Pillar Pages: Why and How You Should Add Them to Your Content Strategy

The creator’s views are solely his or her personal (excluding the unlikely occasion of hypnosis) and will not all the time mirror the views of Moz.

In a recent study, we discovered that our pillar pages are magnets for hyperlinks, natural visitors, and publication subscribers — particularly in comparison with common weblog posts. Listed here are the outcomes that each kinds of search engine optimisation content material generated over the course of a 12 months:

Do these outcomes imply you need to ditch your weblog technique in favor of pillar pages? Not precisely.

Right here’s the catch: You actually can’t have one with out the opposite, and all of it comes right down to content material mapping. I’ll clarify precisely what I imply on this article.

What’s a pillar web page?

A pillar web page is a chunk of content material that comprehensively covers a broad subject. Pillar web page — additionally generally known as hub and spoke — content material weaves collectively a variety of related subtopics (spokes), organizes them multi functional place (hub), and successfully showcases your material experience for the broad subject.

Pillar web page content material must be straightforward to navigate for readers seeking to be taught — at a excessive degree — a few specific subject, however must also supply related sources for them to dive deeper.

Instance of associated sources discovered on a pillar web page.

It’s form of just like the choose-your-own-adventure of content material advertising and marketing.

Topical authority: why it’s necessary

In terms of content material creation for search engine optimisation and digital advertising and marketing, you don’t need to create content material round any outdated subject. As an alternative, you need to reinforce your brand’s topical authority with each new piece of content material you create (be it a weblog, a pillar web page, an eBook, and many others.).

Let’s put it this fashion: For those who’re within the enterprise of promoting mechanical keyboards, it doesn’t make sense to publish a weblog article about the perfect recipes for a summer time BBQ. Until you’re recommending that your clients grill and eat their mechanical keyboards, which is (extremely) unlikely.

As an alternative, it’s extra useful to your model — and your viewers — if you happen to cowl matters associated to mechanical keyboards, like:

What’s a mechanical keyboard?
Mechanical keyboards vs. common keyboards.
Customized mechanical keyboards.
How to transition to a mechanical keyboard.
Professionals and cons of a mechanical keyboard.

By masking as many matters associated to mechanical keyboards as potential, you’re constructing a basis of informational content material that tells engines like google: “Hey, I know a lot about mechanical keyboards!”

And the extra content material you’ve that begins to rank for necessary search phrases associated to mechanical keyboards, the extra seemingly searchers will see you as an authority on the topic. Ideally, they may begin coming again to your content material when they should be taught extra about this particular subject.

Pillar pages + blogs = a match made in content material advertising and marketing heaven

A well-executed and arranged pillar web page is among the greatest methods to showcase to your viewers (and engines like google) that you’ve topical authority in a particular space. Weblog posts show you how to obtain topical authority by permitting you to cowl a variety of related subtopics in nice element, and pillar pages set up all of that content material into a pleasant, user-friendly package deal.

Let’s check out this tactic in motion.

We constructed our content marketing guide as a pillar web page, which allowed us to cowl a slew of subtopics associated to the broader subject of content material advertising and marketing, multi functional piece of collateral.

All of those subtopics are organized into sections on the web page, with a hyperlinked desk of contents on the prime to permit readers to select and select precisely what they’d prefer to find out about:

Then, all through the web page, we provide readers the chance to go deeper and be taught extra about every subtopic by linking to related weblog content material:

What’s content material mapping?

A pillar web page is a nice tactic if you happen to’ve received loads of present weblog content material all targeted on a selected mum or dad subject. It’s one among our favourite methods at Brafton to repurpose and repromote our blogs.

However you too can create a pillar web page with all brand-new content material — it’ll simply take extra analysis, planning, and manufacturing time to finish.

Enter: content material mapping.

Content mapping is the method of assessing your target market, understanding what they’re attempting to realize, and helping them along that journey with branded academic and commercial content. Its scope can span the whole lot of your content material advertising and marketing technique or a single piece of pillar web page content material.

Why content material mapping issues in content material advertising and marketing

The planning (or content material mapping) of a pillar web page is simply as necessary because the analysis finished to decide on the proper key phrase to focus on for your small business.

Pillar pages are form of just like the books of the advertising and marketing world. For those who have been an professional birder, for instance, you wouldn’t got down to write a e book about bird-watching with out doing any analysis. Particularly if you happen to’ve spent loads of time writing and publishing articles about bird-watching in your weblog. You’d need to perceive a couple of issues earlier than beginning that e book, like:

Which of my weblog posts generated probably the most curiosity from new and returning readers? (i.e. pages with probably the most new and returning guests, as seen in your internet analytics instrument).
Which blogs stored readers coming again for extra? (i.e. pages with probably the most publication subscriptions, or the perfect publication subscription charges).
Which blogs did my business friends discover most helpful? (i.e. pages with the best variety of high-quality referring domains and backlinks).

These questions may be answered by trying by means of your internet analytics instruments, comparable to Google Analytics and Moz Professional.

Instance of content material evaluation by prime linking domains.

You’d additionally need to perceive what the competition looks like earlier than you spend dozens of hours writing hundreds of phrases to fill a e book.

You’d need to reply questions, like:

What do my rivals’ books on bird-watching appear like? (i.e. the kinds of bird-watching subtopics the web page 1 outcomes cowl).
What does Google suppose searchers need to see once they seek for bird-watching? (i.e. the kinds of content material which are discovered on web page 1 to your goal key phrase — and shock! it may not be books).
How lengthy and detailed are my rivals’ books? (i.e. the extent of complexity and comprehensiveness of the content material rating on web page 1).

These questions may be answered by manually reviewing related SERPs and using TF-IDF instruments like Clearscope or MarketMuse to know the breadth of subtopics and kinds of content material rating on the primary web page.

Instance of TF-IDF content material evaluation.

When you perceive which of your content material performs greatest and which content material Google and different engines like google choose to rank extremely to your goal key phrase, you can begin piecing collectively a plan to your pillar web page.

A observe about inside linking

Earlier than we dive into the how-to portion of this piece, we must also acknowledge the significance of inside linking to this complete course of.

And I’m not simply speaking about throwing in a hyperlink to a associated product/service on the finish of the web page and calling it a day. The inner linking construction of your pillar web page is actually the glue that holds the entire thing collectively. It helps readers simply navigate to associated sources to proceed studying out of your model. And it helps engines like google perceive the connection between your pillar web page content material and the extra content material you’re highlighting on the web page.

However in the case of inside linking, there is such a factor as an excessive amount of of an excellent factor.

Together with too many inside hyperlinks all through your content material could cause a irritating consumer expertise or look spammy, so use warning and ensure the one inside linking you do on the web page is extraordinarily related to the mum or dad subject.

For those who’re not sure whether or not or not you’ve received too many inside hyperlinks on the web page, you may run it by means of Moz’s On-Page Grader tool, which routinely counts the variety of hyperlinks in your web page and flags if you happen to’ve received too many.

Tip: Remember that this instrument will rely ALL hyperlinks discovered on the web page, together with these in your important navigation and footer, so the “Too Many Links” warning may very well be a false constructive.

As Moz explains: Google recommends you don’t go over 100 inside hyperlinks per web page, as a result of it could actually dilute the search engine optimisation worth despatched from the pillar web page to the linked pages, and it could actually additionally make it more difficult for customers and crawlers to navigate the entire content material.

Two data-led methods to map out content material for a pillar web page

There are a few other ways to method the development of any such content material, however they every depend on natural search information to prepared the ground.

1. Planning a pillar web page and associated sources (all from scratch)

Let’s fake you don’t have any prior content material created a few specific subject. You’re principally ranging from scratch. Let’s additionally assume the subject you’ve chosen is each core and commercially priceless to your small business, and that your area realistically has an opportunity of rating on web page 1 for that key phrase.

Let’s say you’re a pet meals firm and one among your important merchandise is cat dental treats. When you’ve decided that that is the precise key phrase you need to goal (“cat dental treats”), it’s time to begin your analysis.

Step 1: Manually examine SERP to know searcher intent

First, we’ll begin by manually inspecting the primary SERP for this key phrase, and answering the next questions:

What kinds of content material are on the primary web page of outcomes?

Why are individuals trying to find “cat dental treats”?

By answering these two questions in our SERP evaluation, we’ll be sure that our plan for making a pillar web page to rank really is sensible and it’s what searchers need to see on the SERP. We’ll additionally higher perceive all the explanations behind why somebody would possibly search this key phrase (and we will then tackle these causes within the content material we create).

So let’s reply these questions:

Query 1: What kinds of content material are on the primary web page of outcomes?

Reply 1: The primary SERP consists of quite a lot of product adverts, a Folks Additionally Ask part, and a number of natural blogs and product pages.

Varieties of content material discovered on the SERP for “cat dental treats.”

Query 2: Why are individuals trying to find “cat dental treats”?

Reply 2: From a fast evaluation of the SERP, we will deduce that folks need to know why and the way cat dental treats are necessary to a cat’s well being, they usually additionally need to know which cat dental treats work greatest. Maybe most significantly, it’s extremely seemingly that they plan to buy cat dental treats for his or her furry companion(s) within the close to future.

Step 2: Choose associated key phrase concepts for weblog content material

Because you don’t simply need to create a pillar web page for simply the first key phrase, you additionally need to pinpoint a number of associated subtopics to be written as weblog content material.

For this a part of the method, head over to your key phrase analysis instrument, plug in your goal key phrase and (with an eye fixed for matters that you simply’re well-suited to cowl), jot down an inventory of key phrases and phrases.

Right here’s our record of potential weblog matters:

Greatest cat dental treats.

How do cat dental treats work?

What to search for in cat dental treats.

Do cat dental treats work?

Can cat dental treats substitute brushing?

Vet advisable cat dental treats.

Grain-free cat dental treats.

Step 3: Select subtopics to cowl in your pillar web page content material

Subsequent, you’ll need to assessment the subtopics talked about within the prime rating outcomes. Whereas this course of may be finished manually (by clicking into every end result on the SERP and jotting down the matters talked about), a TF-IDF instrument like MarketMuse makes this a part of the method a lot faster:

These TF-IDF instruments analyze the highest 10-20 outcomes to your goal key phrase and routinely current the frequent subtopics talked about in each bit. This offers you an excellent understanding of what you’ll additionally must cowl in your piece to compete for a top-ranking spot.

Right here’s the record of subtopics we’ll need to cowl on this pillar web page, primarily based on our MarketMuse information:

Step 4: Create your define and plan content material

Now it’s time to attach the dots out of your analysis. One of the simplest ways to do that is to begin by structuring your pillar web page define, after which going again in and filling within the areas the place you need to create supporting weblog content material.

Right here’s an instance of what the top end result would possibly appear like:

H1: The Full Information to Cat Dental Treats: For a Contemporary-Breath Feline Buddy

H2: What are cat dental treats and the way do they work?

Subjects to cowl: Cat dental treats

Weblog submit to help part:
Title: How Cat Dental Treats Work (& Why Your Kitty Wants Them)
Key phrase: how do cat dental treats work

H2: What are the advantages of cat dental treats?

Subjects to cowl: Clear enamel, contemporary breath

Weblog submit to help part:
Title: Do Cat Dental Treats Actually Work? (Right here’s What The Consultants Say)
Key phrase: do cat dental treats work

H2: Are cat dental treats a suitable different to brushing?

Subjects to cowl: Cats dental well being

Weblog submit to help part:
Title: Cat Dental Treats Vs Brushing: All the pieces You Want To Know
Key phrase: can cat dental treats substitute brushing

H2: Do vets advocate utilizing cat dental treats?

Subjects to cowl: Veterinary oral well being council

Weblog submit to help part:
Title: Vets Suggest Utilizing Cat Dental Treats — Right here’s Why
Key phrase: vet advisable cat dental treats

H2: The most effective cat dental treats to strive

Subjects to cowl: Purina dentalife, Feline greenies, pure components, synthetic flavors.

Weblog submit to help part:
Title: 5 Of The Greatest Cat Dental Treats & Why We Love Them
Key phrase: greatest cat dental treats

Weblog submit #2 to help part:
Title: What To Look For In Cat Dental Treats
Key phrase: what to search for in cat dental treats

Creating an overview for a pillar web page isn’t straightforward, however as soon as laid out, it helps us perceive the content material that must be produced to convey the entire thing to life.

Right here is our record of content material to create (primarily based on our define):

Pillar web page: The Full Information to Cat Dental Treats: For a Contemporary-Breath Feline Buddy

Weblog #1: How Cat Dental Treats Work (& Why Your Kitty Wants Them)

Weblog #2: Do Cat Dental Treats Actually Work? (Right here’s What The Consultants Say)

Weblog #3: Cat Dental Treats Vs Brushing: All the pieces You Want To Know

Weblog #4: Vets Suggest Utilizing Cat Dental Treats — Right here’s Why

Weblog #5: 5 Of The Greatest Cat Dental Treats & Why We Love Them

Weblog #6: What To Look For In Cat Dental Treats

One of the simplest ways to sort out this record of content material is to create and publish the six weblog posts first, then as soon as they’re reside, you may write the pillar web page content material, putting hyperlinks to the supporting weblog posts instantly within the copy.

2. Planning a pillar web page from prime performing content material

For this subsequent methodology, let’s say you have already got a ton of revealed content material a few specific subject, and also you’d prefer to reuse and repromote that content material inside a pillar web page devoted to that subject.

All the steps within the earlier course of apply, however for Step 2 (Choose Associated Key phrase Concepts for Weblog Content), do the next:

First, you’ll need to perceive which of your present items generates probably the most curiosity out of your viewers. Let’s use our internet analytics information for this. On this instance, we’ll take a look at Google Search Console information as a result of it exhibits the precise search efficiency of our web site content material.

Let’s use the subject of “content creation” as our desired pillar web page key phrase. Seek for the question in Google Search Console (select the “Queries containing” possibility):

Pull the entire pages presently producing impressions and clicks from phrases containing your subject, putting these with the best clicks and impressions on the prime of your record. Right here’s what this would possibly appear like:

As you may see, a lot of the content material we’ve created that additionally ranks for key phrases containing “content creation” is weblog content material. These will likely be extremely helpful as associated sources on our pillar web page.

Now, return to your TF-IDF instrument and choose the subtopics associated to “content creation” that you simply need to cowl in your pillar web page. Instance:

Social media content material

Content creation instrument

Content creators

Content technique

Content creation course of

Lastly, map your present weblog content material to these “content creation” subtopics. The preliminary mapping could look one thing like this:

You could not have the ability to map every weblog completely to the subtopic you’re masking in your pillar web page, however that’s OK. What’s necessary is that you simply’re offering readers with related content material (the place relevant) and that content material, as you’ve seen in your Search Console information, is already confirmed to carry out properly along with your natural search viewers.

Pillar web page planning templates and sources

Pillar pages take an unimaginable period of time and planning to execute, however they’re value each penny.

Right here’s an instance of the success we noticed after producing one among our more moderen pillar pages, “How to Rank on Google:”

Development of referring domains and hyperlinks to the web page since its launch in April 2022.

Right here’s a template of the define used to convey the web page to life (and you should use it to your personal pillar web page). Simply make a replica and off you go. Good luck!