In 2017, experts have started explaining the magic of a new content marketing trend: the pillar page. Since then, companies have been clamoring to fit a pillar page into their marketing strategies, even if they do not always understand how it works. With the search engines becoming more saturated than ever, some will grab any chance to stand out and earn more traffic.
But what is a pillar page, and why is it so effective? How can you capitalize on pillar content to yield the results you need and want? Here’s a breakdown of the concept, why you need it, and the important elements you need to include when creating one.
What Is a Pillar Page and Why Do You Need It?
A pillar page can be referred to as a topical cornerstone for a huge portion of your page’s content. It is like an outline. You have one main theme and several subtopics.
It is an intensive SEO strategy, and it serves several purposes:
- It addresses a topic fully within a single page, which is helpful for audiences looking for easy and fast answers.
- It is a good way to infuse keywords and phrases into your website.
- It provides a helpful structure to link to other relevant websites.
- It addresses the changing needs and demands of SEO.
If you noticed, today’s consumers like to chat. They ask questions and want to get specific answers about what they are looking for. Queries and searches today are longer than before, especially with more people using voice searches. It is very easy to say, “Siri, what is a pillar page?” or “Alexa, how can I create a pillar page?”
In fact, evidence shows that nearly 65% of searches today are 4 words or more, which makes pillar pages an excellent SEO strategy! Many believe it is more powerful than a blog post.
Unlike blogs, which are often written on a singular topic, pillar pages act as a topic cluster, which allows you to input more SEO-rich keywords and phrases. It allows you to link the URLs on your page more efficiently.
What Are the Elements of a Successful Pillar Page?
Main Topic Definition
Make sure to define the topic you are covering in a way that is easy to understand. For example, if a healthcare group’s pillar page is entitled, “How Physicians Can Succeed with Patient-Focused Care,” not everyone will understand the term “patient-focused care.”
Explaining it better for your audience will also help you earn a spot in one of the most sought-after Google features: the snippets section.
Primary or Main Keyword
It is very important to focus your pillar page content around a single keyword phrase. Be sure to use it in the title, meta description, URL, subheadings, and at least a couple of times throughout the body of the article.
Internal Links
You have to link to other top-performing pages on your website. These links should lead viewers to a page where they can access more in-depth information about a specific topic.
External Links
It is also helpful to link to trustworthy pages outside your website. This improves your credibility both to viewers and search engines. It also helps validate your claims. For example, if your pillar page talks about heart disease, you can link to recent statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A General Overview of the Main Topic
Your pillar page must provide a complete overview, but you should not go too in-depth. Aside from possibly exhausting your readers, it will give them less incentive to click on linked pages and engage further.
To get inspiration, you can check three of the best pillar page examples – iOffice, StayOnline, and Kuno Creative. However, if you prefer an expert to handle this for your business, fill out the form below and chat with our representative now. Through our SEO services, we can help you with a number of tasks, from developing a topic to publishing the new page on your website to keep your audience engaged.
