SEO

How to Build Successful Content Pillars

Published

2 years ago

September 9, 2022

Content pillars, also known as pillar pages, are high-level introductions to a topic. They link to more detailed resources about each subtopic to form a content hub.

Here are a few benefits of using a content hub strategy:

Better organization – Pillar pages essentially act as a topical hub and allow you to explore a topic in detail.
More engagement – It’s easy for readers to find related content and consume more.
More links – People often link to content pillars, as they’re a good starting point for those wanting to learn about a topic.

In this guide, you’ll learn how to create a content pillar for your website.

How to create content pillars

Follow the steps below to create content pillars for your website.

1. Find the main topic to create a content pillar around

Grab a seat, a pen and paper (or laptop), then brainstorm ideas for content pillars. If you’re familiar with the niche, many topics should come to mind.

For example, I’ve been breakdancing for the past 10 years, and I can think of plenty of topics for pillar pages (e.g., types of power moves, must-know footwork steps, and more).

Alternatively, you can also use Ahrefs’ Keywords Explorer to find ideas. Just enter a broad term related to your niche and go to the Matching terms report.

Matching terms report, via Ahrefs' Keywords Explorer

However, not every term here will be a suitable topic. What’d you want are topics that:

Have informational intent – People are looking for information, not to buy. You can verify this by Googling the topic. If most of the results are blog posts, articles, or other hubs, the topic likely has informational intent.
Have search traffic potential – Look at the Traffic Potential (TP) column beside each keyword to see its search traffic potential.
Are broad enough – The topic shouldn’t be so narrow that there aren’t any subtopics to talk about. And it shouldn’t be so broad that your pillar page is 50,000 words long either. As a general rule of thumb, look for topics with between five and 20 subtopics.

Venn diagram of how to choose the best topic for your content pillar

For example, let’s compare the topic “yoga poses” against the criteria:

Has informational intent – Almost all of the results are blog posts.
Has search traffic potential – The topic’s TP is 33,000 (in the U.S. alone).
Is broad enough – There are potentially hundreds of yoga poses to cover. But if we narrow down to the “best” ones for beginners, there should be a nice range for a pillar page.

SERP overview for the query "yoga poses," via Ahrefs' Keywords Explorer

If you’re a yoga site, this could be a fantastic topic for a content pillar.

2. Figure out what you need to cover in your content pillar

The key here is to choose subtopics that are highly related to the main topic.

Here are a few ways to find them:

A. From your expertise

If you’re an expert or familiar with the niche, then you probably have an idea of what you need to cover. For example, if you’re a yoga teacher, you likely already know the different types of yoga poses that beginners should master first.

B. Check Wikipedia

If your topic exists on Wikipedia, it’s a great way to find subtopics since everything is already organized properly.

For example, Wikipedia has a page called “List of asanas,” where different yoga poses are arranged in a table:

C. Look at online courses

Online courses exist for almost any topic, and they’re usually structured in a logical manner. Therefore, they’re also good places to look for relevant subtopics.

For example, this course on Udemy covers the key poses for yoga:

Outline of a course on the key poses of yoga, via Udemy

D. Analyze the competition

Since the main goal of a content pillar is to rank for the main topic, you can look at the current top-ranking pages to see what they’re covering.

For example, the top-ranking page for “yoga poses” has already covered the essential poses for beginners:

VeryWell's article on the best yoga poses for beginners

Since the subtopics are organized neatly in a hierarchical manner—H2s, H3s, H4s, etc.,—a good way to see all of them at one glance is to install Ahrefs’ SEO Toolbar and open the Content report.

Content report for VeryWell's article on the best yoga poses for beginners, via Ahrefs' SEO Toolbar

Sidenote.

This is simply research for your content pillar. You want to make sure you’re not missing out on important subtopics. But you’re not trying to squeeze in every subtopic either. Use your expertise and taste to figure out what you should include on your pillar page.

3. Create your content pillar

With your research done, it’s time to create your content pillar.

Think of it as a “portal.” Your goal is to give readers a jump-off point for further discovery of the topic. So keep it relatively light.

You’re not trying to say everything about every subtopic. Leave it to your cluster pages to provide more detail. Stick to what people need to know.

For example, our beginner’s guide to SEO only has a one-sentence introduction to each chapter:

If you have the budget, consider creating a custom design for your content pillar. This is what we did for our own. Not only does a good design make it easier for readers to consume content, but it also stands out among other guides—hopefully leading to more shares, links, and traffic.

But if you can’t afford a custom design now, don’t worry. You don’t need an incredible design to create useful content pillars. Take a look at Zapier’s pillar page about remote work—it’s basically text:

4. Create your cluster pages

Even though a content pillar is a stand-alone page, it’s almost useless without its supporting cluster pages. So when you’re done with the main pillar page, it’s time to create the rest of the hub.

With the subtopics laid out, you already know what you need to create. It’s simply a matter of executing. But it will take time.

Watch this video to learn how to create content for your cluster pages:

If you have existing content pieces that fit the “hub,” then simply interlink them together.

5. Promote your content pillar

Don’t wait for the content pillar to be discovered—promote it proactively and let people know.

Here are a few tactics you can use:

Share it with your audience – Email list, social media accounts, etc. Share it wherever you have a following.
Get it included in newsletters – There should be many newsletters dedicated to curating the best content in your niche. Find the emails of these newsletter writers and pitch your content pillar for inclusion.
Share it on communities – If you’re an active member of any communities—Facebook groups, Slack, Discord, Reddit, forums—share your content pillar with them.
Build links – Links are an important Google ranking factor. So if you want your content pillar to rank high, you’ll need to build links. Read this start-to-finish guide on how to build links to your pillar page.

Content pillar examples

Check out these successful content pillars to inspire your own:

You can find more pillar page examples here.

Learn more

If you’re looking for more guides on how to create content pillars, I’d recommend checking out these articles:

Any questions or comments? Let me know on Twitter.

Related Topics:Build Content Pillars seo Successful

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SEO

Google Further Postpones Third-Party Cookie Deprecation In Chrome

Published

1 hour ago

April 25, 2024

Max

Close-up of a document with a grid and a red stamp that reads "delayed" over the word "status" due to Chrome's deprecation of third-party cookies.

Google has again delayed its plan to phase out third-party cookies in the Chrome web browser. The latest postponement comes after ongoing challenges in reconciling feedback from industry stakeholders and regulators.

The announcement was made in Google and the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) joint quarterly report on the Privacy Sandbox initiative, scheduled for release on April 26.

Chrome’s Third-Party Cookie Phaseout Pushed To 2025

Google states it “will not complete third-party cookie deprecation during the second half of Q4” this year as planned.

Instead, the tech giant aims to begin deprecating third-party cookies in Chrome “starting early next year,” assuming an agreement can be reached with the CMA and the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

The statement reads:

“We recognize that there are ongoing challenges related to reconciling divergent feedback from the industry, regulators and developers, and will continue to engage closely with the entire ecosystem. It’s also critical that the CMA has sufficient time to review all evidence, including results from industry tests, which the CMA has asked market participants to provide by the end of June.”

Continued Engagement With Regulators

Google reiterated its commitment to “engaging closely with the CMA and ICO” throughout the process and hopes to conclude discussions this year.

This marks the third delay to Google’s plan to deprecate third-party cookies, initially aiming for a Q3 2023 phaseout before pushing it back to late 2024.

The postponements reflect the challenges in transitioning away from cross-site user tracking while balancing privacy and advertiser interests.

Transition Period & Impact

In January, Chrome began restricting third-party cookie access for 1% of users globally. This percentage was expected to gradually increase until 100% of users were covered by Q3 2024.

However, the latest delay gives websites and services more time to migrate away from third-party cookie dependencies through Google’s limited “deprecation trials” program.

The trials offer temporary cookie access extensions until December 27, 2024, for non-advertising use cases that can demonstrate direct user impact and functional breakage.

While easing the transition, the trials have strict eligibility rules. Advertising-related services are ineligible, and origins matching known ad-related domains are rejected.

Google states the program aims to address functional issues rather than relieve general data collection inconveniences.

Publisher & Advertiser Implications

The repeated delays highlight the potential disruption for digital publishers and advertisers relying on third-party cookie tracking.

Industry groups have raised concerns that restricting cross-site tracking could push websites toward more opaque privacy-invasive practices.

However, privacy advocates view the phaseout as crucial in preventing covert user profiling across the web.

With the latest postponement, all parties have more time to prepare for the eventual loss of third-party cookies and adopt Google’s proposed Privacy Sandbox APIs as replacements.

Featured Image: Novikov Aleksey/Shutterstock

SEO

How To Write ChatGPT Prompts To Get The Best Results

Published

21 hours ago

April 24, 2024

Max

How To Write ChatGPT Prompts To Get The Best Results

ChatGPT is a game changer in the field of SEO. This powerful language model can generate human-like content, making it an invaluable tool for SEO professionals.

However, the prompts you provide largely determine the quality of the output.

To unlock the full potential of ChatGPT and create content that resonates with your audience and search engines, writing effective prompts is crucial.

In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore the art of writing prompts for ChatGPT, covering everything from basic techniques to advanced strategies for layering prompts and generating high-quality, SEO-friendly content.

Writing Prompts For ChatGPT

What Is A ChatGPT Prompt?

A ChatGPT prompt is an instruction or discussion topic a user provides for the ChatGPT AI model to respond to.

The prompt can be a question, statement, or any other stimulus to spark creativity, reflection, or engagement.

Users can use the prompt to generate ideas, share their thoughts, or start a conversation.

ChatGPT prompts are designed to be open-ended and can be customized based on the user’s preferences and interests.

How To Write Prompts For ChatGPT

Start by giving ChatGPT a writing prompt, such as, “Write a short story about a person who discovers they have a superpower.”

ChatGPT will then generate a response based on your prompt. Depending on the prompt’s complexity and the level of detail you requested, the answer may be a few sentences or several paragraphs long.

Use the ChatGPT-generated response as a starting point for your writing. You can take the ideas and concepts presented in the answer and expand upon them, adding your own unique spin to the story.

If you want to generate additional ideas, try asking ChatGPT follow-up questions related to your original prompt.

For example, you could ask, “What challenges might the person face in exploring their newfound superpower?” Or, “How might the person’s relationships with others be affected by their superpower?”

Remember that ChatGPT’s answers are generated by artificial intelligence and may not always be perfect or exactly what you want.

However, they can still be a great source of inspiration and help you start writing.

Must-Have GPTs Assistant

I recommend installing the WebBrowser Assistant created by the OpenAI Team. This tool allows you to add relevant Bing results to your ChatGPT prompts.

This assistant adds the first web results to your ChatGPT prompts for more accurate and up-to-date conversations.

It is very easy to install in only two clicks. (Click on Start Chat.)

Screenshot from ChatGPT, April 2024

For example, if I ask, “Who is Vincent Terrasi?,” ChatGPT has no answer.

With WebBrower Assistant, the assistant creates a new prompt with the first Bing results, and now ChatGPT knows who Vincent Terrasi is.

Screenshot from ChatGPT, March 2023

You can test other GPT assistants available in the GPTs search engine if you want to use Google results.

Master Reverse Prompt Engineering

ChatGPT can be an excellent tool for reverse engineering prompts because it generates natural and engaging responses to any given input.

By analyzing the prompts generated by ChatGPT, it is possible to gain insight into the model’s underlying thought processes and decision-making strategies.

One key benefit of using ChatGPT to reverse engineer prompts is that the model is highly transparent in its decision-making.

This means that the reasoning and logic behind each response can be traced, making it easier to understand how the model arrives at its conclusions.

Once you’ve done this a few times for different types of content, you’ll gain insight into crafting more effective prompts.

Prepare Your ChatGPT For Generating Prompts

First, activate the reverse prompt engineering.

Type the following prompt: “Enable Reverse Prompt Engineering? By Reverse Prompt Engineering I mean creating a prompt from a given text.”

Screenshot from ChatGPT, March 2023

ChatGPT is now ready to generate your prompt. You can test the product description in a new chatbot session and evaluate the generated prompt.

Type: “Create a very technical reverse prompt engineering template for a product description about iPhone 11.”

Reverse Prompt engineering via WebChatGPT

Screenshot from ChatGPT, March 2023

The result is amazing. You can test with a full text that you want to reproduce. Here is an example of a prompt for selling a Kindle on Amazon.

Type: “Reverse Prompt engineer the following {product), capture the writing style and the length of the text :
product =”

Reverse prompt engineering: Amazon product

Screenshot from ChatGPT, March 2023

I tested it on an SEJ blog post. Enjoy the analysis – it is excellent.

Type: “Reverse Prompt engineer the following {text}, capture the tone and writing style of the {text} to include in the prompt :
text = all text coming from https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-bard-training-data/478941/”

Reverse prompt engineering an SEJ blog post

Screenshot from ChatGPT, March 2023

But be careful not to use ChatGPT to generate your texts. It is just a personal assistant.

Go Deeper

Prompts and examples for SEO:

Keyword research and content ideas prompt: “Provide a list of 20 long-tail keyword ideas related to ‘local SEO strategies’ along with brief content topic descriptions for each keyword.”
Optimizing content for featured snippets prompt: “Write a 40-50 word paragraph optimized for the query ‘what is the featured snippet in Google search’ that could potentially earn the featured snippet.”
Creating meta descriptions prompt: “Draft a compelling meta description for the following blog post title: ’10 Technical SEO Factors You Can’t Ignore in 2024′.”

Important Considerations:

Always Fact-Check: While ChatGPT can be a helpful tool, it’s crucial to remember that it may generate inaccurate or fabricated information. Always verify any facts, statistics, or quotes generated by ChatGPT before incorporating them into your content.
Maintain Control and Creativity: Use ChatGPT as a tool to assist your writing, not replace it. Don’t rely on it to do your thinking or create content from scratch. Your unique perspective and creativity are essential for producing high-quality, engaging content.
Iteration is Key: Refine and revise the outputs generated by ChatGPT to ensure they align with your voice, style, and intended message.

Additional Prompts for Rewording and SEO:
– Rewrite this sentence to be more concise and impactful.
– Suggest alternative phrasing for this section to improve clarity.
– Identify opportunities to incorporate relevant internal and external links.
– Analyze the keyword density and suggest improvements for better SEO.

Remember, while ChatGPT can be a valuable tool, it’s essential to use it responsibly and maintain control over your content creation process.

Experiment And Refine Your Prompting Techniques

Writing effective prompts for ChatGPT is an essential skill for any SEO professional who wants to harness the power of AI-generated content.

Hopefully, the insights and examples shared in this article can inspire you and help guide you to crafting stronger prompts that yield high-quality content.

Remember to experiment with layering prompts, iterating on the output, and continually refining your prompting techniques.

This will help you stay ahead of the curve in the ever-changing world of SEO.

More resources:

Featured Image: Tapati Rinchumrus/Shutterstock

SEO

Measuring Content Impact Across The Customer Journey

Published

2 days ago

April 23, 2024

Max

Measuring Content Impact Across The Customer Journey

Understanding the impact of your content at every touchpoint of the customer journey is essential – but that’s easier said than done. From attracting potential leads to nurturing them into loyal customers, there are many touchpoints to look into.

So how do you identify and take advantage of these opportunities for growth?

Watch this on-demand webinar and learn a comprehensive approach for measuring the value of your content initiatives, so you can optimize resource allocation for maximum impact.

You’ll learn:

Fresh methods for measuring your content’s impact.
Fascinating insights using first-touch attribution, and how it differs from the usual last-touch perspective.
Ways to persuade decision-makers to invest in more content by showcasing its value convincingly.

With Bill Franklin and Oliver Tani of DAC Group, we unravel the nuances of attribution modeling, emphasizing the significance of layering first-touch and last-touch attribution within your measurement strategy.

Check out these insights to help you craft compelling content tailored to each stage, using an approach rooted in first-hand experience to ensure your content resonates.

Whether you’re a seasoned marketer or new to content measurement, this webinar promises valuable insights and actionable tactics to elevate your SEO game and optimize your content initiatives for success.

View the slides below or check out the full webinar for all the details.