Over time, the way people search for information in the digital landscape online has been changing. Instead of just using short keywords, people are now using longer phrases, complete questions, and even voice search with tools like Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. For example, if you were searching for information on a specific manufacturing process like “industrial mixing equipment,” simply using that keyword may give you a wide range of results that include both industrial mixing equipment companies and B2C mixing products (such as a countertop blender) for the home kitchen. However, if you use longer, conversational phrases, like “where to find industrial mixing equipment companies,” you are more likely to find the specific information you need. This is supported by the fact that over 64% of all online searches now include four or more words.
To adapt to the changing search behavior of online users, businesses need to adjust their content strategies accordingly. One effective approach is to create Pillar Content.
What is Pillar Content?
Pillar content is a comprehensive and authoritative piece of content that covers a broad topic and is designed to be the core component of a B2B digital marketing content writing strategy. It is a long-form piece that is meant to provide a foundation for other related pieces of content, such as blog posts, case studies, and white papers. It typically consists of a detailed overview of a particular subject, along with links to more specific and detailed information on related topics.
A B2B pillar page is designed to provide an in-depth look at a particular topic, such as a specific product or service, or a particular aspect of the supply chain. It is typically structured in a way that allows users to easily navigate through the content and find the information they need. This may include using headings, subheadings, bullet points, and other formatting techniques to make the content easy to read and digest.
Pillar Page Content: The Core Foundation to the Digital Marketing Supply Chain
Just as a supply chain is composed of multiple interconnected parts that work together to deliver products or services to customers, a content strategy is composed of multiple pieces of content that work together to attract, engage, and convert potential customers. A Pillar Page is like the core component of this content strategy, serving as the foundation on which the rest of the content is built.
A well-designed supply chain ensures that products are delivered to customers in a timely and efficient manner, meeting their needs and expectations. Similarly, a well-designed content strategy ensures that potential customers can easily find the information they need, when they need it, and that this information meets their needs and expectations. A Pillar Page plays a critical role in achieving this goal by providing a comprehensive, authoritative, and easily navigable source of information.
Just as a supply chain is only as strong as its weakest link, meaning that a failure or disruption in any part of the chain can have significant consequences for the entire system- similarly, a content strategy is only as effective as its weakest piece of content, meaning that poorly designed or executed content can undermine the success of the entire strategy. A well-designed Pillar Page helps to mitigate this risk by providing a strong foundation for the rest of the content.
How to Strategize and Create an Effective B2B Pillar Page:
The key to creating an effective B2B pillar page is to focus on providing value to your audience. This means creating content that is informative, relevant, engaging, and aligns with search behavior and provides valuable answers to the target audience’s questions. It should be designed to educate your audience on the topic at hand and provide them with actionable insights that they can use to improve their own businesses.
To create effective Pillar Content, businesses should conduct extensive research on the topic, identify key subtopics and related keywords, and organize the information in a logical and easy-to-follow manner. The content should be optimized for search engines, with relevant keywords and meta tags included, to ensure that it ranks well in search results.
By creating a B2B pillar page, you can establish your organization as an authority in your industry and provide your audience with a valuable resource that they can reference time and time again. It can also help you to generate more leads and improve your search engine rankings, as search engines tend to favor comprehensive, high-quality content.
B2B pillar page is like a component to a digital supply chain ecosystem in that it serves as the foundational piece that connects all the different parts of the supply chain. By creating a comprehensive and authoritative piece of content, you can establish yourself as an authority in your industry and provide your audience with a valuable resource that they can reference time and time again.
Topic Clusters: The Marketing Supply Chain Drivers
When it comes to content strategy in the B2B space, the topic cluster model is a popular approach that groups related content together based on a shared topic and subtopics. Unlike traditional SEO strategies that focus solely on keywords, the topic cluster method emphasizes the importance of topics to improve your website’s architecture and boost your search engine visibility.
In 2023, Google’s search algorithm continues to prioritize “helpful content” over just using specific keywords. While keywords still play a role in search rankings, Google has shifted its focus towards providing searchers with high-quality and useful content that meets their specific needs.
In this model, the “pillar page” serves as the centerpiece that broadly covers a particular topic. This page provides comprehensive and detailed information about the topic, and is optimized for a primary keyword. The content in the “cluster pages” are focused on long-tail keywords that are related to the primary keyword of the pillar page.
The cluster pages link back to the pillar page using the same hyperlinked keyword each time. This linking structure helps web crawlers make connections between the pages and signals to search engines that the content is comprehensive and valuable.
The topic cluster method helps businesses to create detailed and comprehensive coverage of specific subjects, making it easier for users to find the information they need. This method also helps to improve website architecture, making it more easily searchable and visible to search engines. The pillar page serves as the core component of this approach, providing a broad overview of the topic and linking to related cluster pages for more detailed information.
How to Write Top Clusters for B2B Business
After you have your topics and your topic clusters organized and mapped out, it’s time to dive into writing your long-form page. This is where you get to really showcase your expertise and provide valuable information to your target audience. But before you start writing, it’s important to set up your table of contents.
Your table of contents will not only help you organize your thoughts but also guide your site visitors through the page easily. It’s important to consider headings that ask the questions of your buyers or are the exact questions your procurement managers will be typing into Google. This will help your page rank higher and potentially end up in a Google snippet or position zero.
But what is a Google snippet or position zero? It’s the featured box that appears at the top of a Google search result, above the first organic search result. This coveted spot provides users with a quick answer to their query, which can greatly increase your website’s visibility and traffic.
To increase your chances of appearing in a Google snippet, it’s important to format your content in a clear and concise way. Use headings and subheadings to break up your content and make it easier to read. Include bullet points and numbered lists to highlight key points and make them more visually appealing.
Another way to make your content more appealing to both readers and search engines is to include images and videos. Visual aids can help illustrate complex concepts and break up large blocks of text, making your content more engaging and easier to digest.
Keep in consideration, that while it’s important to format your content for SEO, it’s even more important to provide helpful content that meets the needs of your audience. Google’s algorithms are becoming increasingly sophisticated and are able to recognize and reward high-quality content that provides value to users.
Therefore, when writing your long-form page, make sure to focus on answering the questions and providing the information that your target audience is looking for. Don’t just stuff your page with keywords or write for the sake of writing. Instead, provide comprehensive and useful information that will keep your readers engaged and coming back for more.
Finally, it’s important to remember that your long-form page is just one piece of your overall content strategy. To truly succeed in the B2B digital supply chain ecosystem, you need to have a comprehensive and cohesive content strategy that includes pillar pages, blog posts, videos, social media content, and more. By creating a holistic content strategy that focuses on providing value to your target audience, you can increase your visibility, drive traffic to your website, and ultimately generate more leads and sales.
Effectively Designing & Feeding the Pillar Page: The Digital Supply Chain Core Component
When designing your pillar page, it’s important to work closely with your design team to ensure that it stands out on your website and is easily accessible to your audience. Unlike regular pages that might get buried within the resources or blog sections of your site, a pillar page should ideally be positioned on your main site navigation to increase traffic and improve your site’s visibility.
However, if it has to live within a sub-navigation menu, there are still ways to promote the page on other high-traffic pages of your site. For instance, you can add links to the page on your homepage, or include it in your footer so that visitors can easily navigate to it.
When designing the page itself, it’s important to consider the user experience. The design should be visually appealing, with plenty of white space and easy-to-read fonts. It should also be easy to navigate, with a clear table of contents that makes it easy for users to find the information they need.
To ensure that your pillar page stands out, you may also want to consider incorporating multimedia elements, such as videos, infographics, or images. These elements can help break up long blocks of text, make the page more engaging, and improve the overall user experience.
Finally, don’t forget to optimize the design for mobile devices. With more and more users accessing the internet via their smartphones and tablets, it’s essential that your pillar page looks and works just as well on mobile as it does on desktop. This means designing for smaller screens, using mobile-friendly fonts and layouts, and optimizing any multimedia elements for mobile playback.
Overall, designing a pillar page that stands out and is easily accessible to your audience requires careful planning and collaboration between your content and design teams. By taking the time to strategize and optimize the design for both desktop and mobile users, you can create a page that not only drives traffic and improves your site’s visibility, but also provides a great user experience for your visitors.
