It is hard in this competitive, online era to make an impact with a disorganized content strategy. Even with random topics and keywords, you must develop a content plan that aligns well with your business goals. That is where content pillars come in.
With content pillars, your content will serve a purpose and make it easier for you to create an effective content schedule. This way, it will be helpful for readers to get information on your products all in one place.
For product-oriented businesses, it is essential to have innovative strategies in place for your content creation process. This blog guide will discuss content pillars for product-based businesses, their importance, and the roadmap to develop a pillar content strategy.
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What Is a Content Pillar?
A content pillar is a long-form piece of content in different formats, such as long comprehensive articles, ultimate product guides, or hub pages. It effectively covers the main topic and all the relevant sub-topics around it.
For digital marketers, it is an excellent opportunity to host such authoritative content for a better user experience; hence, search engines reward this content.
Also, the pillar page acts as the center of your hub, where multiple cluster pages are interlinked. You can repurpose these pieces of content (sub-topics) to promote over channels like social media, landing pages, gated content, and emails.
Now that we understand what a content pillar is, let’s look at the benefits of having a pillar content strategy.
Why Use a Pillar Content Strategy?
Content pillars help you set the tone for all your marketing ventures. Here’s why product-based businesses should have a pillar content strategy for their websites.
1. SEO Optimization
Long-form content gets 77.2% more backlinks than short articles or guides. With content pillars, you can easily get more backlinks and rank for short-tail and long-tail important keywords.
2. Boost User Engagement
The longer the article or page, the more opportunities for users to click on the sub-topics and product links. If the content is good it will help you keep users on your site for more time.
3. Improve Content Organization
All of your content will be well-organized into pillars and sub-topics. This sets you with a base of ideas for your social media posting, email scheduling, and blog posts.
4. Develop Better Content Ideas
With content pillars acting as a base, you will understand what kind of content impacts the reader. This will enable you to come up with new and similar ideas for your product marketing ventures.
What Are the Key Elements of Content Pillars for Product-Based Businesses?
Different businesses have different marketing goals, but most of them fall under these three main types of pillar pages.
1. Comprehensive “Guides”
The “Guide” format provides an authoritative overview of the topic. It contains various elements and internal plus external links to support the entire content. The subtopics can be anything from your products’ blog posts and descriptions to videos, infographics, and FAQs.
All of this is comprehensively structured around the pillar’s main topic. Generally, for such guides, there is a navigation sidebar which is useful for users to get directly to the sub-topic they want to read.
2. The “What Is” Page
A “What Is” page can be great for introducing your products and then getting into depth. Long-form blogs are excellent for such pages. You can break down the product topic into subtopics, such as pain points, key features, importance, and real-life applications.
On the “What Is” pages, it is important to add visual elements, such as images, videos, or illustrations to keep the users engaged. These visual elements will also be helpful when you promote your pillar content on different marketing channels.
3. The “How-To” Page
A “How-To” pillar page enables your brand to portray and position yourself as a subject-matter expert. It is a perfect format if you are looking to target an audience with informational intents. You can host a long how-to article about using a specific set of products, installing them, and repairing them.
This is a well-structured guide with easy navigation options, so readers can move to the part they want to read. It contains frequently asked questions, links to how-to videos, and many images illustrating what you are trying to convey with your pointers.
How to Develop a Pillar Content Strategy for a Product-Based Business?
Content creation and distribution without any strategy will never lead to any success. That is why it is essential first to lay down the foundation. Here are the steps to build your content pillar strategy.
1. Identify Your Main Topic, Keyword & Sub-Topics
The first step while building a content pillar is determining the topic and keyword you will focus on. To do so, carry out your keyword research and identify your target audience using buyer personas. Explore their pain points and see how your product is solving their problems.
Once you have your pillar topic, use keyword research to find all the relevant sub-topics that can be included under the content pillar. You can also refer to the “People Also Ask” section on Google search results pages to find some interesting subtopics.
2. Audit Website’s Existing Content
Carrying out a content audit for your website enables you to find relevant pages that can be modified for your content pillar.
This also helps you eliminate redundant content pieces and provides internal linking opportunities. To save time, you can automate this content audit process with many website SEO audit tools.
3. Research Your Competitors
For the topic that you have decided on, there are chances that competitors are also ranking on the same. That is why it is essential to carry out a competitor analysis. This will help you understand their pillar content strategy.
When you find content gaps in the competitor’s strategy, you can address them in a better way, while writing content for your products.
4. Create Your Content Pillar
Finally, you can start creating the content when you have all the data and research. First, map out the pillar page structure and list all the primary and LSI keywords you will use.
Then focus on the 80/20 principle – 80% of your content should be audience-oriented, and the other 20% should be product-oriented, depending on the topic. Make sure to add a table of content with navigable links. Include relevant CTA buttons throughout the page and make the page visually appealing with images and illustrations for better engagement.
5. Promote & Distribute Your Pillar Content
The final step of the content pillar strategy is breaking down the pillar page into smaller, engaging pieces. You can then use these small pieces in the form of images, infographics, and product videos to share over social channels, and newsletters.
While sharing, you do not always need to promote the main pillar topic. You can promote any sub-topic related to your products and redirect the users to your pillar page for them to explore the rest.
FAQs
1. Mention some examples of content pillars?
Guides, ‘What is,’ and ‘How to’ are the three most common forms of content pillars.
2. What is a content pillar?
A content pillar is a specific topic or theme upon which similar content pieces are built.
3. What are the benefits of using a pillar content strategy?
– It helps you organize your content.
– Streamlines your content to your audience.
– Boosts user engagement.
– Enables you to build better content ideas.
– Helps you build more backlinks.
4. How are content pillars for product-based businesses useful?
Content pillars streamline your content creation process and enable you to create a content plan that aligns with your marketing goals. It also helps readers to find different pieces of information about your product all in one place.
Wrapping Up
Content pillars can significantly elevate your SEO and marketing efforts by providing value to your target audience. Keep the steps mentioned above in mind while writing. Also, consistency is vital for product-based businesses. So, create a content calendar to publish and regularly share pieces of content from your pillar.
We hope the information given above was helpful. If you are looking for content marketing services, check out our recent blogs.
