How to Develop a Content Pillar Strategy (With Examples!)

Are you looking to improve your content marketing strategy? If so, developing a content pillar strategy could be a great way to achieve your goal!

Not sure what a content pillar strategy is or how to develop one? Keep reading to learn everything you need to know!

What Is a Content Pillar Strategy?

A content pillar strategy is a approach to content marketing that focuses on creating a small number of pieces of content that are extremely comprehensive and versatile.

This type of strategy is also known as a “skyscraper” strategy, because the goal is to produce content that is so comprehensive and well-researched that it towers above the competition.

Why Use a Content Pillar Strategy?

There are a number of reasons why you might want to use a content pillar strategy.

For one, this type of strategy can help you to attract a large amount of traffic to your website or blog. This is because comprehensive, well-researched content is more likely to be shared and linked to than shorter, less informative pieces.

Additionally, a content pillar strategy can help you to establish your brand as an authoritative source of information on a particular topic. If you consistently produce high-quality content on a particular subject, people will start to view you as an expert on that topic.

Over time, this can lead to increased brand awareness and improved sales.

How to Develop a Content Pillar Strategy

Now that you know what a content pillar strategy is and why you might want to use one, let’s take a look at how you can develop your own content pillar strategy.

There are four steps you’ll need to take:

1. Choose a Topic

The first step is to choose a topic for your content pillar. This topic should be something that you’re passionate about and that is relevant to your business or brand.

If you’re having trouble coming up with a topic, try brainstorming a list of potential ideas with your team or conducting a keyword search to see what topics are popular among your target audience.

2. Research Your Topic

Once you’ve chosen a topic, it’s time to start researching. You’ll want to make sure that you have a thorough understanding of the subject before you start writing.

To do this, you can read articles, books, and other materials on the topic. You can also interview experts or conduct surveys.

3. Create Your Content

Now it’s time to start creating your content. When developing your content pillar, it’s important to make sure that your piece is comprehensive and well-researched.

Your content should also be engaging, informative, and visually appealing. To achieve this, you can use a variety of different content formats, such as infographics, videos, blog posts, and more.

4. Promote Your Content

Once you’ve created your content, it’s time to promote it. There are a number of ways you can do this, such as sharing it on social media, including it in email marketing campaigns, and featuring it on your website or blog.

Additionally, you canreach out to influencers and ask them to share your content with their audiences.

Examples of Content Pillars

Not sure what a content pillar looks like? Here are a few examples:

1. “The History of the American Flag”

This content pillar from History.com provides a comprehensive history of the American flag. The piece is well-researched and includes a number of interesting facts and stories.

2. “How to Make the Perfect Cup of Coffee”

This content pillar from Blue Bottle Coffee provides detailed instructions on how to make the perfect cup of coffee. The piece includes tips on choosing the right beans, grind, water, and more.

3. “The Ultimate Guide to Traveling on a Budget”

This content pillar from Nomadic Matt provides advice on how to travel the world on a budget. The piece includes tips on finding cheap accommodation, flights, and more.

4. “How to Get Started with Yoga”

This content pillar from DoYouYoga provides information on getting started with yoga. The piece includes a beginner’s guide, tips on choosing the right yoga class, and more.

Bonus Strategy: The Hub and Spoke Model

In addition to the content pillar strategy, you may also want to consider using the hub and spoke model.

This approach focuses on creating a central piece of content (the “hub”) with a number of supporting pieces of content (the “spokes”).

The hub can be a blog post, video, or infographic, while the spokes are typically shorter blog posts that link back to the hub.

This approach is effective because it allows you to showcase a variety of different pieces of content on a single topic, making it more likely that people will find the information they’re looking for.

It also allows you to include more targeted keywords, which can help you to rank higher in search engine results pages.

If you’re interested in using this approach, check out this guide from Moz.

Wrapping Up

There you have it! Now you know everything you need to know about developing a content pillar strategy.

So what are you waiting for? Get started on developing your own content pillar today!