Cornerstone content – what is it and what is it used for?
Regardless of whether we use an astronomical or architectural metaphor cornerstone will always be seen as a pillar, foundation; its subject remains unchanged – the key content of any website. Its careful display is absolutely necessary – find out how to do it.
Cornerstone content – what is it?
Cornerstone content is the most important content on the website. It constitutes a semantic base for further development of a website’s content.
In other words, if we wanted to specify the object of interest of our website as precisely as possible and condense it to a few pages and a few keywords – we would get cornerstone content.
It is important for at least two reasons:
- signals the topic of our website and the type of content you offer;
- it is a kind of “center of the galaxy” around which you should harmoniously create subsequent materials.
Why is cornerstone content important?
As you know, the Google search engine classifies the content of a website using algorithms created for this purpose, and the important criteria are the originality of the content, a cross-sectional presentation of the issue, sources, links and generally understood linguistic correctness.
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Pages with high ratings are displayed above other search results – which can be a “to-be-or-not-to-be” decision for companies that would like to rank high among popular and frequently searched key phrases. In their case – in any other, analogous case – instead of creating a series of articles describing a specific thing or service, it is better to condense them into one large one, with a comprehensive overview of the entire issue. If you additionally support this with skillful internal linking, you will make it easier for the search engine to decide about the industry your website under and, as a consequence, you will build thematic authority and gain a higher position in organic searches.
How to create cornerstone content?
You no longer need to convince anyone of the benefits of having such content. It’s time to get down to specifics and provide it for your website. It doesn’t really matter whether you decide to create something from scratch or use existing content – the steps we provide below are universal for both cases.
Identify and select appropriate keyword phrases
In the first step, analyze all the keywords appearing on your website and check which of them are most frequently searched for. It is for these category of keywords that we will create all the content discussed here. Optionally, these may also be phrases for which we want to be positioned in the future and which are not yet more popular. It depends on our individual plan and marketing goals.
Create an article for them/choose an existing one and improve it
Two options depending on the previously made decision. Regardless of which side we approach the problem from, we must ensure the highest quality and standards of content. Improving an existing article may seem easier and less time-consuming, but this is not necessarily the case – it is not enough to just replace the keywords! Expanding it can be as much work as writing (or having it written) something from scratch.
Select long-tails, create pages for them and take care of internal linking
For an important keyword phrase around which you want to create cornerstone content, choose long-tail phrases, i.e. those that are more precise and less competitive.
The word “shoes” is a regular keyword phrase, and “mountain climbing shoes” is a long-tail phrase.
It is important to collect only long-tails for a given keyword that are actually an extension of it.
Then each of these phrases should receive its own subpage. Of course, it would be great if you maintained a high standard for them as well.
Finally, you need to ensure proper internal linking. Each subpage with a long-tail phrase must have a link leading to the main article – in turn, links should also be used there (preferably naturally integrated into the text structure – using anchors). Thanks to this procedure, you have just created something like a galaxy – you have created a kind of center with arms extending from it.
In order for your cornerstone content to become the backbone of all content on the website, you must structure the materials appropriately.
Such a clear scheme also makes it easier for the search engine to properly understand your website. Seeing that most articles refer to a specific subpage, the algorithms decide that it is the most important element. And this is the effect that should be achieved.
If you want to achieve a similar result for more different keywords, simply repeat this procedure the required number of times. However, the optimization efforts involved in properly adapting the website to such a scheme will certainly pay off. As a result, you should end up with a clear content structure for SEO that will make navigation easier for both users and search algorithms.
Summary
- According to estimates, the number of stars in the galaxy may be up to 2 x 1023. However, there may be even more pages on the Internet – including non-indexed pages, up to 18 x 1025.
- We can speculate whether there is other life in space, but there is no point in debating in the case of the Internet – there will certainly be competition for our keywords among this vastness.
- For this reason, it is worth ensuring that your website is prepared as best as possible, both in terms of content and its internal structure.
- Cornerstone content is a concept that can help with this – the effects should be measurable and noticeable.
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