The amount of blogging data being tracked online via social media these days is enough to make George Orwell spin in his grave.
Even he couldn’t have predicted the quantity of market research consumers are handing out for free with social media platforms – even lazy bloggers and hardcore picture sites are helping big companies make bank.
So, after all the monkeys did their number crunching, they found something interesting that many of us hadn’t predicted; web surfers are getting smarter.
Instead of the typical blogging keywords SEO copywriters have come to know and love, web cruisers are turning their search terms into more specific 8 to 10 word phrases. And you’ve got to react to the changes in a big way, too.
How a Pillar Post Works in Blogging
You have probably become accustomed to the typical 300 to 500 word blog posts. Traditionally, the publication of up to 2 posts per day of this type of blogging boosted your website traffic.
As consumers become smarter (and more and more crappy content overtakes the web), keywords have turned into key phrases. That means you need to react to the times by providing longer, more in-depth blogging articles.
Instead of focusing on one short piece of content, you can work towards getting valuable long strings of words into your posts. For example, if someone had typed in ‘in-depth blogging articles’ they will find this post.
The theory is that the more content in your blog, the more opportunity you have to hit on at least a few long keyword phrases that someone is typing into their search engine. And pillar posts are the answer.
What Are the Best Pillar Posts
Pilar posts aren’t just about cool, fun, funny blogging content. Evergreen content is a great start if you’ve never done one. Write a long piece about a topic that’s relevant to your company.
The second type of pillar post, or super blog, is driven by a high-profile news story. (It’s called news hacking in public relations.) You’ll want to look for something that pertains to your industry, and then do a 1,000 word blog post about it.
If a roof collapses in a parking garage, you might write a post titled, The Tragic XYZ Roof Collapse: What Happened and How to Avoid It.
Tricks to Successful Pillar Posts
You have to write as the expert in your field. Don’t even try to touch on topics that won’t be interesting and engaging. Make sure you are truly well-informed in whatever topic you choose.
Consider linking parts of your pillar post to other blog articles. Send a quick, “I linked to you” message to the author of the other posts – it may encourage them to give you a link back.
If you go the news route, be aware that the primary goal is to attract website traffic, not to attract your ideal client to your website. Traffic is great for improving rankings, but not very relevant to continued marketing efforts.
Finally, remember to promote yourself and ask people to share your post. Likewise, you should put some serious time into the pillar post so you can feel proud promoting it.
If you aren’t sure you can do a great job, ask an editor to clean it up – since it’s such a bigger punch than the typical writing, you don’t want to come off as a silly monkey.
Got more questions? Leave me a comment below.
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The post Smarter Monkeys? Why You Need Pillar Blogging Posts appeared first on Blogging Tips.
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Smarter Monkeys? Why You Need Pillar Blogging Posts
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