Pillar content is an important concept for any organization aiming to maximize its marketing presence. While marketers may already be familiar with pillar content and the role it plays in establishing brand recognition, many small business owners are not familiar with the term. If your business hopes to have a successful marketing strategy, pillar content should be at the forefront of plans.

What Is Pillar Content?

Pillar content is a term used to describe the main piece of content on a website or blog. It’s usually long-form and comprehensive, providing readers with an in-depth look into a particular topic. Having pillar content is valuable for businesses because it provides them with a reliable source of information that can be repurposed into other forms of content, such as blog posts and videos.

The terms “pillar content” and “pillar page” are often used interchangeably, but we prefer to think of them differently. When the concept first came out, it was almost always a page on a website, and obviously the page had a bunch of text content on it. But more and more now, we see people creating some form of content first that is not necessarily a web page first, so we’re focusing in this case on pillar content as something with more possible forms than a pillar page.

Pillar content typically ranges from 1,000 – 3,000 words in length and covers an in-depth topic from beginning to end. It can take the form of an article or guide that provides readers with detailed information about a certain subject or niche. It could also be a video recording of you speaking at a convention or conference, appearing on a podcast, or it could be a recording of a webinar. The goal of pillar content is to provide the audience with comprehensive information on a particular topic that they can use as a reference when looking for answers to their questions.

For example, if you are running an e-commerce business selling kitchen appliances, you could create a pillar piece about different types of ovens and explain how each type works and which one would be best for different types of cooking tasks. This would provide the audience with detailed information about ovens so they can make informed purchasing decisions when shopping for kitchen appliances. It would also serve as helpful reference material should they ever need additional information on ovens in the future.

The great thing about pillar content is that it has depth. It’s not a quick social media post sharing an opinion. It’s not a cute video of someone dancing. Pillar content shows that you have serious knowledge and expertise that you’re willing to share with the world, and when you do, it builds trust and authority with strangers.

How Can Pillar Content Be Repurposed?

Creating pillar content requires you to think critically, using your experience and expertise to develop a cohesive argument to engage the person consuming the content. It is important that you organize your thoughts and define your message before you begin creating, as pillar content typically takes the form of an in-depth topic. This structure requires that significant time and effort be expended in order for the piece to be successful; having a well thought out plan will ensure that these resources are effectively utilized. If you feel like this is not your strength, perhaps working with us will help. We build strategic approaches to content creation for our clients.

Once you have created your pillar piece, you can repurpose it into other forms of content such as social media posts, blog posts, short video, long-form video, podcasts, etc. This will allow you to get more mileage out of your original piece by sharing it in multiple ways across different platforms. Repurposing your pillar piece also allows you to reach new audiences who may not have seen it before or who prefer consuming other types of media over written articles. Some people would rather read an article, while others would prefer to listen to a podcast while they’re driving. Repurposing really helps you grow a bigger audience.

But how do you actually repurpose the pillar content? There are LOTS of possibilities. The short answer is you go through the original piece looking for the various moments of clarity and wisdom in the content, and then you take those snippets of value and make smaller, more easily consumed pieces of content. We’ll do a follow-up article with example of our favorite ways to repurpose content.

Why Is Pillar Content Valuable For Businesses?

Having high quality pillar content is essential for businesses because it establishes them as experts in their field and helps build trust with their audience. It also allows them to position themselves as thought leaders in their industry which will ultimately lead to more sales opportunities down the line.

Additionally, having good quality pillar pieces increases website traffic since people will want to read more about topics related to your business after reading the original article or guide. Finally, having well-written pillar pieces gives businesses the opportunity to repurpose them into other forms of media which will help spread their message even further and reach new audiences who may not have seen the original piece before.

When you build a strong foundation of content at your website, or a YouTube channel, the great thing is that the content keeps working for you 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. People living in different time zones, all over the world, are searching for solutions to a problem, and you might be the solution to that problem. When you communicate it well in your content offerings, that content can come up in search on any day of the week, at any time, while you are off working, or at home sleeping. There’s tremendous value in that.

Pillar content is essential for businesses because it establishes them as experts in their field while providing valuable information that readers can use as a reference when researching topics related to their industry or product offerings. Furthermore, this type of long-form content can easily be repurposed into other forms such as videos or podcasts which helps spread the message even further and reach new audiences who may not have seen the original piece before.

Having high quality pillar pieces increases website traffic, since people will want to find out more about topics related to your business after reading the original article or guide, thus leading to more leads and sales opportunities down the line! If you need help creating content, reach out to us and let’s have a strategy session about better using content to meet your business goals.

What is Pillar Content? And Why Do You Need it?