Consistency and organisation make for a successful content strategy, whether you’re an experienced content creator or a newcomer to the field. This is where “content pillars” come into play. If you properly understand what content pillars are, why they’re important, and how to use them effectively, you can increase the reach and impact of your content. 

In this guide, we explain the most important information you need to know on this topic, as well as examples and actionable strategies that you can incorporate into your content strategy. 

• What are content pillars?
• Benefits of content pillars
• How to identify content pillars
• Tips 
• Examples 
• How to organise content around pillars
• Measuring content pillar success
• Common mistakes to avoid
• How to evolve your content pillars

What are content pillars?

Content pillars are broad themes or topics that form the basis of your overall content strategy. These pillars represent the main subjects around which you regularly publish content on your website, social media, and other platforms. In other words, they guide you in creating specific, related content. 

Each content pillar is an overarching theme from which several supporting pieces of content branch off. These subtopics, also known as “content clusters,” deal with more specific aspects of the pillar and thus enable comprehensive coverage of the broader subject. 

Content pillars are very versatile, meaning you can use them in different content formats: text, image, audio, and video. They help you ensure that your message remains consistent and that your audience knows exactly what to expect from your brand. 

Benefits of content pillars

Consistency and focus

Establishing clear, well-defined themes to focus on gives your content a consistent voice and direction. This helps both content creators and audiences align with the brand’s core messages. 

SEO benefits

The content pillars are also important from an SEO perspective. These pillars allow you to create extensive content around specific keywords, which increases the depth of your content and helps you rank better for search terms related to those topics. Content clusters and internal linking further strengthen your SEO strategy and help search engines better understand your content. 

Audience engagement

Content pillars help you engage effectively with your audience. By organising content around specific themes that appeal to your target audience, you can more easily capture and retain their attention. Your audience will associate your brand with these pillars, and you’ll become a reliable source of information in your field.

Content organisation

Content pillars provide a clear structure and roadmap for content creation. This makes managing and planning your content much easier, especially if you have a team of writers or creators working on different pieces of content.

Trust and authority building 

One of the most important and long-term benefits of building content pillars is that they help build your brand’s trust and authority in your field. When you regularly create valuable, in-depth content on a specific topic, you show your expertise. This helps your audience see you as an informed, trustworthy source and increases credibility with search engines, further enhancing your authority and organic reach.

See also: Mindful writing with InstaText

How to identify content pillars

The question now is: How can you identify the themes that are of central importance to your business, your target group, and your industry? Here are some tips: 

Start with your core topics

Identify the themes or topics that are directly related to your business or industry. These should be broad enough to cover a range of subtopics and content. For example, if you run a fitness blog, your core topics could be “nutrition,” “exercise,” and “mental health.”

Research your audience

It’s important to understand the needs, pain points, and interests of your target audience when choosing your content pillars. Use audience surveys, social media insights, and customer feedback to find out what matters most to your readers or customers. 

Use keyword research

Keyword research tools such as Google Keyword Planner and Semrush can help you find high-volume search terms that your target audience is interested in. These keywords can serve as the basis for your content pillars and help you create your pillar content. 

Review your existing content

If you have already published content, take a look at your most popular posts or articles. These can tell you which topics resonate most with your audience and which themes work well as content pillars. 

Tips for creating effective content pillars

Be broad but specific

Your content pillars should be broad enough to allow for flexibility in content creation, but specific enough to avoid being too vague. For example, “Fitness” is too broad, while “CrossFit workouts for beginners” is too specific. A good pillar would be “strength training,” which includes different types of workouts and training plans. 

Think about subtopics

Content pillars work best when they are supported by subtopics. For example, under the “nutrition” pillar could be subtopics such as “meal planning,” “supplements,” or “nutritional guidelines for weight loss.” You can use these subtopics to create a variety of content linked to the main pillar. 

Keep your audience in mind

Remember that your content pillars should align with what your audience cares about. Your content may not get the attention and engagement it deserves if the topics of your pillars don’t align with their interests.

Review content from similar platforms 

Take a look at the content that similar platforms publish. Which pillars do they focus on? What gaps can you fill with your content? Such an analysis can help you understand the content landscape in your field and identify opportunities for differentiation. 

Examples of content pillars

Example 1: Health and fitness blog

• Content Pillar 1: Nutrition
• Content Pillar 2: Exercise routines
• Content Pillar 3: Mental health

Example 2: Technology blog

• Content Pillar 1: Software development
• Content Pillar 2: AI and machine learning
• Content Pillar 3: Cybersecurity

Example 3: Personal finance website

• Content Pillar 1: Budgeting and saving
• Content Pillar 2: Investment strategies
• Content Pillar 3: Retirement planning 

See also: How to upskill and reskill as a writer

How to organise content around pillars

To maximise the effectiveness of your content pillars, it is important that you organise your content into clusters. 

A content cluster consists of:

• A central pillar post (a long-form, comprehensive guide on the topic) 
• Several smaller posts (often referred to as cluster content) that link back to the pillar post  

This creates a strong, interconnected content network that improves SEO and user experience. 

Link your content

Include internal links between your pillar content and related articles. This way, search engines can better understand the structure and relevance of your content, and readers will have a more seamless browsing experience. 

Create a content calendar

With a content calendar, you can ensure that you regularly publish content related to your pillars and the associated subtopics. This helps you keep track of your content and ensure that you don’t neglect any important areas. 

Use content pillar templates

You can find free content pillar templates online and customise them to suit your needs. These templates provide a structured framework for organising your main topics and subtopics and help you develop a coherent content strategy. 

Measuring content pillar success

To refine your strategy, it’s important to measure the performance of your content pillars. Here are some ways to measure success: 

Analytics tools

Google Analytics and other analytics tools can help you track key metrics such as traffic and engagement for your pillar content. Observe which posts are getting the most views, shares, and backlinks.

Audience feedback

Engage with your audience regularly and ask them for feedback on your content. Their insights can help you refine your pillars and ensure you are meeting their needs. 

SEO metrics

Analyse how the keywords associated with your content pillars perform. If your pillar posts rank well, it shows that your strategy is working. 

Common mistakes to avoid when creating content pillars

Being too narrow

Don’t make your pillars too specific. While it is important to niche down, pillars that are too narrow could limit the amount of content you can create. 

Overcomplicating your pillars

You should not have too many content pillars because it could be overwhelming. Choose a manageable number of pillars to keep your strategy focused and clear. 

Ignoring SEO

SEO is crucial for the development of content pillars. If you don’t optimise your content for search engines, you may be missing out on valuable traffic.

How to evolve your content pillars

Content pillars are not set in stone. As your business or niche evolves, your pillars should change too. Keep an eye on industry trends, monitor the performance of your content, and adjust your pillars as needed to stay relevant. 

Just follow the tips and examples above, which can give you clarity, consistency, and direction when creating content and help you build trust, authority, and engagement with your audience. 

Need an editing assistant for your content needs? 

The quality of content is an influential factor in the success of content pillars. That’s why it’s a worthwhile investment to use an editor such as InstaText to improve your writing. InstaText is an editing assistant that improves your texts by enhancing clarity, readability, flow, structure, style, tone, conciseness, word choice, grammar, spelling, punctuation, and more. 

InstaText uses advanced language technologies without relying on generative AI. The fact that its edits are not AI-generated makes it particularly suitable for contexts where originality, authorship, and authenticity are important.

If you are not yet a user, you can try InstaText for free and see for yourself what editing with it looks like. If you’re a user, we believe you’ll find the new content on our blog useful.

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