I for the life of me cannot comprehend pillar pages. Many resources like Hubspot have used examples like content marketing to demonstrate a pillar page, but that's too ambiguous of a topic to understand. I need a simpler example, like a pillar page for a blog about cats or pets.
I also don't understand the difference between a pillar page and a category page that holds a bunch of blogs categorized around the same topic? Where would pillar pages even live? In the navigation? Inside a category page?
Generally, I've been thinking about pillar pages like this:
@alwaysfabian You're on the right track! Pillar pages can indeed be thought of as "super-sized" guides that serve as comprehensive resources on a particular topic. Now, let's consider where they could live within your blog structure.
In a conventional blog navigation like "Home," "About," "Blog," and "Contact," you can absolutely have a category or section specifically for your pillar pages. Here's how it might look for your niched cat blog:
Home: Introduction to your blog.
About: Information about you and your blog.
Blog:
Cat Health: This is where your pillar page "Ultimate Guide to Cat Care" could live.
Feeding Your Cat
Grooming Your Cat
Healthcare for Your Cat
Playtime and Exercise
Understanding Cat Behavior
Cat Toys: Another potential pillar page like "Complete Guide to Cat Toys."
Interactive Toys
DIY Toys
Best Toys for Different Breeds
Cat Costumes: Similarly, a pillar page like "Dressing Up Your Cat."
Safety Tips
DIY Costume Ideas
Popular Cat Costumes
By placing pillar pages at this level, you're making them easily accessible from the main navigation. Visitors can then navigate to the pillar page for a comprehensive overview and explore specific topics within that category.
So, in your case, you could have a "Cat Health" section in your blog navigation, and under that, you'd find the "Ultimate Guide to Cat Care" as your pillar page.
This helps create a hierarchical structure that guides your readers from broader topics to more specific and detailed information. It also helps in organizing your content for both SEO purposes and a better user experience.
Karsten Köhler HubSpot Freelancer | RevOps & CRM Consultant | Community Hall of Famer
Absolutely, let's break down the concept of pillar pages using a simple example related to a blog about cats or pets. The content piece ideas below were generated with the help of ChatGPT.
Imagine you have a blog about cats:
1. Pillar page: "Ultimate Guide to Cat Care"
This is your main, comprehensive guide covering everything about taking care of a cat.
2. Content clusters/sections inside the pillar page:
Feeding Your Cat:
Types of cat food
Feeding schedules
Treats and snacks
Grooming Your Cat:
Brushing techniques
Bathing tips
Dealing with shedding
Healthcare for Your Cat:
Regular vet check-ups
Common health issues
Medications and vaccinations
Playtime and Exercise:
Best toys for cats
DIY play ideas
Importance of exercise
Understanding Cat Behavior:
Communication signals
Behavioral issues and solutions
Bonding with your cat
You had a few additional questions, let's look at the difference between pillar page and category page:
Pillar page: A comprehensive guide that acts as the main hub for a broad topic, like "Ultimate Guide to Cat Care." It provides an overview and links to more specific subtopics or content clusters.
Category page: A page that groups together related blogs or articles. In this example, you might have a category page titled "Cat Health," which includes blogs about feeding, grooming, healthcare, etc.
You also wanted to better understand where pillar pages live.
Navigation: Yes, pillar pages are often placed in the navigation menu as a key resource. Visitors can easily find and access the main pillar content.
Inside a category page: No, pillar pages typically aren't inside category pages. Instead, category pages might link to your pillar page and related blogs, creating a hierarchical structure.
This approach helps organize your content in a way that provides a comprehensive guide (pillar page) while allowing visitors to delve into specific subtopics (content clusters) as needed. Remember, the key is to provide a user-friendly structure that helps your audience navigate and find relevant information easily.
Best regards!
Karsten Köhler HubSpot Freelancer | RevOps & CRM Consultant | Community Hall of Famer
Pillar pages seem more clear now. What I'm still a bit unclear about is where they could potentially live. Pillar pages somewhat seem like "super-sized" blog posts that link out to smaller, more niched blog posts (at least in my mind.)
When I think of a conventional blog navigation, I think of divisions like "Home", "About", "Blog", "Contact", etc. Is this the level where pillar pages could be linked? Would a pillar page live on the same level for a niched cat blog with a navigation like "Cat Health", "Cat Toys", "Cat Costumes", etc.?
@alwaysfabian You're on the right track! Pillar pages can indeed be thought of as "super-sized" guides that serve as comprehensive resources on a particular topic. Now, let's consider where they could live within your blog structure.
In a conventional blog navigation like "Home," "About," "Blog," and "Contact," you can absolutely have a category or section specifically for your pillar pages. Here's how it might look for your niched cat blog:
Home: Introduction to your blog.
About: Information about you and your blog.
Blog:
Cat Health: This is where your pillar page "Ultimate Guide to Cat Care" could live.
Feeding Your Cat
Grooming Your Cat
Healthcare for Your Cat
Playtime and Exercise
Understanding Cat Behavior
Cat Toys: Another potential pillar page like "Complete Guide to Cat Toys."
Interactive Toys
DIY Toys
Best Toys for Different Breeds
Cat Costumes: Similarly, a pillar page like "Dressing Up Your Cat."
Safety Tips
DIY Costume Ideas
Popular Cat Costumes
By placing pillar pages at this level, you're making them easily accessible from the main navigation. Visitors can then navigate to the pillar page for a comprehensive overview and explore specific topics within that category.
So, in your case, you could have a "Cat Health" section in your blog navigation, and under that, you'd find the "Ultimate Guide to Cat Care" as your pillar page.
This helps create a hierarchical structure that guides your readers from broader topics to more specific and detailed information. It also helps in organizing your content for both SEO purposes and a better user experience.
Karsten Köhler HubSpot Freelancer | RevOps & CRM Consultant | Community Hall of Famer