As a blogger, you’re always looking for ways to make your content stand out and reach a wider audience. One powerful strategy for achieving this is to create pillar content and in this blog post, I will give you some cornerstone content examples.
What is Cornerstone Content?
Cornerstone content is the foundation of your blog. It’s the in-depth, comprehensive, and authoritative content that provides the most value to your readers. This is usually evergreen content, meaning that it remains relevant and useful for a long time.
Cornerstone content can take many forms, such as:
- Ultimate guides
- Definitive how-to articles
- Comprehensive case studies
- In-depth product reviews
- Authoritative thought pieces
The key characteristic of cornerstone content is that it provides a thorough and valuable resource for your readers on a specific topic.
Why is Cornerstone Content Important?
There are several reasons why cornerstone content is important for your blog:
Establishes Your Authority – When you create cornerstone content, you establish yourself as an expert in your niche. By providing a comprehensive and valuable resource, you demonstrate your expertise and knowledge on the subject matter and can build trust and credibility with your audience.
Increases Your Search Engine Rankings – Cornerstone content is often optimized for search engines, making it easier for people to find your blog through organic search. When you create in-depth and comprehensive content, search engines will recognize its value and rank it higher in search results.
Provides Value to Your Readers – Cornerstone content is designed to provide the most value to your readers. Creating high-quality and comprehensive blogs demonstrates your commitment to your readers and builds a loyal following. By focusing on evergreen topics and providing timeless information, your cornerstone content can continue to attract traffic and generate leads over time.
Helps Readers Navigate Your Blog – Cornerstone content is designed to be a comprehensive resource that covers a specific topic in-depth. As such, it can serve as a foundation for other blog posts on your site.
By linking to your cornerstone content from other relevant posts, you can improve your site’s internal linking structure, which can improve your website’s SEO and user experience. With the right cornerstone content strategy, readers will be able to navigate your blog easily and make better sense of your website.
Increases Your Social Media Shares – When you create valuable cornerstone content, people are more likely to share it on social media. This can lead to more traffic to your blog and an increase in your social media following.
How to Create Cornerstone Content
Creating cornerstone content takes time and effort, but the rewards are worth it. To create effective cornerstone content, you need to start by choosing a topic that is relevant to your niche and that will be valuable for your readers.
Once you have a topic you need to –
1. Do Your Research
Conduct thorough research on the topic and gather as much information as possible. This will help you create a comprehensive and authoritative resource. Use a variety of sources such as books, journals, industry reports and online articles.
2. Organise Your Content
Create an outline for your content and organise it in a logical and easy-to-follow format. You want it to be thorough, but easy to understand and get to the subject quickly.
3. Optimise for Search Engines
Cornerstone content will be one of the most important blog posts on your blog. You need to make sure it uses relevant keywords, headers, meta descriptions and images with descriptive alt text.
4. Promote your content
Once the blog post has been published, you want to make sure you promote it as much as possible. Put it on social media, send it out to your email subscribers, get people to link back to it, and do whatever it takes to get people to notice! You want everyone to know you are an expert in your niche and need to increase your cornerstone content visibility as much as possible.
Types of Cornerstone Content
- Ultimate guides
- Resource lists
- Case studies
- How-To tutorials
- Glossaries
- Best Practices and tips
- In-depth product reveiws
- FAQs
- Expert roundups
- Historical events and milestones
5 Cornerstone Content Examples
I have compiled 5 examples of cornerstone content below from respected websites that are at the top of their niche. In each example, I will explain why they work and the key takeaways for bloggers.
“The Beginner’s Guide to SEO” by Moz
This guide by Moz is a comprehensive guide that provides an in-depth explanation of SEO for beginners. The guide covers everything from the basics of how search engines work to advanced techniques for optimising your website for better search engine rankings.
The guide is divided into chapters that cover different aspects of SEO, including keyword research, on-page optimisation, link building, and analytics.
Each chapter includes detailed explanations, examples, and actionable tips that make it easy for beginners to understand and apply the concepts. The article itself acts like an index, using clever internal linking to let SERPs know that this article is extremely important, with all corresponding chapters pointing back to this article.
Why is it a good example of Cornerstone Content?
- It has a comprehensive overview of the basics of SEO and is an ideal resource for beginners.
- The guide provides actionable advice which readers can put to work straight away. The tips are easy to understand and follow and it is clear what actions you need to take next.
- It uses simple, easy-to-understand language that makes it accessible to a lot of readers. SEO can be full of technical jargon, so this guide makes it less daunting for beginners.
- The guide has been around for several years and Moz updates it regularly. This helps readers stay up to date and indicates to Google that it is helpful content.
- Moz is extremely well respected and has a lot of authority in the SEO world. It is a trusted source and an expert in its niche.
Key takeaways for bloggers
Make sure your cornerstone content has comprehensive coverage, and actionable advice, it is easy to understand and follow, the content is evergreen and has longevity and (hopefully) proves your authority in your niche.
“The Complete Guide to Social Media for Small Business” by Sprout Social
This is another comprehensive guide which helps small businesses understand the value of social media, providing them with tools and strategies to market and grow their business.
The guide covers a wide range of topics related to social media, including how to create a social media strategy, how to select the right social media channels for your business, how to create engaging content and how to measure the effects of your social media presence.
Why is it a good example of Cornerstone Content?
- Much like the guide from Moz, Sprout Social uses its authority to produce effective cornerstone content and presents the article in a trustworthy way.
- It starts the article with a table of contents outlining the structure of the content. This is helpful to both readers and to SERPs as it lets them know what the content is about.
- It uses quotes from respected people in the industry and follows them up with actionable tips.
- The guide is structured in a logical and easy-to-follow way, with each section building on the previous one. The guide begins by introducing the basics of social media and then moves on to more advanced topics such as social media advertising and analytics.
- It includes graphics such as bar charts, graphs and images to help the reader get a more in-depth understanding of the information it is providing.
- It links out to numerous articles on social media, giving the reader more material on the subject and establishing its authority.
Key takeaways for bloggers
Often, your cornerstone content will go into depth and will be explaining things to beginners. Using graphics and charts to help them understand the content and keep them on the page longer is a good indication to SERPs that you are an authority in your niche. Getting expert quotes, tips and advice can also help establish trustworthiness and readers will want to come back for more.
“How to Build a Website” by digital.com
Building a website from scratch is a huge subject and something that can’t be taught quickly. Perfect for cornerstone content! This guide covers everything from choosing a domain name and web hosting provider to designing the layout of your site and optimising it for search engines.
The guide begins by explaining the basics of website creation and then moves on to more advanced topics such as website design and SEO.
Why is it a good example of Cornerstone Content?
- Creating a website from scratch can be quite daunting to beginners and the technical side of website building can put a lot of people off. Digital.com explains the whole process in simple terms and in a logical way.
- Each section includes detailed instructions and screenshots that make it easy for beginners to follow. They should feel confident to move on to the next section with its easy-to-understand instructions.
- It gives examples of different providers for things like web hosting and domain names, showcasing what each provider does and laying out a clear comparison for all to follow.
- The guide is regularly updated to reflect changes in website creation best practices and trends, ensuring that it remains a valuable resource for anyone who wants to build a website.
Key takeaway for bloggers
Cornerstone content tends to go into depth about a topic, so you really do need to know your stuff when it comes to writing it. Being able to screenshot examples, provide comparisons for products and services and keep up to date with technical details and best practices will make sure your content stays fresh and up to date for years to come.
“The Ultimate Guide to Content Marketing” by HubSpot
This is a comprehensive resource that provides practical advice on how to create and implement a successful content marketing strategy. The guide covers a wide range of topics related to content marketing, including how to create high-quality content, how to distribute it effectively, and how to measure its success.
The guide begins by introducing the basics of content marketing and then moves on to more advanced topics such as content creation, distribution, and optimisation.
Why is it a good example of cornerstone content?
- Content marketing is an extremely fast-paced world, so the content will have to be updated regularly. You can see that this article is up to date and reflects changes in content marketing, making sure it is always a valuable resource for marketers and has the latest content marketing techniques.
- Right from the start, it provides you with more material to read (in the form of internal links) which will help you to get a better understanding of each section before you move on.
- It includes YouTube videos which provide more in-depth knowledge and clear guidelines on what they are trying to achieve with this blog post.
- It gives you access to free content to help with your content strategies such as workbooks, calendars and eBooks.
- It breaks down different types of content marketing into easy-to-understand sections with examples of social media posts, viral videos and brands that have got their content marketing spot on.
Key takeaways for bloggers
With cornerstone content regularly being written as an Ultimate Guide, How-To or Beginner’s Guide, it must keep up to date with the latest news, techniques, trends and best practices. By writing the content in easy-to-follow sections, it is easy to find the content that needs to be updated so that your readers will always get the most out of this content.
If you can, provide your readers with other ways to learn like YouTube, Workbook downloads and eBooks. This can provide more authority on the subject. However, don’t try and be the only authority! If you can link to other brands, journals, news articles and blog posts to further back your content, do it.
“Pinterest Marketing: Your Ultimate Guide” by Neil Patel
Neil Patel is a New York Times bestseller, marketer and SEO and niche site expert, so he has already shown his authority in this field. He is the brains behind ubersuggest, a free to use keyword research site.
This Pinterest marketing blog post is a comprehensive article that offers tips and strategies for businesses and marketers to leverage Pinterest for their brand marketing.
The guide explains the importance of keyword research and using relevant keywords in the board descriptions, pin descriptions, and pin titles to improve the visibility of your content on Pinterest. It also covers best practices for creating visually appealing and engaging pins, including tips on the use of colours, fonts, and images.
Why is it a good example of cornerstone content?
- It covers a wide range of topics related to Pinterest marketing, from the basics of setting up Pinterest to advanced strategies for optimising Pinterest content and running paid advertising campaigns.
- The information provided is detailed, builds on your knowledge with each section and is actionable.
- There are numerous screenshots, examples and infographics to help you get more of an understanding of Pinterest.
- There are many internal links in the article which provide more knowledge and show Neil’s depth of the subject.
- The article is well-researched and includes insights and data that are supported by research and analytics.
Key takeaway for bloggers
You should always make your cornerstone content a valuable resource that offers in-depth information and insights. By providing a comprehensive guide that is a wealth of information, it is likely to be shared and referenced by other websites, which in turn will signal to SERPs that you are an authority on your subject.
Make a start on your cornerstone content today!
As we can see from above, cornerstone content will always be the most important blog posts and articles on your website.
It is a great way to engage with your readers and give them the opportunity to find more information on your blog. It is also a fantastic way to let SERPs know you are an authority in your chosen niche which will lead to more organic traffic.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. What are some good examples of cornerstone content?
A. Good examples of cornerstone content include comprehensive guides, tutorials, and resource lists that provide detailed information on a specific topic. Examples include “The Ultimate Guide to Social Media Marketing” or “The Complete Beginner’s Guide to Investing.”
Q. Why is cornerstone content important for SEO?
A. Cornerstone content is essential for SEO because it provides a strong internal linking structure that can improve your website’s overall authority and relevance. It also helps to establish your website as a valuable resource on a specific topic, increasing the likelihood of backlinks and social shares.
Q. How often should I create cornerstone content?
A. Cornerstone content should be created as part of a long-term content strategy, rather than a one-time effort. Depending on your niche and audience, you may want to create one or two pieces of cornerstone content per year.
Q. How can I promote my cornerstone content?
A. To promote your cornerstone content, you can share it on social media, include it in your email newsletter, and link to it from other relevant blog posts. You can also consider reaching out to other websites and bloggers in your niche to see if they would be interested in linking to or sharing your content.
Related Posts >>>
- What is Cornerstone Content and Why is it So Important for Blogs?
- How to Write a Blog Post that Engages your Readers
- How Important is Keyword Research for Bloggers?
