Pillar pages are an incredibly important part of ranking high in Google. Especially now that more and more businesses are writing content. A Pillar page is effectively the core of any Inbound marketing strategy. It allows you to write a big piece of content on a topic you are an expert on. 

We wrote a Pillar Page on Inbound marketing, that you can see here . This Pillar page took many hours to create, but even more hours to edit and change. Because a Pillar page is so rich in content there are a few guidelines that we have created to help you keep your pillar page engaging. 

• Ensure your core topic is in the page title 

This seems incredibly self-explanatory but too often businesses forget about this part. For example, our Pillar Page, The Essentials for Inbound Marketing, has the core topic in the title. But we could have called it many different things. We could have called it the Essence of Ranking in Google. This title would have also sufficed because it is another good title. 

• Ensure the core title is referenced in the URL 

Another pretty self explanatory thing. To rank well in search engines, your keyword or core title needs to also be in the URL. This makes it easier for the reader to realise where they are landing. 

• Check that there is top navigation to the rest of your site.

   

Even though your pillar page will already have a lot of navigation menus on the side. Your entire website should be easily accessible from the Pillar page. This allows people to see more of your business and keep looking for more relevant information. 

• Make sure there is good navigation on the Pillar page 

Even though the pillar page is a big piece of content, not everyone will want to read the entire thing. As we mentioned in our blog on Good Content Writing , many readers and users will only read 20% of your written content. This means that you need to have good navigation on your pillar page. Without this navigation you are sure to lose many readers  

• Ensure your core topic is mentioned early on.  

Don’t assume that people know what your writing about. Your core topic needs to be described as soon as possible. This will make sure that your readers have a good understanding of what is happening. In the first or second paragraph describe the core topic in detail. 

• Early on provide a form for getting email addresses 

Since a Pillar page is a whole lot of content, many people wouldn’t want to read it all in one go. Because of this, having a form at the top of your pillar page for people to get a PDF of the pillar page. A great idea and a win-win for everyone. 

• Include Clear H2 for subheadings 

Make your pillar page easily navigable by having a lot of H2s. These H2s can then be referenced in your table of contents and provide easier navigations. It also breaks the text and will make sure that your readers know they are in a new topic 

• Add the core topic to ALT tags and Image tags 

By adding your core topic to Alt tags and image tags you are able to get better rankings on search engines. All those images will pop-up eventually and your meta description and alt tag will also provide more search engine goodness 

• Link to relevant internal sources (E-books, Blogs, Guides etc..) 

Link to all the relevant resources that you have available around your core topic. By providing more helpful resources readers will have a better time working out what to do with your content and if you are actually providing them helpful information or not. 

• Link to relevant external sources (other websites etc..) 

Don’t link to direct competitors, but if you know there are incredibly helpful sources available for your core topic, link to them. By linking to external reputable sources you are able to get more credibility. For example, in our Pillar page we link to Neil Patel, who is a very well renowned online marketer. 

• At the bottom of your page add a “back to top” button. 

By adding a back to top button you are providing readers with an easy way to get back to more content and provide more value. It is the cherry on the cake of a great pillar page 

Do you think we have missed any content? Let us know on our social media channels!