Get on the first page of Google with organic search strategy

How to rank on Page 1 with pillar-based marketing

If you write for the web, you know the challenge of trying to rank on Page 1 in the search engine results pages (SERPs). No doubt you crank out tons of content on a wide variety of topics related to your business, only to find that many of your pages aren’t ranking anywhere near Page 1 for relevant keywords. Perhaps your integrated digital marketing strategy includes use of tools like SEMrush, Ahrefs or Moz for keyword strategy and competitive analysis, but when making so-called data-driven decisions, you could be relying on outmoded SEO practices that lack precision.

Consider this: As of 2023, there were approximately 600 million blogs in the world with a whopping 70 million new posts published on WordPress each month, according to OptinMonster’s Ultimate Listing of Blogging Statistics and Facts. Out of all that content being produced, 96.55% of it gets no traffic from Google, according to an Ahrefs study of over 14 billion pages in Ahrefs Content Explorer Index.

Can you imagine? Zero traffic for all that creative effort. Clearly, the conventional thinking around SEO is not working if only 3.45% of the world’s content ever gets traffic from Google.

Enter pillar-based marketing, a new approach to content marketing.

What is pillar-based marketing?

Pillar-based marketing is a new content strategy put forth by DemandJump, which literally wrote the book on the subject. Pillar-based marketing builds on the concept of content pillars, which many digital creators are already familiar with. Content pillars are high-level topics that relate to your products or services. Typically, companies implement pillar content with a wide range of related, supporting topics. This is sometimes also referred to as a hub-and-spoke content methodology.

Pillar-based marketing takes this to another level, focusing on one pillar topic at a time (similar to a short-tail seed phrase) with three sub-pillar topics (longer-tail keyword phrases), and supporting blogs that answer specific questions people are asking about the pillar and sub-pillar topics.

Pillar-based marketing examples

Let’s say you’re a chiropractor who treats a variety of conditions, including back pain. Of course you want all your web pages to rank on Page 1 for relevant keyword phrases, but it’s important to start with just one topic. Back pain could be your first pillar topic, for example, followed by three sub-pillar topics related to back pain.

Where do you find these sub-pillar topics? By typing “back pain” into the Google search bar and seeing what kinds of related topics show up in the People also search for results. Here are three we found:

• Types of back pain
• Back pain symptoms
• Back pain treatments

Your overarching strategy is to then assert your “topical authority” — your undeniable expertise around back pain — by publishing:

• A pillar topic: Back Pain, of 3,000 words
• (3) sub-pillar topics: Types of Back Pain, Back Pain Symptoms, and Back Pain Treatments, of 2,000 words each
• (3) blog posts of 750 words each, that answer questions related to each pillar and sub-pillar topic 

For a total of 16 pieces of content, for starters. And rather than taking weeks or even months to publish all this content, the win with pillar-based marketing is to publish all 16 pieces of content at once. This instantly tells the search engines you are an expert on these topics. It also increases your chances of having multiple pages rank on Page 1.

Once you’ve identified your pillar topic and three sub-pillar topics, then it’s time to identify the kinds of questions people are asking related to these terms. Refer to the People also ask section for ideas, such as:

• How to relieve back pain? 
• How do I know if my back pain is serious?
• Why is my back hurting all of a sudden?
• What are the red flags for back pain?

By developing blog content that specifically answers the questions being posed, you’re providing content that exactly meets the needs of users. Again, while some of the questions may sound similar, they’re often nuanced enough to merit separate responses.

What’s the difference between pillar-based marketing and traditional SEO strategy?

A couple of factors distinguish pillar-based marketing from traditional SEO:

Topical authority vs. domain authority

With traditional SEO, there’s an emphasis on increasing domain authority. Domain authority, a concept originally created by Moz.com, is a number between 1 and 100 that reflects how well your site could potentially rank against your competitors. Domain authority is greatly informed by having “quality” backlinks, meaning authoritative and reputable websites that link back to your site, thus endorsing your site as an equally worthy and reputable source.

On the other hand, pillar-based marketing involves a topical authority approach. The idea is to become “the” authority on pillar topics of importance to you and to dominate the search results when it comes to related searches and questions around that topic. By strategically linking your pillar, sub-pillar, and blog pages to one another, you create your own ecosystem of expertise. As opposed to trying to get a single page of content to rank for a particular keyword phrase, the aim is to have multiple pages all working together to increase your Page 1 rankings.

User-generated search data vs. search volume

Traditional SEO generally relies on data such as search volume. This is an indication of how many people are searching for a particular keyword phrase every month. Search volume and keyword difficulty often go hand-in-hand when it comes to traditional SEO. We have been conditioned to assess whether our pages have a chance of ranking based on how much competition there is for a particular keyword phrase and how many people are actually searching with those keywords every month.

Pillar-based marketing takes a refreshing approach to search data and takes the guesswork out of content creation. By referring to user-generated search data in the Google search form field and Google features, such as “People Also Ask” and related searches, content creators can tap into search volume for keywords and questions often left on the table when it comes to SEO strategy. This is because traditional SEO tools were designed to meet the needs of advertisers, not content marketers. Therefore, such tools don’t necessarily reflect the plethora of content inquiries (or the variety of ways people ask questions) around your pillar topic.

Overlapping keyword usage vs. keyword cannibalization

It’s hard to get away from the traditional SEO notion that one page of content is going to “cannibalize” or compete with the keywords on another one of our pages. The prospect of keyword cannibalization has driven SEO content decisions for years.

In the pillar-based marketing model, however, content creators can be completely free of such constraints. By implementing the pillar, sub-pillar, and supporting blog approach—with strategic linking within the content—the idea of keyword cannibalization becomes obsolete. By eschewing “rules” related to keyword density and a single keyword phrase for every page, we’re able to produce content that naturally meets the needs and interests of users while also moving users into related areas of our site. While this may result in some overlapping content, keep in mind that no one ever reads every single page on your website. Each user has a unique path to the content that answers their questions and queries.

How long does it take to rank on Page 1?

With a pillar-based marketing strategy, your content may begin ranking in as little as a few days or a few weeks. This assumes that your pages have been indexed by Google and you have published useful, well-written, and thoughtful content. It also helps to give your pillar content a boost with some paid advertising through a platform like LinkedIn or Facebook.

It may sometimes take longer if there’s a lot of noise around your chosen topic, in which case, you’ll need to double down on writing content that supports your pillar content. With traditional SEO content approaches, on the other hand, it could take months to see a single page of content begin to rank for a particular keyword phrase.

Keep in mind: Your goal is always to rank on Page 1 and to keep writing content around that one pillar or your sub-pillar topics until you’re satisfied with your page rankings.

Why are my pages not ranking?

There are a number of reasons your pages aren’t ranking. It’s important to consider on-page SEO as well as off-page SEO, making sure your content is structured with logical and sequential H tags (e.g., H1, H2, H3 hierarchy), you’ve got a compelling meta description that makes people want to click, and the content you’re providing is good, overall. But don’t forget about the technical aspects of your website. A slow page load due to a large image may be just long enough for a user to give up and go to another site. Page speed is a critical performance metric to keep an eye on.

If you’ve got good, well-structured content that’s still not performing, it may be that you’re a little off-topic, meaning you may need to hone in on a related topic and additional supporting blogs.

Content monitoring and optimization

Beyond the 16-page initial push of content around your chosen pillar topic, you’ll still need to keep creating content. Writing a weekly blog post, for example, is a great way to show the search engines your site is still relevant and active. Initially, you’ll create blog posts that continue to support your 16-piece pillar launch. Once your pages are ranking on Page 1 for relevant keyword phrases - ahead of your competitors - it’s time to move on to the next pillar topic and repeat the process.

A few tips for ensuring your pillar-based marketing strategy is successful:

• Publish your pillar and sub-pillar topics simultaneously. Then check Google Search Console to ensure your pages have been indexed or to request indexing to accelerate the process.
• Then publish your blog content immediately after. Once you’ve confirmed your pillar and sub-pillar pages are indexed, publish all of your supporting blog content at once.
• Watch and monitor your analytics. See which pages start to rank within a few days or weeks.
• Identify on-page optimization opportunities. Include compelling graphics and callouts, to ensure an optimal user experience.
• Keep creating. If you’re in a particularly competitive space (topic-wise), you’ll need to develop more pieces of content until Google rewards your topical authority with Page 1 rankings.

Interested in ranking on Page 1 with an organic search strategy that works?

At Modus, we help organizations create, modify, and optimize their content for maximum organic search reach and conversion all while minimizing expense. We’d love to hear about your content marketing needs and goals.