Getting visitors to your website is key, but making your site easy to use matters too. Without good organization and linking between pages, people leave fast, and search engines can’t scan your content well. But small changes can make your site’s structure much better. Using pillar cluster model can seriously improve your website’s layout and SEO.
Pillar pages are main pages that cover broad topics. Topic clusters are groups of related content. Together, they make your site logical and easy to navigate. Though setting these up takes work first, the long-term benefits are huge – better search rankings, more time spent on your site, and more. This blog shares seven big pros of using pillar pages and topic clusters. See why it’s worth the effort to do this website upgrade.
Reasons Why You Should Use Pillar Cluster Model
Think of your website as a book. Pillar pages are like the main chapters and topic clusters are like the sections within each chapter. When you organize your ‘book’ well, it’s not just readers who find it useful, even Google can read your ‘book’ faster and rank it higher.
As an example, if you run a cooking blog, you can have a pillar page on ‘Vegetarian Recipes’ with smaller posts or topic clusters on ‘Pasta’, ‘Salad’, ‘Desserts’ and more. This helps Google understand what your ‘book’ is about and show it to people searching for vegetarian recipes.
Making Your Website Easier For Visitors
Imagine entering a library where all books and pages are just randomly stacked. Hard to find what you’re looking for, right? Pillar pages and topic clusters help you organize your ‘library’ so your visitors find exactly what they need, quickly. This makes them happy and they love to stay longer on your website.
Showcasing Your Knowledge
Pillar pages are like detailed guides about your subject. When you make such comprehensive guides and also have several supporting articles (topic clusters), it shows that you know your stuff. For instance, if you run an art supplies store and you create a detailed guide on ‘Watercolor Painting’, with related posts on choosing paints, brushes and papers, it shows your customers that you are an expert they can trust.
Keeping Visitors Longer on Your Website
When you provide helpful and interlinked content on a topic, your visitors are likely to stay longer exploring the information. Just like if you read a fascinating book, you’ll quickly turn the pages to know what’s next. Google likes it when people spend more time on your website because it considers your site to be useful.
Helping Others Refer to Your Content
When you create a great guide (pillar page), other people will want to share it. Just like when you find a great book, you can’t help recommending it to others, right? They may share it in their blogs, articles or social media posts. These shares are like votes that tell Google your content is excellent.
Making Your Content Plan Simple
Creating pillar pages and topic clusters is like creating a blueprint for your content. It helps to know what main topics (pillar pages) and sub-topics (topic clusters) you should focus on. For instance, a music teacher would know to focus on main topics like ‘Learning Piano’ or ‘Learning Guitar’ with various lessons as sub-topics.
Improving Flow of Traffic in Your Website
When all your pages and posts are interconnected like a web within each topic, your visitors can easily move around exploring related content. This helps increase the number of pages they visit, much like going through different sections of a bookstore. This not only improves their experience but helps Google know which pages are related and should be shown together in search results.
Conclusion
Implementing pillar pages and topic clusters may require initial effort, but the long-term SEO benefits can transform your website. By clearly defining your site’s structure and improving interlinking, you’ll craft a user-friendly experience that search engines love. With better optimization and targeted content, you can bolster rankings and traffic. For significant yet sustainable growth, pillar pages and topic clusters are an amazing investment any day.