How Pillar Pages Will Help Your Search Engine Rankings

Do you create content regularly? Sometimes, that’s the easy part. 

But what about creating relevant pieces of content that meet Google’s helpful content guidelines, match search intent, and appeal to your audience? Now, that’s a whole different story.

That’s where topic clusters come in. With a topic cluster, you write a pillar page around a central topic and link it to a series of subtopics.

Think of it as strength in numbers. 

Grouping related content helps you demonstrate your expertise to search engines, boosting your website’s visibility and authority. Pillar pages also provide a clear site structure and hierarchy, which helps search engines and users better understand the context of your content.

And we all know more visibility in search engines means more organic visitors.

Ready to learn more? Let’s discuss what a pillar page is and why it matters for your website. 

Key Takeaways

• A pillar page includes detailed content on a specific topic and links to supporting topics. Collectively, this is called a topic cluster.
• Pillar pages help SEO by giving search engines context, providing topic authority, and making pages easier to navigate. Organized websites with clear structures also rank better in search engines, as they’re easier to index.
• Narrow down pillar page ideas by concentrating on topics at the heart of your (or your client’s) business. For example, a pet care company might start a pillar page called “The Essential Areas of Pet Care” and then link to different pet care subtopics, like grooming, feeding, or vaccinations. 
• A pillar page reduces keyword cannibalization, improves dwell time, and provides internal linking opportunities.
• Focus on evergreen topics, use keyword research to organize and structure your content, and use your pillar page to build backlinks.

Table of Contents

• Key Takeaways
• What Is a Pillar Page?
• Why Should You Use Pillar Pages?
• How to Create an Effective Pillar Page
  • Step #1: Decide on the Topics You Want to Rank For
  • Step #2: Use Keyword Research to Organize Your Content
  • Step #3: Create Your Pillar Page and Supporting Content
  • Step #4: Build Backlinks to Your Pillar Pages
• Examples of Pillar Pages to Inspire Your Strategy
  • 1. Rover
  • 2. NerdWallet
  • 3. Amazon
• FAQs
• Conclusion

What Is a Pillar Page?

A pillar page covers a broad topic and links to your other content on the same subject. For example, a pillar page called “A Complete Guide to Digital Marketing 2024” might link to in-depth subtopics like “On-page SEO Best Practices” or “The Role of SEO in Content Marketing.”

Pillar pages might look like long blogs or landing pages, but there are some major differences.

Generally speaking, pillar pages are much longer than normal blog posts. They’re often similar to an e-book, with hyperlinked chapters at the top of the text. Unlike blogs, pillar pages give your site structure and act as a comprehensive resource.

Pillar pages are also different from landing pages because their main goal is not for conversions. However, a pillar page can send organic traffic to your landing page. 

Look at this example from Investopedia:

This pillar page provides a comprehensive overview of investing, links to related topics, and is an educational resource. It’s also well structured and focuses on providing detailed information rather than selling products or services.

OK, so you know what a pillar page is. But why do they matter, and why should you care?

Why Should You Use Pillar Pages?

Ryan Velez, Sr. Content Production Lead at NP Digital, highlights the growing importance of pillar page SEO in a world where attention spans are decreasing:

“Some of those larger mega-topics we used to create massive pieces of content for are now better suited to be split across multiple pieces. This way, every subtopic gets its chance to shine.”

Additionally, pillar pages benefit your website because an organized website ranks better in Google and helps visitors navigate your content. 

Also, Google prefers it when you create a clean website experience with hyperlinks that make sense and tell Google exactly what each piece of content is about.

In addition, the more you cover a single topic on your website, the more authority you build. An SEO pillar page dedicated to one topic strengthens your topical authority.

Other benefits of a pillar page are:

• Improved internal linking: As I’ll discuss later, a pillar page gives you many opportunities to link to subtopics and related content on your site.
• Less keyword cannibalization: Using pillar pages helps you avoid keyword cannibalization because you write content around a specific theme instead of covering similar content and targeting the exact same keywords across several pages.
• Increased dwell time: This measures how long someone spends on your page before clicking back to the search engine results pages (SERPs). The longer a user stays on your page, the more engaged they are. That means it’s more likely your page meets the searcher’s intent, leading to a better user experience and sending positive signals to Google.

How to Create an Effective Pillar Page

Ready to start writing your pillar pages? You’ve got to put some planning into it. Here are some guidelines to take you through the process, stage by stage.

Step #1: Decide on the Topics You Want to Rank For

Keyword research is always a good start. Ubersuggest can help you here. It’s also a valuable tool for competitor analysis and finding content ideas. Google Trends and AnswerThePublic.com are also great keyword research and topic ideation tools.

Don’t forget your audience. Run surveys or use social listening to understand their interests, problems, and the questions they ask.

You can also run a competitor analysis to see which topics competitors cover and identify content gaps where you can easily create content.

These basics will give you enough ideas to get started. To brainstorm even more topics for a pillar page, Ryan Velez has some pointers:

“When deciding what makes for a good pillar page topic candidate, I recommend focusing on concepts central to your business or your client’s business,” he explains. “Building a pillar page and surrounding pages is going to take extra time and investment compared to a traditional blog, so make sure that it’s something that’s important to your target audience. This also means that you’ll have the internal expertise to really flesh out multiple related subtopics.”

Another good starting point for your pillar page concept is revisiting your older content. Do you have older material on some central topics that need updating? Expand it into a pillar page and try to create spin-off content for some of the side topics for which you don’t have material.

“Lastly, I recommend that you focus on evergreen content,” Velez says. “This way, your effort in building a pillar page is going to last for longer.”

Here’s how Salesforce uses pillar pages:

Notice the logical content order and detailed intro explaining the benefits of customer relationship management (CRM) tools. You will see a long list of advantages of using Salesforce, internal links, and images with stats for more engagement.

Step #2: Use Keyword Research to Organize Your Content

You’ll need to research keywords to find the phrases to target for SEO in your topic clusters. Start by noting the most popular keyword phrases on this list based on volume. For example, I used Ubersuggest’s keyword visualization tool to get these results for the keyword “gaming laptop”:

You’ll want to include as many of these keyword phrases within your pillar page as possible.

Why?

First, it will help your rankings in the same way that latent semantic indexing (LSI) keywords help your rankings.

And second, it will allow you to easily link to future blog posts that break down those topics.

Remember: By sprinkling relevant phrases throughout your SEO pillar page, you’ll naturally generate ideas for future posts. Perhaps best of all, you’re essentially creating a home for future blog posts, which you can easily link back to your pillar page to make it even stronger. 

Want something to strive for? This example from Investopedia doesn’t leave anything out. It takes you through the entire process of buying a house, with ample links to related content, actionable steps, and even a mortgage calculator.

Step #3: Create Your Pillar Page and Supporting Content

You should be prepped to start building your pillar page and its supporting content. Here are some best practices to keep in mind:

• Remember: The longer your pillar page, the more content potential that topic will have for you to expand upon with follow-up blog posts.
• Don’t neglect the quality of your pillar page because you think it only needs to function as the base for the rest of your content. The pillar page itself still needs to be a worthwhile read for your audience.
• The goal of your pillar page is to give your content better organization and your website better rankings. If including CTAs on the pillar page will harm these goals, it’s probably best not to include them. Don’t try to make a sale at the cost of ruining your pillar page’s original intent.
• Since the pillar page is usually one of your longest pieces of content, make sure that it’s easy for people to scan (use bullets, lots of white space, break up text with images, keep paragraphs and sentences concise, and add easy-to-follow chapters in a logical order).
• Add internal links to supporting content and additional resources through anchor text and “learn more” CTAs.
• Always keep in mind Google’s E-E-A-T guidelines, which prioritize content that’s rich in experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness.

Look at this pillar page from The Knot on how to plan a wedding:

The Knot uses white space, easy-to-read paragraphs, and images that visitors can share on Pinterest. It finishes the page with additional links and trending content to keep visitors on the site even longer.

Step #4: Build Backlinks to Your Pillar Pages

You’ve put your pillar page together, but the hard work isn’t over just yet. Now, it’s time to start promoting it and securing backlinks to boost its visibility.

The keyword research you’ve completed will go a long way to getting pageviews, but there are other things you can do—like building backlinks.

Begin by using the Ubersuggest backlink checker to see how many backlinks you have and the pages that link to them. 

Ubersuggest also tells you the domain authority, page authority, and spam score of the domains referring to your page. That way, you know which potential links are worth pursuing. 

You can then start building backlinks by reaching out to site owners, signing up for online directories, or joining trade associations like the Chamber of Commerce.

The example above shows the backlink profile for Shopify’s business plan article.

Examples of Pillar Pages to Inspire Your Strategy

For ideas for pillar pages, do a competitor analysis to find content gaps, topics, subtopics, and keyword ideas. You can look at the competitor’s websites to see how they structure their website and pages to help inform your approach. 

You can also use competitor analysis to identify areas where competitors lack depth or haven’t published content.

Look to big names for big ideas. Below are examples of how top brands use pillar pages in their content strategy.

1. Rover

Rover does an excellent job of identifying and addressing topics crucial for its audience on its dog training pillar page. Developing helpful content around well-structured subtopics provides valuable resources that enhance the reader’s understanding and ability to train their dogs effectively. This approach builds trust and authority and fosters a loyal audience.

2. NerdWallet

“How to” and guide topics make great SEO pillar pages, as highlighted by this NerdWallet article on strategies for saving money. It stands out for its:

• High search intent: These topics attract users looking for solutions or guidance and help enhance organic traffic.
• User engagement: When sharing actionable content, you improve engagement and keep visitors on the page longer.
• Authority building: By publishing a well-researched how-to guide, you establish yourself as an authority on a specific topic, which builds trust with visitors.
• Effortless updating: You can update guide topics when stats and trends change, keeping content fresh and relevant.

3. Amazon

Amazon Web Service (AWS) uses a “what is”-style pillar page to cover specific topics like generative AI in great detail.

Amazon’s page combines text, images, additional resources, and intuitive buttons for users who want to learn more about specific topics.

Like other pillar pages, “what is” pillar pages give you authority, encourage engagement, and can attract a variety of users. Some might just want some basic information, while others might be in search of a more detailed overview of a topic.

These types of pillar pages also help with:

• SEO optimization, as you can target keywords and People Also Ask questions.
• Content structuring, as it gives you a central hub for related topics to improve user navigation and the overall visitor experience.
• Internal linking, as you can link to related topics for a valuable SEO boost.

FAQs

What is a pillar page?

Pillar pages organize clusters of related content, helping users and search engines understand the depth and breadth of your expertise on a topic.

Is a pillar page the same as a landing page?

No. A pillar page differs from a landing page in that landing pages focus on promoting specific products or services ultimately encouraging users to convert, and pillar pages cover topics comprehensively. While users may convert on a pillar page, that is not what they are designed for.

How do you create a pillar page?

Begin by deciding what topic to cover and what you want to rank for. Then, do keyword research. Next, create optimized content for the page that addresses your topic comprehensively. When formatting, include scannable content, easy-to-follow structure, and use internal links to pages of supporting subtopics.

How long should pillar pages be?

The length of a pillar page varies widely depending on the topic and your goals, but it might range from 1,000 to 10,000 words. The goal is to ensure the content is thorough and valuable to the user so rather than meeting a specific word count, you want to effectively cover the topic in a way that will engage users.

Conclusion

Now that you understand what a pillar page is, why it’s important, and how to create your own, you can start reaping the SEO benefits.

The structure of a pillar page works well for SEO by offering a user-friendly experience to visitors, building your authority, filling content gaps, and enabling link building. All of these things can help you get more visibility in the SERPs.

If you need a way to remember what pillar pages are, just keep this in mind: Pillar pages are the “pillar” of the rest of your content. Ultimately, a pillar page is exactly what your content strategy needs.