Published November 29, 2022
Updated June 29, 2023
Online visibility is significant to businesses, but it's not something that happens simply by building websites and publishing content. Instead, online visibility is gained through strategic search engine optimization (SEO).
What is search engine optimization? SEO is the process of refining website traffic from search engines while creating the ultimate experience for your audience.
Business owners need their sites to be the ultimate sources of information, such that when users search for content to answer questions, they find the information they need concerning a given subject from your website. However, bombarding your audience with too much content (or the wrong content) can also drive them away.
So how do you stay informative and helpful to visitors while helping search engines find your content? The answer is pillar pages. Keep reading to learn why these pages are important for increasing traffic and visibility to your property management website!
What is a pillar page? As the name suggests, it's a page formatted as a "pillar" of information that helps boost the digital visibility of a website.
These pages focus on strategic topics related to your services while connecting to other internal resources throughout your site. Each pillar typically contains extensive information on a given topic but links to cluster pages that break down the topic into subtopics.
According to HubSpot, several content pages (or topic clusters) on a website should link back to a pillar page. Then, if the user becomes interested in learning more about the topic, the links to the topic clusters will be readily available on the pillar page.
Pillar pages encourage users to peruse your website for more information, increasing engagement and time on your website and ultimately helping Google see your site as an authoritative source. In addition, a well-structured pillar page also helps to boost your ranking on search engine results pages (SERPs).
This boils down to three primary benefits of adding pillars to property management websites.
As mentioned, a pillar page is informative and strategically linked to other relevant resources within your website. Once the Google algorithm links users to your site's pillar page, you'll see increased traffic to your website throughout multiple pages.
One of these pages links to topic clusters with information on various subtopics. The cluster pages also link back to the pillar page for extensive information.
So, when users browse through your website and find useful links, they are more likely to stay on your site for an extended period.
Pillar pages with quality content provide users with an ultimate experience when browsing your website. Google favors websites with excellent content structure and ranks them higher in SERPs (search engine results pages).
So, what kinds of pillars should you consider for your site? Different types of pillar pages highlight various content. Here are four types to consider.
A guide pillar functions as a manual or handbook on a given subject. It seeks to create a sense of topic authority for your brand by compiling information from and connecting knowledge-based articles that a user ultimately needs.
Guide pages establish trust between your brand and the audience as they rely on you for accurate information. In addition, well-structured guide pillars can help generate more traffic for your website by rewarding online searches with a handbook on a subject they have been looking to learn more about.
The brand informative page highlights one or more of your business's five "pillars": values, identity, brand experience, perception, and purpose. Keeping in mind that this type of pillar page highlights more information on the brand, these pillars typically cover different aspects of the business, like your products or services.
Therefore, your values as a brand, who you are as a brand, your purpose, and your brand experience are vital in educating customers about your company. Typically, a brand informative pillar page aims at building online trust for your brand.
As the name suggests, description pillars give information on what something is.
The first phrase many users type into Google when they want to find out something is "what is . . .". Since many people use keywords when surfing the internet, applying the same keywords to description pillars helps improve the chances of ranking your site higher on SERPs.
The "how-to" pillar gives your audience a procedure or explanation on a subject. "How to" is typically a problem solver and frequently typed search phrase.
To optimize your content to the need of your audience and search engines, the structure of a how-to pillar page should be easy to follow with extensive information.
If you were today years old when learning that a) pillar and cluster pages exist, and b) they are crucial to your website's visibility and generating the leads you need, you're not alone.
As content marketing experts, we talk a lot about blogs and SEO-driven website content in general, and we probably fail to highlight the importance of pillars for better SEO. However, these pages are really not optional if you are looking for one of the best ways to increase traffic and engagement throughout your website.
Keep in mind, though, that when you create a pillar page, it isn't simply a "longer blog post." It requires strategically thinking of the page as a "hub" topic connecting smaller pieces of content into that hub. The page must be structured differently than a blog, should only include an internal linking strategy to the website content pieces that fit within the pillar/topic, and must be optimized appropriately.
If you've never created a pillar page, we're here to help!
Pillar pages and topic clusters help readers learn more about a subject without leaving your website! With well-written and structured pillar pages, you'll see the kind of traffic for your website that turns internet users into loyal customers.
Kick-start your inbound marketing efforts and increase traffic to your website through a strategically-created pillar page. If you're not sure how to get started with this type of content, Geekly Media can help! Reach out soon to chat.
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