This blogging tip is courtesy of Easton Ellsworth, Editor for Know More Media and author of BusinessBlogWire.
Pillar content is a long article - about 2,500 words - meant to cover a topic in depth, attract links, garner comments and rank well in search engines and social media sites. Every now and then, you should write a pillar article - an article that stands out as an undergirding support to the rest of your content. In this post, I'll explain why and how to write pillar blog posts.
Why Write Pillar Content?
My pillar post yesterday took me about six hours to complete. But most of my posts take 30 minutes or an hour to write. So why write pillar content if it takes so much extra time and effort? Because pillar content is much more likely to generate a large amount of traffic and a large number of backlinks. Social media sites like Digg and StumbleUpon are more likely to promote it. Bloggers are more likely to bookmark it, post about it and link back to it. Casual visitors are more likely to use it as a starting point to falling in love with the rest of your blog. Plus, pillar content is likelyto remain viral for a long time because of its usefulness, uniqueness and long-term appeal.
How Much Pillar Content Should You Write?
Write pillar content as often as possible! Try to publish at least one pillar article each month. Your blog should have a healthy mixture of short or medium-length buzz news/opinion pieces, helpful tips, and pillar posts.
Think of your blog as a forest. Picture the shrubs and plants at the bottom. They make up a significant part of the picture and are likely to capture travelers' attention as they walk through your forest. But the travelers will linger, gaze and even camp out underneath your towering redwoods and sequoias of pillar content. That is what they will remember most. That is what they are most likely to share with others.How Do You Write Pillar Content?
Here are some quick tips on how to write pillar content that can bring in lots of long-term blog traffic and establish you as an authority in your niche:
1. Start with a brief introduction.
Your first paragraph should tell the reader what you're going to talk about in the rest of the article.
2. Use bold subheadings throughout the post.
Bold subheadings break up your long article in bite-size chunks that help the reader digest what you're saying. You wouldn't offer someone a steak without a knife to cut it, right? With subheadings, you take that knife and cut the meat for your reader to consume one piece at a time.
3. Use images/videos throughout the post.
Images complement text and draw the reader's eyes to something pleasing, symbolic or illustrative. Embedded videos keep readers on the page even longer, which improves your blog's PageRank. Remember that you can use the "kmmad" identifier in your post draft to tell Movable Type to place the embedded ad lower down in your post if needed.
4. Link to your own content throughout the post.
You'll notice that I've linked to several Inside Know More Media articles in this post. This makes it more likely that you'll visit a large number of pages on this blog - and that you'll return to this post. Go and do likewise!
5. Link to useful, relevant content at other blogs and websites throughout the post.
This gets the attention of other online publishers and strengthens the authority of your post.
6. Close with a conclusion and/or a call to action.
What good is it to teach without an invitation or challenge of some kind to do "homework" or make a change?
7. Dig as deep as possible.
People love pillar content because they can return to it again and again to refresh their understanding of a specific topic. It's better to dig deep and narrow than to dig shallow and wide. In other words, pick a narrowly defined subject and offer an in-depth discussion about it.
8. Make sure your headline captures the essence of your post.
Before publishing your pillar article, briefly consider what you should call it. Adjust the post title and basename to agree with the theme of your article.
Challenge: Write A Pillar Content Post
I challenge you to publish a pillar content post at your blog. As you strive to make a highly memorable and powerful pillar post, I assure you that you will gain insights about online publishing that you never have seen before. And I promise that traffic to your blog will increase and readership will as well, if you continue to periodically publish pillar articles.
Any questions or tips on writing pillar content?
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