You know about the importance of long-tail keywords. You have heard about updating your blog regularly. You are even aware of the new trends in content-marketing, like writing snippet-friendly content and tailoring your keywords to voice searches. The latest buzzword in content marketing, though, is a new name for an old concept: the pillar page. As their name suggests, pillar pages are big, strong, and permanent. Investing in them as a foundation for your law firm’s website before you start paying for blog content and social media posts is as important as investing in a solidly built house before you start buying expensive furniture for it.
Pillar Pages: The Reference Works of the Internet
If you were going to spend the summer in a remote cabin with no TV or Internet and could only bring one book, what would it be? Many people answer this question with a beloved, eminently re-readable novel, like The Great Gatsby, The Hobbit, or To Kill a Mockingbird. It might be wiser, though, to choose a reference book, like an unabridged dictionary or the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. People might not say that reference books are their favorites, but their actions say otherwise; they continue to consult them, albeit mostly online these days.
Pillar pages are the reference works of the Internet. They are content pages on websites, and they very infrequently undergo updates; most of the sub pages on a website relate to the pillar page. On your law firm’s website, your pillar pages are the practice area pages; they should tell prospective what they need to know about personal injury lawsuits, criminal defense, or the divorce process, for example. The best pillar pages are the ones that your clients will visit multiple times before and after they hire you. Ideally, they will share the link to your pillar pages to other people they know who are looking for information about your practice area.
What Makes a Good Pillar Page?
Unlike blog posts, pillar pages do not have to be catchy; they do not necessarily need a “hook.” They should be clear, concise, and well organized, like an encyclopedia article from the days of paper encyclopedias. Although they will probably have more words than any other page on your site, the word count is not the goal. You should fact-check and proofread the pillar page thoroughly before you post it.
If you hire professional content writers to write a pillar page, it will cost you more to get a good pillar page than it will to get blog posts that add up to the length of a pillar page. If you aim to trim your content marketing budget, the pillar page is not the place to pinch pennies. You should only hire writers who are knowledgeable about your practice area and give them a deadline and a budget that allows room for several drafts.
Let Law Blog Writers Do the Writing
You can count on Law Blog Writers to create factually accurate, readable content for all parts of your law firm’s website, from pillar pages to blog posts.