A pillar page is a marketing tool used in web spaces that presents authoritative information to target audiences. Sometimes you’ll see a pillar page referred to by the term ‘10x’. That’s because the aim of pillar content is to be 10 times better than any existing resource that covers that topic on the internet already.
As part of a comprehensive marketing strategy, pillar pages are published with the express purpose of creating inbound leads for an organization. As web-based content, a pillar page with good SEO targets the right audience so that the page performs well. Let’s go beyond the basics today and learn what a pillar page is, how it can help your organization, and look at a few examples.
- What is a pillar page?
- The format of a pillar page
- Pillar pages in marketing strategy
- Benefits of pillar pages
- Rates for pillar pages
What is a pillar page?
A pillar page is a single web page with SEO content that typically runs at least 2,000 words in total. Pillar pages include cluster pages that further explain each topic detail. Clusters are extremely short breakouts in the form of popups or internal links, organized by keyword.
The purpose of a pillar page is to educate audiences, increase inbound traffic, and improve organic rankings on search engine results pages (SERP) for the organization’s website. For this reason, pillar pages are created or commissioned by an organization’s marketing team.
The format of a pillar page
The format of every pillar page includes both the main pillar page and multiple breakout cluster articles. The main piece or “pillar” of web content is formatted for long-form at 2,000 words or more. That said, it’s not uncommon to have a much longer pillar at 3,000-5,000 words, depending on the topic.
The smaller “clusters” of content are minimally formatted. Clusters remain short: between 400-800 words. The main pillar displays the clusters through hyperlinks on related keywords. Both the pillar and clusters refer to supporting blog posts and other web copy as needed.
Between the two elements of pillar and clusters, the key topic is addressed in a thorough, beginning-to-end manner. After reading a pillar page, the reader should have an in-depth, authoritative understanding of the topic as a whole.
Visual format
The format of a pillar page is unique in both look and content.
First, the look of a pillar page is branded. Because it lives on the website itself, it will look similar to other pages on the site. This means on-brand colors, font family, and web-style blocking.
Second, the content of a pillar page is dynamic. You can include highlighted quotes, call-out sections, multiple visuals, multimedia like embedded video or sound, and dynamic formatting such as sidebars. Anything you can do with web design can be applied to your pillar page.
Without being limited to the formatting of say, a WordPress blog post within a uniform-looking blog roll, the content of a pillar page has limitless possibilities. Compared to a blog, a pillar can have more visuals of a more dynamic nature.
Strategic setup
Since a pillar page is a web page that lives on your organization’s site itself, the topic of a pillar page should be selected in a strategic way to optimize performance.
Bring the web team onboard. A pillar page may or may not appear in the sitemap. Regardless, it will be navigable from other pages on your website. For that reason, the setup of a pillar page must involve your web team. Loop in a web person at the early planning stages to advise your writer(s) about the formatting parameters of your site. Discuss if a proprietary landing page with web copy will be used or not.
Inject marketing strategy. The way a pillar page is set up involves extensive strategic mapping. The pillar page and cluster buildout is a hyper-visual way to demonstrate clear alignment with your SEO and overall marketing strategy. The main topic and keywords of the mapping exercise should reflect brand strategy as well as inbound marketing goals.
If you consider your organization to be a thought leader or expert on a theme, it is smart to publish a pillar page on that topic.
Don’t get carried away, though. Be choosy. Limit yourself to five pillar pages or less. Two or three is ideal. If you have multiple pillars, we recommend limiting those that appear in your sitemap to avoid overwhelming your audience.
Pillar pages vs. a blog
Is a pillar page just a long blog post? No.
Since most people are familiar with blogging, let’s look at how pillar pages are alike and different from a blog post.
| Blog Post | Pillar Page | |
| Location | Entry on the blog roll of a website | Static page on website |
| Avg. Length | 800-1200 words | 2,000++ words |
| Hyperlinking | Internal to other blog posts, external to authoritative sources | Internal to cluster pages, plus internal/external similar to blogs |
| Support | Mostly content | Content, copy, and web design |
| SEO | Metadata, KW research, slug | Metadata, KW research, slug, long-form adaptations |
| Metadata | Encouraged but optional | Obligatory |
| Images | Hero image | Multiple narrative and graphic visuals |
| Core Asset | Volume | Authority |
| Planning | Basic article outline H1/H2 | Research-heavy content mapping |
| Publishing | Marketing team | Web team |
| Ranking Impact | Blog page | Whole site |
The way these two bring inbound traffic are as follows:
- Blog – post > page > conversion
- Pillar – page > conversion
Though blogs and pillars both use a call-to-action (CTA), a pillar page generally has one less step to successfully move audiences to conversions.
Pillar pages in marketing strategy
The term “pillar page” is a new buzzword for marketing professionals. The term was coined by Hubspot in 2017, so it’s a relatively new traffic acquisition tool in the world of search. With clients, it’s almost always a marketing director or B2B manager that brings up pillar pages to me. Why? Well, marketing folks have strategic goals. To reach them, they keep their fingers on the pulse of emerging trends in both web and multimedia content.
Most importantly, marketing folks want to know how they can leverage new products, services, or technology to do their job better. The ultimate goal is to improve their organization’s financial and strategic goals.
The good news is that pillar pages are an effective new weapon in the arsenal of web-based marketing strategy. Just like B2C and B2B blog content, a pillar page increases inbound traffic. Pillars employ consistent SEO best practices for long-form web content, reference core topics and demonstrate thought leadership in your industry. When successful, a pillar page generates consistent leads and allows the marketing team to work that pipeline for successful conversions.
Unlike blogging, pillar pages deliver authoritative, ungated content to the public. Due to their accessible location, they play a strategic SEO role by offering higher crawlability to audiences. They also have a more dynamic call-to-action (CTA) in the sense that they can point readers to a variety of pages that are highly conversion-friendly. This could be an immediate conversion, a free downloadable, or a dedicated landing page related to the pillar topic.
Examples of pillar pages
Here are a few pillar page examples that demonstrate what we’ve explained so far. Notice these examples of pillar pages follow the pillar-cluster structure while appearing more dynamic and exciting than a typical blog post.
- Content Marketing Strategy page by HubSpot
- Customer Success page by Typeform
- Content Style Guide by ImpactPlus
Benefits of pillar pages
The benefits of pillar pages center around increasing your business value to both real people and search engines.
Pillars are SEO-rich powerhouses. They enhance organic rankings and drive traffic growth. Compared to a blog post, pillar pages are seen as more valuable by search engines.
In SEO terms, this is because a pillar page feeds the Google algorithm that ranks pages based on their expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness (EAT). For the YMYL aspect, B2B pillar pages directly address how to spend money wisely, which ranks.
Plus, the SEO content on a pillar page causes the ranking level to go up for your whole site rather than just a single blog post or your blog roll in general. The higher your site ranks in organic search results, the more it appears high on SERP pages, and the more people see it and find value in your business.
Here are a few indicators that will improve when you implement a pillar page as part of your web marketing strategy.
- Improved SERP rankings. Your organic position on all searches goes up.
- Better PQ rating. Helps your page quality based on search quality evaluator guidelines.
- Increased conversion. CTAs on pillar pages perform better because perceived authority is higher.
- More time on page. Time on a single page as well as session duration per site goes up.
Every element mentioned here improves your SEO and therefore your overall site ranking.
Do pillar pages perform better than blogs?
Yes. Ultimately, if you compare a pillar page and a stand-alone blog of the same length, the pillar page would rank higher. Not only is it more accessible for crawling and indexing, but the content is perceived as more authoritative. Internal clusters along with length mean that successful pillar content keeps readers on the site longer, which Google deems as good.
Rates for pillar pages
As you might imagine, the rates for pillar pages are higher than those for blogging assignments. For marketing teams that contract writers, keep these three factors in mind when looking at estimates for delivering a pillar page:
- planning – extensive visual mapping aligned with SEO strategy
- time – extra hours for coordination between writers and web team
- SEO – application of best practices requires adaptations for long-form web content
If a pillar page is more expensive, why not save your budget and just publish a long blog post instead? Unfortunately, length alone doesn’t give you the inbound results you might expect.
The rise of pillar pages in recent years is due to their superior performance. Though better or more internal linking for a 3,000 word post does the job on a budget, even a planned pillar page at 2,000 words performs better than a 3,000 word blog post on the same topic/KW.
SEO guidelines for pillar pages are quite specific. If not followed, you risk high bounce rate, low ROI, and low SERP results. For marketing teams that have become used to a consistent monthly retainer amount, keep this in mind: A pillar page with good SEO improves your site authority, which has fantastic ROI for web content in the long term.
For transparency, here are our current rates for client pillar pages. This includes time for meetings with your web team to advise about back-end setup and sitemap questions as well.
| Pillar Page – XS | research, 10 clusters 400-800 words – main <2,000 words | $2,100 |
| Pillar Page – S | research, 10 clusters 400-800 words – main <2,500 words | $2,750 |
| Pillar Page – M | research, 15-20 clusters 400-800 words – main <3,000 words | $4,175 |
Keep in mind that the main pillar plus cluster articles reach some 4,000 words minimum for the XS size. Though a blog of that size would perhaps run a quarter to half that price, the pillar page will work harder for you than four blog posts ever will.
The good news for your budget? Your inbound strategy doesn’t require pillar pages at the same rate that you put out blog content. A pillar page is a one-off expense. While blogs get updated at least weekly, a few good pillar pages remain a permanent fixture on your site. Marketing Directors pay attention! This expense should come from your web budget, not necessarily your ongoing marketing budget.
More bang for your buck
Though the goals of a pillar page are similar to those of a blog, understanding the difference in planning and performance is the key to making this up-and-coming SEO tool work for you. The world of search will always be somewhat opaque. For decades, marketing professionals have been following search engine guidelines as closely as possible for blogging. The pillar page offers a new and powerful tool that can transform your SEO results and improve your marketing ROI overall. Thanks to a more crawlable location, a pillar page gives you more bang for your buck in the form of improved search results and increased traffic. Both benefits lead to conversion. To learn more about how a pillar page might improve conversions for your organization, contact Archer Impact today.
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