Content pillars 101: A three-step guide to nailing content pillars (and reaping the rewards)
Content pillars are the scaffolding of a good content strategy (that’s why we call them pillars). They’re the themes or topics for which you want your business to be known as an expert in. They drive every single element of the content creation process, from ideation through to execution.
But many businesses struggle to get content pillars right. Either they don’t have them at all or they have too many; they confuse pillars with types of content; or they don’t understand the importance of content pillars to their SEO strategy.
Here’s a three-step guide to getting content pillars right.
How to identify your content pillars
Your content pillars are the carefully considered themes or topics that reflect what you want your business to be known for. When you’re choosing your content pillars, ensure they are closely tied to:
Your business’s core value proposition
The USPs of your products and/or services
Your business’s long-term goals (i.e. what’s in its mission statement).
If your content pillars don’t link back to at least one of these elements in some way, it’s time to go back to the drawing board.
While content pillars are crucial to a successful content strategy, it’s equally important you don’t have too many. Aim for between three to five – if you have more than ten, you’re seriously overdoing it. Having too many content pillars will inevitably result in your content being all over the place, leaving your target audience without a clear idea of what you stand for.
We have three: ‘complex content’, ‘brand’, and ‘content strategy’. All of the content we create is tied to one or more of these pillars (see: this blog).
Once you’ve decided on your content pillars, you can use these to guide your keyword research, content audits, generate content ideas, create a content calendar, and get your content out into the world.
2. Don’t confuse content pillars with content types
Now for a question I invariably get when I’m creating a new content marketing strategy: “Should SEO be one of our content pillars? Or thought leadership content?” My answer is always no. No, no, no. This is the content marketing hill I will die on.
SEO content and thought leadership content are not content pillars. Content pillars are themes or topics. SEO content and thought leadership content are types of content. Listicles, videos, podcasts, social media posts, and any other type of content you want to create aren’t content pillars either.
Yes, different types of content should be part of your overall content marketing strategy (and all of your content should be optimised for SEO), but please, please, please do not make any of these one of your content pillars. Got it?
And feel free to point your stakeholders to this blog if you need some back up.
3. Use your content pillars to build topic clusters
Google ranks its content in myriad ways, from keywords to E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness). “Topic clusters” is yet another.
Topic clusters are when – you guessed it – you create a cluster of content around a certain topic (in other words, your content pillars). This in-depth coverage of one topic is rewarded by Google, because it helps you to establish your expertise and authority in a certain area.
Topic clusters are most effective when you have a strong interlinking strategy between your related content. One of the most effective approaches to interlinking is creating pillar pages.
Pillar pages are usually guides that provide an overview of a topic (for example, A complete guide to content strategy), which links to all of the content you’ve created for this pillar. You’ll need a decent amount of content for each content pillar before you build a pillar page – I’d suggest a minimum of five pieces. And don’t forget to keep your pillar page updated as you create new content.
In terms of your content calendar, you could mix up which pillar you cover each week, or focus on building your authority in one pillar, and then moving on to the next – it’s up to you.
Nailing content pillars will set your strategy up for long-term success
No matter whether you’re starting a content strategy from scratch, or optimising an existing one, make sure you know what your content pillars are before you do anything else – your content strategy will be directionless without them.
Content pillars not only give your content marketing strategy a clear direction, but ensure all of your content is consistent, establish your brand’s credibility, and set you up for SEO success.
But please, I beg of you, make sure those content pillars are actually content pillars.
Need a hand with your content strategy?
At The Content(ed) Copywriter, we craft content marketing strategies that solve challenges and maximise opportunities through content. Get in touch to learn more about our content marketing services.