Pillar Pages: What Are They And How Do They Help Boost Search Engine Ranking?

SEO Services Hong Kong, SEO Agency Hong Kong

Pillar Pages: What Are They And How Do They Help Boost Search Engine Ranking?

Updated on: 1 September 2021

SEO Services Hong Kong, SEO Agency Hong Kong

As of June 18, 2021, there is an estimated 1.86 billion websites on the internet.

This goes to show that the entire world wide web is a massive place teeming with competition. With that in mind, it can be hard to decipher how search engine bots are able to crawl through such websites in just a short period.

What’s more, you can just imagine how Google and other search engines are going into overdrive crawling at least a billion websites and indexing every content they can find to provide accurate, relevant, and helpful information to all users.

With the increase in demand for more personalized and customized messaging, the use of search, which allows users to interact with a business through a personalized and context-based interface, is also becoming more prevalent. Because of this, pillar pages have come center stage.

What is a pillar page?

A pillar page is long-form, umbrella-like content that allows for easy categorization and a clear indication of authority. It’s like a guide that serves as a basis for topic clusters of a particular subject.

A pillar page provides basic information on a particular topic. It will then link out to cluster pages that discuss deeper about the different aspects of the said topic. This means that a pillar page needs to thoroughly explain the topic to be considered an early-stage piece of content for the cluster pages.

Moreover, a pillar page is a high-level piece of content that broadly discusses a core topic and links out to other pages that provides more in-depth information on specific subtopics. What makes them effective in luring visitors to your site is that they completely cover a topic in a broader sense and then offer links to pages that further discuss subtopics at just the right moment.

How does a pillar page boost search engine ranking?

The pillar-cluster model is great for SEO because it showcases a website’s expertise and authority and at the same time adding more value to the content through the internal links.

Nowadays, there is no content strategy that can help websites to grow their traffic and increase user engagement as effectively as the pillar-cluster model, which is driven by the powerful engine that is the pillar page. This is why a lot of search engine optimization experts have been using this content strategy for many years now. However, if done haphazardly, a lot can go wrong with such a strategy, which could potentially hurt your SEO efforts.

Take a look at how a pillar page can help improve your SEO.

·      Improves site structure

Google’s algorithm is built to not look at individual pages on a site but rather consider how each page is related. This is where having pillar pages come in handy, especially if you have lots of content on your site. Pillar pages will unify similar subjects and create a hierarchical map for all of them to improve your site structure. This will make it easier for you to establish your authority to Google.

This can result in better rankings.

·      Easier to rank for high-volume keywords

One of the major factors that Google considers as an important ranking factor is how one site or piece of content is effective in telling search engine bots what it is exactly about. If Google doesn’t understand or isn’t sure what your content or site is all about, then it won’t be able to rank you well.

If you have articles that delve deeper into different digital marketing strategies and link back to a pillar page that broadly discusses the main topic, then Google will easily know what all of those content is about. This helps search engines rank you better. Aside from that, the more you cover a single topic, the better your site will rank for that specific topic.

Nowadays, consumers narrow down searches using long-tail keywords. By covering specific topics and breaking them down through various subtopics, you can be sure to cover different keywords, driving more traffic to your site. And because you’ll be able to link out to cluster pages through CTAs (calls-to-action), users will more likely remain on your site to consume the content you have to offer.

·      Gives your brand more authority

Developing an ecosystem of content around certain general topics can help your brand build authority. Users, stakeholders, and search engines will view your site as an expert and more importantly, as a trusted source of information. As a result, you’ll have higher rankings on Google.

How to choose the best topics for pillar pages?

Carefully choosing your topics for your pillar pages is the first step towards achieving success with this marketing strategy.

Check out the key steps you need to take to successfully pick the best topics for your pillar pages.

1. Decide on which topics you want to rank for.

The key to determining which are the topics you should be ranking for is thinking of broad topical themes instead of specific keywords. This means that topics for pillar pages need to be broad enough to allow you to create multiple subtopics around them.

When considering a broad keyword, check its search volume. Analyze the data trends to know if the keyword is gaining more popularity among your target audience or has already peaked.

2. Analyze the SERP.

Search engine results pages can be quite useful in identifying related searches.

What you need to do is to enter your pillar page topic into the search bar and analyze the SERPs.

Are there targeted ads on related topics? Are there featured snippets? What are the kinds of questions are asked in the People Also Ask?

The answer to the questions above offers useful insights into the kinds of topics you should be covering on your pillar pages. The People Also Ask queries often provide great ideas for related topics that you can use for your cluster pages.

3. Assess your content.

This step is crucial in your pillar-cluster strategy, especially before you start writing new content. The reason to evaluate your content is to make sure that you don’t end up with duplicate content, which can be flagged by Google.

Start by sorting your content into topics. From there, you will have a good idea of which pages have similar topics. If there are any duplicate topics, you can combine both pieces together to create one single topic. After you’ve sorted everything out, you can then identify content gaps so you can provide a solution for them.

You can enter all your topics into a Google Sheet so you can easily map out your existing content. You should also be able to identify those that you need to optimize, new content to be written, and the structure of your pillar pages.

Conclusion

The first step towards getting the pillar-cluster pages strategy right is to use buyer persona to determine the best topics to write about. You will also need to analyze the SERPs for more useful insights on additional topics. Lastly, you will need to audit your content to check for duplicate topics.

By following all the tips mentioned above, you’ll be able to identify the best topics that will provide solutions to your readers, which can increase user engagement and boost Google rankings.