SEO is a seemingly ever-changing aspect of the marketing industry. This can be attributed to search engine algorithms never remaining unchanged, at least for long periods of time. With these changes of course come new SEO strategies to help your blog and other website content rank higher on search engines. 

One of those website SEO strategies involves the creation of a specific page filled with content. The content on this page is organized, comprehensive, and valuable to users. Can you guess what it is? You may have or may have not heard about this SEO tool, but it is a pillar page! What is a pillar page you ask? Well….let’s find out! 

What is a Pillar Page? 

A pillar page is a high-level piece of content on your website that covers the main topic in a general way. Instead of specifically just talking about that main topic, the page links out to more in-depth articles about specific subtopics. Those pieces of content are known as topic clusters. A simple way to visualize it is by comparing it to the table of contents within a book. The pillar page itself is the table of contents that has the names of each chapter. These chapters are the subtopics that are found on the page.

A pillar page is much longer than an average blog as they usually start at a minimum of 2000 words compared to the length of an average blog which is 1142 words. Because of their length as well as the content that you can place on it, pillar pages are popularly used as a landing page for websites. 

Since they are frequently used as a landing page, the content found on them consists of themes and topics that are most relevant and important to your target users. This results in pillar pages affecting your SEO as the right one can draw in more users. As a business, you will want to engage those users and encourage them to learn more about your business and products. 

Another thing to take note of is that pillar pages are not all the same in terms of what they try to address. Because there are many types of them, here are three common types of pages:

1. The Guide Page
2. The What Is Page
3. The How-To Page

Now that you know some types of pillar pages, let’s dive a little deeper into what makes them different. 

The Guide Page

The Guide page is one of the more common pillar pages you’ll see since it broadly and comprehensively covers the main topic. It aims to be the go-to page on your website for that certain topic. Think of it as the master guide for that certain topic. In the Guide page, it will answer many people’s questions regarding that topic and dive deeper into them using various interlinks on that page.

The What Is Pillar Page

The What Is page is similar to a Guide pillar page in that they both try to be the premier and go-to page for a certain topic. The difference is the way that it is formatted. A What Is page is formatted by first asking a question, like what is social media marketing? From there it can tell you what it is and dive even deeper into other aspects such as statistics, the history of social media marketing, social media marketing platforms, and so on. This is done to ensure that you have a good grasp and understanding of what social media marketing is.

How-To Pillar Page 

The How-To page is another commonly seen page on websites. Instead of telling you what something is such as on a What Is page, a How-To page will tell you how it is done. A good example of How To Pages are those that have a subtitle like “The Complete Step-by-step Process for Website Creation.” These How-To pages will help their target audience resolve their problems regarding a specific topic such as, how to create a Website in WordPress. These solutions come in the form of comprehensive tutorials and step-by-step pieces of content. This is done to ensure that every user has everything they need to solve their problems in regards to that topic. 

What Makes Up a Pillar Page?

A pillar page isn’t a typical blog in the sense that it doesn’t just cover one specific topic throughout the entirety of it. Rather, it is a long page of content on your website that is both comprehensive and broad in terms of the information it provides. So what exactly makes up a pillar page you ask?

A pillar page works as sort of a central hub for your content one part of your website. Connected to this central hub are cluster topics that can be linked to specific subtopics. Let’s visualize this page with a more relevant example. 

Say you want to create a pillar page that is centered around the topic of social media marketing. The topic of social media marketing has many other subtopics in regards to the different aspects of it. Some of these subtopics could be:

• Why Social Media Marketing?
• Social Media Marketing Platforms 
• Creating Good Social Media Posts
• Performance Tracking 
• Engaging Posts 
• Using Social Media to Drive Traffic 
• Social Media and SEO

Each of these subtopics would be covered on a much deeper level if the user wants to learn more about them and may include some smaller topics in them as well depending on how granular the information wants to be. That is what makes up a pillar page. 

Do Pillar Pages Help SEO Rankings?

Pillar pages can help your SEO rankings in many different ways. These ways can help drive more traffic to your website and get more engagement with it. So, how do pillar pages help your SEO Rankings?

They Improve Site Structure 

Google’s algorithm likes websites that’re organized instead of a cluster-filled mess. This is where having a pillar page can help increase your SEO rankings. The way Google’s algorithm works is by determining how the content on a website is related to other pages. With pillar pages, you can unify these pieces of content together and create a table of contents with them. This comes off a bit more organized in Google’s eyes and helps it to determine if your content is valuable and relevant. This in turn can improve your website’s SEO rankings. 

They Improve Keyword Rankings 

Pillar pages are comprehensive, which means there are specific keywords that can be used to help boost SEO rankings. Since the keywords are spread throughout the various subtopics within your page, you have to use keywords that are centered around your topics. With the right keyword, you have more search engine authority with your SEO rankings. Keywords play a key role in ranking your website’s content and still do on a pillar page. 

They Interlink Content

There is one big benefit from having a lot of content on just one page on your website. That big benefit is the ability to interlink your content within that same page. When people visit your pillar page, they know it is the page to be on in terms of answering any of their questions. These interlinks turn into a convenient option for readers of your content as they can click on these if they decide they want to dive a bit more into the topic they are interested in. This link will still be on the pillar page which tells Google that the pillar page is good for relevant users who are seeking valuable content. 

An Organized Pillar Page improves the User Experience

With a pillar page that’s organized, easy to navigate, and has valuable content, the user experience will be substantially improved. Good pillar pages rank favorably with Google’s algorithm simply because it favors websites that provide good user experiences. A way that it determines if a website is providing a good user experience is by looking at that page’s bounce rate. 

If people are leaving your pillar page without taking any positive action, then Google will conclude that your website isn’t relevant and valuable to users. This can lead to a drop in your SEO rankings, which you want to avoid. When creating a pillar page, keep in mind that you’re not only designing it for your business, but also for your users. 

Pillar pages provide many SEO benefits to your website if they are used properly. Don’t just create a pillar page full of filler and non-relevant content though. Rather try and include interlinking and content that is relevant to your topic and flows well together.

Should You Use One?

So, should you use a pillar page? The answer is a resounding yes! They make for a great landing page and are good for making a proper first impression with your users. They keep your content organized, answer any questions regarding a particular topic, and can capture more lead. It is a big win-win scenario as pillar pages can also boost your SEO rankings. Providing valuable content leads to a good user experience which leads to your website rankings higher on search engines. 

Looking for help with marketing your business and driving traffic to your website? Then you should contact us here that way we can find the best solution for you!