the importance of strategic thinking in content creation is essential in achieving the desired outcome of any marketing effort. Content without structure and...

Content pillars are an essential part of a brand’s content strategy and they serve a fundamental purpose: they provide a comprehensive, authoritative exploration of a topic that a reader can get everything they need on that subject in one place. 

Long-form blogs can be excellent candidates for the “What Is” pillar page that covers a subject in great depth. If the subject matter is complex enough, you can break down the themes or subtopics into chapters and segments.

The How-To can be a powerful content asset for your brand, and an opportunity for you to position yourself as a subject matter expert. It can also be the ideal format if you’re targeting an audience with informational and transactional intents.

Depending on your content marketing goals, there are three main types of pillar pages: the “Guide”, the “What Is”, and the “How-To.” We’ll look at examples of each type and see how they work.

If you’ve identified a topic that you want to become an authority on, chances are you have competition vying for the same space. Next, you’ll want to do competitive content analysis on what their content marketing looks like to identify gaps, opportunities, & other areas for pillar content.

Identifying the core topic & keyword should both satisfy the user intent as much as it should attract search engine algorithms.

Identify the primary keyword or topic, & make sure it’s substantial enough to build a hub around. Look at:

• Search volume
• Competitiveness of the ...

Map out the Structure of Your Pillar Page

The next step is to collect all possible questions your pillar page will strive to answer and use them to design the structure of the article.