Allow Me to Blow Your Website Structure Mind

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Updated 10 months ago

I’ve recently been asked for my thoughts on PILLAR POSTS, so I decided it was a good opportunity to write a blog post.

What follows is merely my opinion, neither right nor wrong, but it should give you an idea of a great way to structure your websites.

And as this is simply an overview, it’s going to be fairly short (well, for me anyway!)

Pillar Posts

Essentially, a pillar post is a broad and in-depth article that covers a broad topic (don’t worry, I’ll show you exactly what I mean in a moment) that is related to your website.

However, you don’t want to “give all the goodies away” in a pillar post, but rather just cover the topic as a whole.

The aim then is to create a “topic cluster” (a group of closely associated articles on one specific topic).

It is the “topic cluster” that goes more in-depth.

So, let’s look at an example of this.

Pillar Post & Topic Clusters

Okay, let's go with the Make Money Online niche, and perhaps those of you promoting Wealthy Affiliate.

So, what I initially want to do is to choose 10 categories around which my Make Money Online website is based.

My chosen 10 categories are:

Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate Networks
WordPress
WordPress Hosting
WordPress Plugins
SEO
Keyword Research
Social Media
Media (Images & Videos)
Display Ads

Now, what I’m going to do is to create one Pillar Post around each of these categories.

Then, I will write 25-50 articles (topic cluster) around EACH Category/Pillar Post.

I know you all love specifics (word counts, etc.), although as I’ve often said, this isn’t a thing, but I’ll give you an example here.

So, my first category is Affiliate Marketing.

My initial “pillar post” is going to be in-depth, let’s say 3,000-4,000 words.

What I’m looking to cover is:

Article Introduction
What is Affiliate Marketing?
The History of Affiliate Marketing
Glossary of Terms for Affiliate Marketing
Pros. & Cons of Affiliate Marketing
Examples of Successful Affiliate Marketing Websites
How to Get Started With Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate Marketing Tips & Tricks
Conclusion

Now, I’ll break down each subsection of this pillar post and treat them as an individual article.

So, for my introduction and conclusion I want 100 words for each.

Then for the 7 subheadings, as I am only giving a broad overview, let’s say that for each of these sections I need to write a 400-word explanation.

Treat each section as a “mini-article” (Remember, always break BIG tasks down into tiny micro-tasks).

And now I have produced a 3,000-word pillar post.

Next, I want more specific advice for my readers about affiliate marketing, and this is where my informational “topic cluster” articles come in.

So, now I find 25 specific keywords around Affiliate Marketing that people online are searching for.

These articles are short, snappy, to-the-point, and usually answering a very specific question/query, e.g. “How Long Does it Take to Start Making Money With Affiliate Marketing?”, “How Many Hours a Day Do I Need to Work for Affiliate Marketing?”, “Do I Need a Website For Affiliate Marketing?”

(Obviously, these are terrible examples of keywords, and are all extremely competitive, but I just wanted to give you an idea).

These “topic cluster” articles are much shorter and to the point, so let’s say 800-1,200 words.

Then, all of my 25 “shorter” articles about Affiliate Marketing will LINK (internal links) to my PILLAR POST on affiliate marketing.

And within my Pillar post, where relevant, I may have about 3-4 internal links pointing to some of my shorter “topic cluster” articles.

What this type if linking is doing is this:

25 internal links pointing to my Pillar Post = “Hey Google, this post is one of the most important articles on my website, so I am linking to it lots of times. Please take note and rank this article well”.

And then from the Pillar Post to the other articles = “Hey Google, this is the most important article on my website about THIS topic, but I have also linked to 3-4 other articles for more in-depth explanations of the subjects I’ve alluded to within my longer article. Please note that I have created “topical authority” around this subject, please rank ALL my articles well”.

Well, that’s the principle, but since when has Google ever done what she’s told, LOL?

Anyway, here's a visual representation of a Pillar Post and a topic cluster, as well as linking from your topic cluster articles to your pillar post.

Thank you Hubspot.

I will also provide a pillar post template (thank you again Hubspot) at the end of this blog post.

Do the Same For The Next 9 Categories

The best way to use this approach is to deal with one category at a time.

This is also a great way to create “topical authority” before expanding.

What I mean by this is that the first…hmmmm… 30,000 words on my website will ALL be specifically about Affiliate Marketing (One Pillar post and 25 “topic cluster” articles).

Once I’ve completed this I can then “expand my website” by moving onto the next Pillar Post and Topic Cluster.

So, according to my list of categories above, I would now create a 3,000-4,000 word Pillar Post around Affiliate Networks.

And then I would find 25 very specific keywords around Affiliate Networks, e.g. “Can You Use Clickbank Without Spark?”, “Can You Use TikTok For Amazon Associates?”

And then the process for your third category, third pillar post, and third topic cluster starts all over again.

(Just as an aside, you do realise that some people have created MMO websites solely around Affiliate Networks. So, their categories and pillar posts would cover ONE affiliate network, e.g. Amazon, Clickbank, Awin, WarriorPlus, JVZoo, ShareASale, Commission Junction, Ebay Partner Program, Rakuten, PepperJam, MaxBounty, etc. and then they would have 25-50 question-style topic cluster articles all dealing with ONE INDIVIDUAL affiliate network and then linking back to the pillar post - Just an idea if you’ve never considered it).

Therefore, all you’re ever doing with your website is taking ONE category at a time, writing ONE broad, longer-style article around ONE topic, and finally writing 25-50 shorter, more specific articles relating to the Pillar Post topic.

You then repeat this process over-and-over again with the other categories on your website.

You can then just stick to 10 categories on your website.

The main 10 pillar post articles will remain on your website, which you can update with fresh information, new images, new content, and new videos on an annual basis.

And then you can keep writing shorter articles to expand your topic cluster, while all these shorter articles continue to link to your pillar post.

Eventually, a few years down the line, let’s say you have a website with 510 articles.

10 long pillar posts, 50 shorter more specific articles pointing to each pillar post.

And this is simply ONE WAY to structure a website.

Examples of Pillar Posts

Ahrefs SEO - https://ahrefs.com/seo

Diet Doctor - https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/keto

Wine Folly - https://winefolly.com/wine-basics-beginners-guide/

Just below is the Hubspot template for creating a pillar post.

Thank You For Reading

Partha

How to Write a Pillar Blog Post

A pillar page is intended to be the authoritative resource for a given topic on the internet. While some blogs are instructional how-to guides or lists of incredible examples, a pillar page should be the ultimate guide that any reader would ever need to know about a topic...ever.

Your pillar pages should be the most in-depth writing you’ve ever compiled on a subject on your blog to date. This is because you’ll have multiple places on the post to work in your keyword and backlink from reputable sources, showing search engines you’re the place to point to for a given topic.

If you think the pages will be longer than your usual posts, you’re right – one of HubSpot’s pillar pages takes an estimated 45 minutes to read! However, that’s definitely an outlier. Your pillar page length, pending on the depth of the subject matter, can range anywhere from 2,000 - 5,000 words. Because of this length, it’s recommended that you include at least one piece of interactive content in your pillar page – such as an embedded video or social media post – to break up this text-heavy post.

Here are a few examples of pillar pages we’re proud of here at HubSpot. You may notice that we linked to all of the other blog posts we wrote in this topic cluster – something you should do, too.

Outline: [Blog Post Title]

Keyword: [Enter Targeted Keyword]

Keyword MSV: [Enter Targeted Keyword’s Monthly Search Volume]

Author: [Enter Author Name]

Due Date: [Enter Due Date]

Publish Date: [Enter Desired Publish Date]

Buyer Persona: [Enter Targeted Reader and/or Buyer Persona]

[Blog Post Title]

Make sure the title contains your keyword and runs for 60 characters or less.

Introduction

Lead into the post with a short 100-200 word introduction. Be sure to highlight:

The reason why what you’re talking about is important.
Who, what industry, or what sector of the industry this applies to.
What you’ll be covering [i.e. “in this post, we’ll provide an all-encompassing rundown of (term), including an explanation of why (term) is important, how to (term), and 8 suggestions if you’re new to (term)”].

Note: Choose the Sections from the Bank Below That You Think Will Fit Well in Your Pillar Page

Below are a few sections that would do well in a pillar page. Depending on your topic, pick the sections that you think would do best on your page.

Keep in mind – the bank below contains suggested sections. If you believe your pillar page needs a section that is not listed below, you should absolutely include it.

You’ll also notice a prompt at the end of each section to link to a supporting cluster post. For example, if you’re writing The Ultimate Guide to Cooking and include a section about cooking pizza, you may want to link to your blog post about Italian food in that section to strengthen your on-page and website SEO. These pages should be hyperlinked naturally at some point in the body of that section.

What is [Term] (and Why Does it Matter)?

Some readers might be new to what you’re writing about. Obviously, if what you’re writing about is well-known, you can skip the definition and head straight to why it matters.

Explaining why the term or concept matters is important for the reader to understand how to do or use what it is you’re writing about. Talk about the personal and/or business implications of understanding, employing, or using the topic you’re writing about.