Guide
Everything you need to know about pillar pages
One page that answers the whole question, with the articles that answer the parts. Written for people who build and run websites.
Table of contents
Topics of this topic cluster
Chapter one
What a pillar page is
A pillar page is the page that owns a topic. It answers the whole question from end to end and links out to the articles that go deeper on each part. Search engines and AI assistants read it as the page to quote when someone asks about the subject.
On a website that means one page you keep current instead of a dozen posts that quietly go stale. The cluster around it does the rest: every article links up to the pillar, and the pillar links back down.
What it is not
It is not a long blog post, and it is not a landing page. It lives in the menu, it has no campaign end date, and it carries a review date so the reader knows it is current.
Anything a reader could ask as its own question. If the answer needs more than a paragraph, it is a chapter; if it needs more than a section, it is an article in the cluster.
Rule of thumb
If a paragraph starts with «by the way», it belongs in a box like this one.
The short version
One page that owns the topic, a cluster that links up to it, and a review date so everyone can see it is current.
Chapter two
Why it works
A visitor who lands on a thin post leaves to find the rest. A visitor who lands on a page that answers everything stays, and so does the traffic.
Before and after
A topic with and without a pillar page
Twelve thin posts
- Each one answers a tenth of the question
- Readers leave to find the rest
- Twelve pages to keep up to date
- No page an assistant can quote
One pillar page
- One page answers the whole question
- The cluster feeds it, and rises with it
- One page to keep up to date
- The page that gets cited
One page to write well, one page to keep current, one page to be cited.
Chapter three
How to build one, in four moves
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01
Decide the topic
Wide enough to fill a page, narrow enough that you can own it. -
02
Map the cluster
List the questions underneath. Each one becomes an article. -
03
Build it from sections
A text section, a comparison, a set of steps: each part its own module. -
04
Link both ways
Every article links up, the pillar links down to each.
Score your page
Five things a good pillar page does
Score yours honestly. Anything under sixty is worth a rewrite.
A page that scores
84/ 100
What we aim for before publishing
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Answers the whole question 90
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Links down to the cluster 85
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Updated this year 80
-
Readable without the images 82
What to fix first
- 1Preload the hero image on the home page
- 2Trim the two heaviest third-party scripts
- 3Add dates to every article
We do not hide behind a perfect score. We measure our own site, find the gaps and fix them, the way we help you do.
Calculator
What is one good page worth?
Put your own numbers in. Everything is calculated in your browser.
Your numbers
Rough figures are fine. The point is the order of magnitude.
Pipeline from this topic, per year
–
At today's traffic
Leads per month
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With 40 % more traffic
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Estimates. Your own numbers will differ.
Chapter four
How to keep it alive
Put a review date on it. When the subject moves, the page moves with it, and the date at the top tells the reader it is current.
Questions
What people ask about pillar pages
How long should a pillar page be?
As long as the question. A shorter page that answers everything beats a long one that repeats itself.
Which modules should I build it from?
A short hero, a Text section for the argument, and then whatever each chapter needs. This page uses the Pro table of contents, the score meter and the calculator.
Should it be a blog post or a page?
A page. It is the reference, not news, and it belongs somewhere stable in the menu.
Next step
Build your own pillar page this week
The free theme has the sections. OMNI Pro adds the table of contents, the boxes in the text, the score meter and the calculator on this page.