Inbound Marketers understand that SEO changes constantly. Therefore, at Vet Digital we remain on top of new developments in content and search. Pillar pages were presented by HubSpot as a solution for SEO. We went to HubSpot to learn all about the ins and outs of pillar pages and topic clusters. In this blog article I explain how SEO strategies have developed over time, what a pillar page is, and why you should use it for your Inbound Marketing strategy.
Developments in SEO via search engines
The biggest development in SEO is that search engines understand how people think and talk. Nowadays, search engines can understand the intent and context behind a search query much better than before, without explaining what you are looking for.
Google has changed its algorithm so that it can determine how useful and relevant the content is for the reader. For example, spoken search queries are becoming more popular. With that, there is a shift from broad search terms to specific long-tail search terms.
Example: 10 years ago you would enter: 'Eindhoven restaurant'. Even though you are actually asking a question: 'what is currently the best place to eat near me?'. Now, Google understands this search query and shows you the most relevant restaurants that are open near you.
The reason why pillar pages work so well: Topic Clusters
Hence, Google becomes much smarter in offering content that someone is searching for. People search more on long-tail keywords, but how do you react to that trend?
As an Inbound Marketeer you create content. A lot of content. This way, you can offer search engines the right information. However, all that content is published to individual blog articles and pages surrounding a specific keyword, which makes it difficult for readers to ascertain whether you have more information on the topic. In addition, when you write different blog posts about a similar topic your URL's are competing with each other.
The solution to this is to make topic clusters: you choose a broad topic to which you link content that cater to long-tail-keywords. This way, more of your website pages will be ranked in Google. With the help of the option 'Content Strategy' in HubSpot you build a topic cluster surrounding a specific topic.
What is a pillar page?
A topic cluster is the basis of a pillar page. A pillar page is a page on your website about a specific central topic, divided into short sections with information on subtopics that align with the central topic. Via links to blog articles and pages with information about these subtopics, you provide the reader with the possibility to delve deeper into a topic that he or she finds interesting. A pillar page is divided into the following sections:
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- A short introduction about your central topic;
- Different information from blog articles and pages that delve deeper into certain components of your central topics (your subtopics);
- Links to content that provides more detailed information about the topic;
- Hyperlinks in the shape of a menu at the top of the page that send you to different sections on the page.
Why are pillar pages so important for your content strategy?
Every marketer who wants to rank high in Google on an organic search term, should build a pillar page from their existing website content. Next to search results, the pages contribute to a positive user experience of the website. A pillar page has the following advantages:
- Your public can easily navigate through your website and find information quickly about a particular topic
- You show that you are knowledgeable about the topic
- Google values websites that use good and structured pillar pages
- Google values you as an expert on a certain topic and will prefer your website over others
“HubSpot has generated at least 50% more organic search results from the moment that they started clustering content by topic and optimizing old posts."
More information about pillar pages?
Are you enthusiastic now that you know more about pillar pages and are you curious how you can apply pillar pages to your content strategy? Contact us to receive free advice!
