If you are a blogger or a writer, you have surely stumbled upon the word ‘pillar article‘. Have you ever wondered or thought about how you can define it? I bet most of the time you’ve taken the word for granted and passing over to the next lines. This is an opportunity to have a discussion, so let’s talk about pillar articles.
What Is A Pillar Article?
I define a pillar article as an article depicting all of the following:
1) Is a lengthy article which clearly, concisely and deeply explains the subject matter
2) Makes you feel that the writer has expertise in what he/she is saying and hence demonstrate an authority. The author knows exactly what he is writing about and will often share his experience or elaborate on different facets.
3) The article comprises:
- a clear, simple definition,
- a full-fledged body,
- with examples and analogies
- and/or a conclusion. (This pattern seems analogous to writing a GP Essay)
4) The content itself is very unique, wonderfully structured, well researched coupled with the author’s own writing styles. (Very much like a balanced diet with an exquisite dessert)
5) The article is evergreen – it will still be valuable for the next incoming years
Why Write A Pillar Article?
1) Writing pillar articles very attractive and appealing to bloggers and hence they are willing to link-back or talk about your article with a happy heart.
2) You are not just writing an article for the sake of writing it or for search engines, but you are writing for humans, providing your readers with good, valuable content. Hence you are showing that:
- you value your readership
- you are not wasting the time of your readers
- you are serious with what you are writing
- your article rocks!
3) On the whole, a pillar article lures and increases traffic
What Does It Take To Write A Pillar Article?
1) Time and energy demanding.
Writing pillar articles is NOT like writing about ‘What John Chow is eating everyday‘ or what ‘Shoe money is doing at Pub Cons‘. Obviously, in addition to your own expertise, you will need to make some research. Then you will need to refine and proofread your article to make sure it is of a high standard.
For some it might take hours and hours, for others it takes days and still for some it might even take weeks. But it all depends on your personal skills, passion, experience and maturity. Assuming you have the habit of writing, I think 2hrs is just enough, else I think you need to stop blogging and start writing for Readers Digest!
2) Passion and true desire to write
If you don’t have a free will to write a pillar article, just forget about it. Better not write, than spoiling the article and your credibility.
How To Write A Pillar Article?
I think if you have a passion to write a pillar article, I don’t need to tell you how to do it. It’s like football, if you have passion to play it, you will play your own tunes – like Ronaldinho or Cristiano Ronaldo. But still, keeping in mind that not everyone is an artist, I will briefly give you some hints as follows, but these are not by any means the only aproach.
=> Choose a topic or subject which you are confident about or which you have had enough experience with.
=> Brainstorm ideas without any reading or research
=> Now go make some research if you feel the need (but whatever your skills, research is important to keep you on track)
=> Link your ideas + the one you’ve acquired through research
=> Sit down with an inspirational mind, write your article.
=> Proofread your article and come back later to make sure everything that you wrote is still making sense and is ready to be ‘published’.
Writing a pillar article is very much like writing a poem or painting. Just feel the inspiration and let the spirit guide you to write some wonderful masterpieces.
