Starting a blog from nothing can be challenging. It may seem really hard to get the ball rolling when you’re starting out with 0 readers. But it doesn’t have to be.
Personally, I’ve tried different strategies and found varying levels of success. I’ve attempted to cover as many long-tail keywords as possible and write about random topics I’m interested in, along with a few other approaches. Most of these didn’t work that well.
But the strategy that has given me the best results is content pillars.
What’s a Content Pillar?
A content pillar is an article that thoroughly covers a broad topic. Typically, these posts are anywhere from 2,500 to 6,000 words.
In my experience, these are the types of blogs that get the most traffic. But what makes them so effective?
Why are Content Pillars so Effective?
From an SEO perspective, having a comprehensive post is more likely to have more keywords, links, images, etc. Content pillars can also be broken into subtopics. These subtopics present a great opportunity to create internal links to smaller articles covering more specific and relevant content.
I can only speak from personal experience, but when I search for a topic, I don’t want to have to read 10 different blogs to get all the information I need. Covering an entire topic in one blog results in a valuable and convenient resource for your readers.
And when you create a valuable resource, people are more likely to link to your article which increases your website’s backlink profile resulting in higher-ranking pages on Google.
Planning Your Approach
Assuming your blog covers a specific topic, identify the main subtopics and write a content pillar for each one.
For example, if you’re blog is about marketing, you’re going to need a pillar on SMM, PPC, SEO, etc.
After you’ve written a content pillar, you can then create shorter blogs covering even more specific subtopics. Then you can link to them in the pillar. Having these internal links is important because they’re going to let search engines know that you’re an authority in your niche.
For example, if you’re pillar is on SEO, you might write about YouTube SEO, on-page SEO, backlink building, etc.
And That’s It!
Now you should have a concrete and actionable strategy that you can use to ensure long term success for your blog. Write content pillars for all the main topics in your niche, then write shorter posts on subtopics, and finally, create internal links.
Disagree with this strategy? Have something to add? Please let me know in the comment section! I’m always trying to improve my approach to writing!
If you want to further improve your writing online, feel free to check out my complete SEO guide.