In this post – relatively new blogger CJ from Wise Money Matters shares what they’ve learned about using Pillar Articles (sometimes called evergreen content) to Grow Traffic to Your Blog.
I started blogging only 4 months ago. In the grand scheme of things, this is a very short time and my blog, wisemoneymatters.com, has a long way to go before I can become a “ProBlogger” like Darren. Due to my relative inexperience with blogging, I have spent the last 4 months scouring through various “how to blog” blogs such as Problogger, Copyblogger and have watched all of Yaro Stark’s BecomeABlogger videos. Through my studies I’ve heard about the importance of key core posts, also known as “pillar articles” but only recently have seen the effects of them.
Since my full-time work schedule doesn’t allow me enough time to fully market my blog via commenting on other blogs and engaging heavily in social media, I rely a lot on Google to pick up my posts. I do try to comment on at least 10 blogs per week, but to really jump start my blog, I should be doing closer to 10 per day. In the last month or so, since my blog has started to gain some steam and other bloggers are linking to me, my Google rankings for various search terms have been going up and certain pillar articles have really been the focus of most of my traffic.
In fact, here is a graph of my traffic sources via Google Analytics for the past month:
In my personal opinion, while you need a good mixture of commenting on other blogs and social media interactivity, I find Search Engine traffic to be the best source of traffic for several reasons.
The primary reason is workload. Commenting on other blogs requires that I frequently visit those blogs to comment. I naturally comment on the blogs I already enjoy reading, but sometimes find myself simply going to various blogs to get my own name out. It’s simply work and not very fun. Frankly, I think it’s also kind of selfish as I’m not really adding much to the other blog but rather just trying to add to my own. Occasionally I make a good relationship with another blogger, such as Mr ToughMoneyLove from ToughMoneyLove.com, but that’s rare.
Social Media is even harder work. It requires constant attention which is something I don’t have. Maybe if I get to a “ProBlogger” status like Darren (he even took the time to add me as a friend on Facebook rather than waiting for me to add him… how cool is that?!?), I could find the time to devote to Social Media but until then, working my day job to pay the bills is more important.
With Search Engine traffic, it’s consistent traffic. As long as you don’t significantly lose your spot on a Google search term, you will get traffic over time. Little extra work is needed aside from making sure your posts are updated as needed. The traffic just keeps flowing.
Secondly, it’s attracting people who actually want your content. Often times when I comment on another personal finance blog, the only return traffic I get is that the owner of that blog comments on mine. While this can be good (see making good relationships above), it’s not really productive overall. The results of such efforts are often minimal. Granted, they do add up over time so I’m not suggesting stop commenting, but they aren’t as solid as someone who is actually searching for the information you are providing and seeing your site listed for the search term.
With things like Digg, you often have to go out of your way to make articles which specifically attract Digg users. Such articles often stray from the original core mission of your blog to get the “shock effect” that Digg users like so much. Worse than that, Digg users are there one day and gone the next. Don’t get me wrong, getting a good Digg has it’s rewards, but it requires so much energy for little consistency. I’m more of a passive blogger type of guy. Write a really good article which gets a good ranking on a popular Google search term and just let the people slowly stream in.
So don’t misunderstand me. You do need a good mixture of techniques to get your blog known but if time is a constraint, getting good solid Pillar Articles listed on Google should be your top priority and do the other stuff when you have extra time. Wait… does anyone actually ever have extra time?
Anyways, on to two types of Pillar Articles…
Seasonal Pillar Articles
Once the United States primaries had been pretty much finalized, I started to look at the two Presidential Candidates. I figured I could do a post comparing the candidates. Since my blog is a personal finance blog, I decided to look specifically at their economic stances. I wrote one blog post about each candidate. To give it a little spice, I titled them “Why Barack Obama is an idiot” and “Why John McCain is an idiot.”
I figured those titles would at least draw the attention of a few people. However, I never thought it would be so beneficial to my blog. Since the election has really become cutthroat, those 2 posts have been 2 of the most viewed posts on my blog.
Here is a list of the top 10 search terms from Google which landed on my site (click to enlarge):
As you can see, those two posts make up the entire top 5 search terms for my site.
The keys to seasonal pillar articles
Key #1: Timing. This is the most important. You need to be the first for a particular subject. I wrote these posts when the candidates for both parties were initially decided. I could have written those posts last week, but I would have only had 1 week to get the traffic. On top of that, due to my low overall Google Pagerank, other similar articles were bound to be written and I wouldn’t have been able to get to the top of the Google listings.
For instance, if I type “Obama idiot” into Google, my page is 4th on the list. When I first wrote this article, there was only one other article with a similar title. Now the search is filled with such articles. For “McCain idiot,” I’m ranked 10th. When I first wrote this article there were no other articles with such a title and I was ranked #1. Due to my low PageRank and other factors, I’m now 10 being pushed out by the bigger websites.
So the key is to get in quick and early. The only downside is that when you notice such trends, you need to make sure and stay up to date on the post. For instance, when I initially wrote the McCain article, he had very little information available about his economic policy other than wanting to lower taxes. Now his plan has shaped and the information is now a little outdated. Also, both articles were written before the big decline on Wall Street and all of the bailouts, so neither of those issues were addressed.
Key #2: Good content. Frankly this is almost as important as #1. Timing will initially get you a high spot on Google searches, but good content will keep you there. This is something I struggle with because I’m not naturally a good writer. It’s important to continually check posts that make such a huge effect on your blog and remove any obvious mistakes. I edited the language and grammar of both of those posts at least 3 times after publishing them and realizing their popularity.
Key #3: Think outside the box. Since my blog is a personal finance blog, I was tempted to title the posts “Obama’s economic policies” and “McCain’s economic policies.” While both of those titles may have received some traffic, they most likely would not hold their place against the major media channels who typically cover such topics with similar titles and frankly those titles are just plain boring. They don’t evoke any emotion and would track minor attention. However, due to the strong opinions on both sides regarding the current candidates, the titles I chose were perfect. I did expect them to get some Digg traffic, but I do realize the actual content of the posts aren’t really Digg material so I’m not necessarily disappointed that they didn’t.
So when you combine those keys listed above, you can drive some serious traffic to your site for the course of the event or season. Now I fully expect these posts to fall off the radar after the election, but for the time being, I’m reaping the rewards. Also, I suspect that at least one of these posts will remain popular after the election. Which post will depend on which idiot gets elected.
I will also admit one downside to this particular example. Much of the traffic that comes to the site will be a one time visit (see my comment on Digg at the top). I realize that most people searching for these terms are not looking for personal finance advice. The flip side of that is I am reaching an untapped audience. The blogosphere is cluttered with personal finance blogs. Many people looking for a personal finance blog have already found the one or two (or ten) blogs that they are looking for. This gives me opportunity to reach an audience who may want personal finance advice but didn’t know it yet.
Further Reading from the ProBlogger Archives
- Seasonal Traffic and How to Capture it for your Blog
- How to Position Yourself for Seasonal Search Engine Traffic
- Writing Seasonal Content for Christmas
All-time Pillar Articles
If you notice on the top 10 search terms in the image above, 4 of the top terms were related to “Top Paying Jobs.” This falls under an All-time Pillar Article. This drives a consistent amount of traffic to my website every single week. It’s currently listed as my most Popular Post on my website according to my site’s popularity plugin.
I actually came across this by accident and wrote 2 posts about it. I did some research because I was interested myself in the top 50 highest paying jobs. I found a good list and basically cross posted it with my own comments. Then I was wondering about the top 50 highest paying jobs which don’t require a career. So I cross posted that as well. The results are great.
Again, this goes back to the passive traffic idea. I consistently receive traffic from these search terms. It’s not the quantity of the Seasonal Pillar Articles because the highest paying jobs is not the hot topic of the month, but it is consistent. That is one thing to remember when stumbling across such Pillar Articles. Don’t expect the masses to flock to your latest genius post. Give it time and let Google run it’s course. Sometimes you hit it and sometimes you miss.
There is however 1 primary key to making Pillar Articles that I learned from this experience. Post about what you want to know or learn. The only reason I have a post about the highest paying jobs is because I was curious. Since I don’t have a college degree myself, I was also interested in the highest paying jobs with no degree. The key is that if I’m curious about that, there has to be other people that are curious as well.
Now realize that Google has it’s preferences. If there is a hundred articles about the very post you are interested in writing, don’t expect to jump to the top. You should still write the article as over time your blog should gain a reputation (and therefore a higher PageRank) and the post will likely rise, but don’t be discouraged if that perfect post goes nowhere. Just keep writing great content and the traffic will follow.
I’d love to hear any other suggestions regarding tips on Pillar Articles as that’s what I really focus on and if you liked this article, please Digg it or Stumble it. I’m sure Darren would appreciate the extra traffic.
I wrote a pillar article this past Saturday that brought me massive amounts of traffic within a couple of hours time.
I’m going to have to agree with you on these type of articles. I always see an increase in traffic when I post one.
Here is the one that has brought me the most traffic.
http://www.steven-sanders.com/8-daily-tasks-to-increase-blog-traffic/
Lots of good info here. Definitely useful as I’m gearing up to launch my first non-personal blog about songwriting, and self-promotion in the online music business.
As for the candidates… I’d say Obama is somewhat less of an idiot than McCain… but great titles!
I was shocked to see the title of this article. Surly rushed to read and finally read it. Have to learn a lot from problogger, mainly to draft the title of the post, as attractive as this one.
Nice informative post.
I agree. Social Media is very hard work. I’ve only been blogging since the beginning of the month and whew! it’s extremely hard to keep up with it all. Thank you for the article. It is something I am definitely going to try at my own blog.
That was a monumental pillar article CJ!
Keep up the great writing +_+
I agree with the idea of timing, good content and thinking outside of the box. The problem with making such generic blog titles strikes me that you will get loads of untargeted traffic. Niche blogs don’t handle this well. On the one hand you can explore a new audience, on the other hand you can hurt your brand by making over the top statements and then don’t really back them up in your article.
Every month I try out a few blogs based on recommendation. I try them out in Google reader. Blogs that lure me in too often and don’t deliver on their promise are axed in a matter of weeks.
From a broader point of view, through various client statistics over the year, I noticed that quality content is the crux in keeping readers and attracting links that bring you a targeted audience. Achieving a large number of visitors that never come back seems pointless and most of the time doesn’t lead to a rise in subscriptions when dealing with niche markets (although it works a treat for mass markets like entertainment or travel).
Niche markets, in my experience, benefit most from what Seth Godin calls ‘The Drip’.
CJ, I entirely agree. I’ve noticed the same type of behavior on my blog with respect to Google referring large amounts of traffic via a few select “Pillar Articles”. Although these articles do require more time and energy to write, they’re worth the extra effort!
Wow – nice job CJ! I think there is a lot of value in putting some time into commenting on other Blogs, though. It’s the “good” comments (which is an entire topic within itself!) that make a Blog stronger, which makes the community stronger, which makes your Blog stronger. If you try to shortcut this, i.e. quantity over quality, it can have the opposite affect. I certainly see this “rule” (fact of life? lol!) holding true on Twitter.
Very good insights. I’m a big fan of the passive approach to blogging because, like you, I have very little time to spend on commenting on other blogs and building relationships with other bloggers (though I still try to when I can). I haven’t quite nailed down the pilla article thing yet, but from now on it will be something I’m going to look at more closely and be more deliberate with. Thanks for bringing this up!
Ok, John McCain and Barack Obama are IDIOTS!
I have been trying to keep up on social media which works a little but my blog is such a niche that I have a hard time getting traffic to both my blog and my website which are essentially the same thing. My website is about swimming pool care and timing is a big issue since it’s close to winter here in the states.
I guess I gotta come up with some off-the-wall posts that are still related just to get people to notice.
Ever so often I try to do the pillar articles and also to write articles that satisfy social media sites like Digg and Mixx but I find that writing Pillar articles can be the best way to go because if you miss with social media you really miss.
CJ,
It’s really cool to see a new blogger like yourself write a post for Darren and his wonderful blog. Congratulations!
In addition, you provide some great information. I think your advice on creating a pillar article about what you are curious about is an important point.
If you’re curious about something, it’s more than likely someone else will be curious about it too, and then search for it on google.
Cheers!
A real nice job for blogging for such a short time. You should give yourself a pat on the back.
May you can do a blog on “John Flynn’s an Idiot”. I could use the traffice.
LOL
Great post, CJ!
Your experience parallels mine so much, it’s uncanny! I have a post on Obama’s and McCain’s mental health policies that has consistently been my most popular post.
My search traffic is 64% of all traffic, and that’s due to my pillar posts and the long tail. I’ve been paying close attention to the keywords used to find my site, and have been using those for post ideas.
@Roy Scribner
Yes, I agree with the value of commenting. The reason I brought up the issue is that I (like many other bloggers) have time constraints. Due to those, I often find myself commenting because I know it’s a way to get my name out so I quickly search through the personal finance blogosphere looking for posts to comment on when I have a few free minutes. They are usually semi-thought out comments rather than simply “Great article!” but I still feel… selfish about doing it. I know my intention is not always to be an active participant of their site. The comment might be decent but the intention wasn’t and I’m unlikely to return in the future.
And then it’s also just looked upon as “work” while trying to spread the word about my site rather than doing what I love, and that is sharing information about personal finance.
So under time constraints, I think making good solid posts is a much higher priority than just commenting on a few blogs you won’t visit the following week.
That’s my general reasoning. I will continue to comment on other blogs and attempt to create relationships with other bloggers, but my focus is good solid content in the form of Pillar Articles.
Heh. Good blog titles and a great articles. By the way, there’s nothing unusually cut-throat about this year’s politics. Business as normal, it’s an American tradition going back to the very beginning.
Anyway, I did a similar post on my blog. World of Warcraft is making some changes and by hitting those my #1 article (on that topic) gets 3x the views of any other article on the site.
Also, I think it helps if people remember to stumble, bookmark, etc., other people’s excellent posts, as I’m doing with this one. Otherwise I’ll never remember where I found it.
It takes a little extra work to craft that pillar article, but I think you’ve proven your case that it’s totally worth the while. I imagine it might take some wacky trial and error to figure out what really pulls people in without producing flame bait, but even that would be good for traffic, too.
Thanks for the recommendation of the videos, How to Become a Blogger, too. I have had the chance to look at a couple and they are really helpful, since I’m not exactly a tech wizard.
Great title and a great article about the way blogs should grow: paso a paso, step by step!
Thanks for sharing some specific “how to’s”. It’s nice to hear from a relative newcomer about how you’ve built your blog so far.
I appreciated your advice to write about what you want to learn or know. My blogs are more personal, so I mostly write about what I feel, with a few tips and resources thrown in.
I took a peek at your blog and I’ll go back when I have more time to spend there.
Happy blogging!
I run an Arizona State sports website and so I’m up against some stiff competition from traditional media outlets. But I’ve dropped links for a couple of “pillar articles” on ASU-related Facebook groups and enjoyed consistent traffic from them. The great thing is that anyone checking out a Facebook group profile is bored anyway. So of course, they’ll click on an intriguing link. :)
The idea of posts that will continue to bring in traffic is a great one. Like you I have written a couple of posts that were just grab topics but turned out to bring in a lot of regular traffic. You never know what people will be looking for-that’s what makes it so hard to write pillar articles.
A great post. Most of the traffic that i get on my sites is from google. We should learn about trends and how to use them for building a pillar content.
Great post
Great article bob,may be i agree if obama and mc cain just an ambisius leader
That’s an interesting post. I really liked the “why Obama and McCain are idiots” heading. I think that is just the twist you should aim for at the social networks and in posts that you hope can get some attention from other bloggers as link bait.
Good article. I will say this, you did a good job to get on “ProBlogger”. How’s that for success.
Kenney
thnks darren for this great tips.
Great article. I just started a blog about those idiots (well politics and general) and have been trying to work on the idea of “Pillar Articles.” Should I devote part of my layout to “Top Posts”, or “Most Popular”, or something of that nature? I’ve been considering it, but I haven’t done it yet. This post may have pushed me into doing it. As a shameless plug, here is my current “Top Post” about those idiots http://geekpolitics.com/where-have-our-leaders-gone/
Great post!
Now his plan has shaped and the information is now a little outdated. Also, both articles were written before the big decline on Wall Street and all of the bailouts, so neither of those issues were addressed.
It might be too late, but have you considered adding updates to those two articles? I don’t think there is anything unethical about adding to a post after it has been published so long as it is clear that you are updating the post at a later date.
Great post overall Darren, I disagree 100% with your Obama is an idiot post, but I think it is great for your traffic ;)
btw I’ve been a long follower of your blog, started my own StarCraft II blog with Starfeeder.com and now intend on launching my 2nd blog, a liberal progressive blog…
keep up the great posts!
If you are getting 78% traffic from search engines you gotta be a SEO guru as well as a pillar-post churn-out engine :)
Cool stuff and a catchy title too.
Cheers,
Ajith
“In my personal opinion, while you need a good mixture of commenting on other blogs and social media interactivity, I find Search Engine traffic to be the best source of traffic for several reasons.”
Yeah, I agree totaly. SEO for the win.
very great…great timing for this articles, good review. just wait and see about obama & mc cain..haaa
Excellent article!
I totally agree with your 3 key points, especially key#3 to “think outside the box”. I think that’s the hardest to do but the titles you had for Obama and McCain are great. The moment I read that, I wanted to click the article right away and I don’t think I would’ve felt the same if you had went with “Obama’s economic policies”.
Thanks for the great advices.
I have had the best luck with using my limited time writing articles instead of commenting on other blogs and social media interactivity etc I am having some luck by posting my article titles to twitter. Since I read a lot of books I am just starting to post book reviews on Amazon. I do feel that keep return readers titles should be relevant
Another very informative article, thanks for sharing.
Spicing up a blog by calling both presidential candidates idiots in the title of a blog post, in my view, is fundamentally disrepectful and confims the fact you have only been blogging for four months.
No matter who people might support, a post titled Why Barack Obama or John mcCain is an Idiot is inappropriate, and serves only to lower the level of political discouse at a time when what we need is clear thoughtful dialogue.
Don’t quite your full-time job yet!
CJ, for someone who is a relatively new blogger, you’ve written an excellent post on the importance of pillar articles on blogs. If you hadn’t mentioned being a newer blogger, I would never have guessed it to be the case.
I agree with you 100% about the time constraints on commenting on other blogs. For work-at-home bloggers, commenting often and posting very frequently is probably easier, but for people like you and I who work full-time outside of the home, posting frequency and commenting is a lot harder.
Plus, there’s the issue of giving quality comments vs self-promoting spammy comments, and “comments” from idiot dweebs who don’t even bother to read the post, don’t bother to notice who the real author of the post is, but are just trying (and failing miserably) to bring attention to their own blog by complimenting the wrong friggin author. Duh….
Having a bit of an attitude doesn’t hurt either.
Pillar articles are very important, especially if the post title is done correctly to bring in search engine traffic and grab readers attention. The great majority of the traffic to my blog is search engine traffic, and learning about SEO and targetted keywords does a lot of good to build a blog’s traffic and rankings. And income.
Well… it looks like the overall influx of people may have messed with my server (I host it personally). I will have to work on fixing that.
@Martin Diano
I’m sorry that you feel it’s disrespectful, but I honestly believe that both candidates are idiots. If you have read the posts, you’ll notice I’m most likely going to vote 3rd party this year. I don’t believe in voting for someone in whom you don’t agree with their point of view.
Thank you for this article! I have often wondered if I should spend more time reading other blogs and making comments. Or spend more time on the social networking sites. I can’t do it often because of the time it takes away from my blog and life!
I do get most of my traffic from Google searches – not always the articles I expect to get readers but it teaches me.
I appreciate this article very much and it cleared things up in my head. Now I know I’m on the right track with blogging.
This article is very helpful and informative to me since I am building up my new blog on starting and running a writing business. You mentioned “This is something I struggle with because I’m not naturally a good writer.” Yes, you are! The title is clever and you drew us in with your sincerity–explaining how you are learning and then telling us what worked for you. Good job.
Nice post. I think one of the keys to those two particular posts being so popular is the fact that they have negative titles. I have found that my most popular blog posts almost always end with “sucks”. My blogging friends have had the same experience. People want to read negative news. That’s why campaigns focus on negative advertising, it’s also why some of the most popular blogs spread a lot of negativity. It’s unfortunate, but true. If you want a blog post to be successful attack something popular.
This is so interesting as I have started writing my own blog recently and have come to realise there is a LOT more to it than meets the eye!
But my passion is parenting and so despite all the underlying things I could be doing I really agree that CONTENT is KING so I’ll just stick to that and relax around all the technical stuff!
Thanks for the great advice – keep it coming!!
Sue Atkins
Author of “Raising Happy Children for Dummies”
http://www.positive-parents.com
I can definitely relate to this author! I too am a struggling new blogger. I have had difficulty publishing content as I’ve spent a good chunk of time developing the web site.
I really appreciate his sensitivity to the lack-of-time dilemma. I KNOW the various tricks to build traffic but I don’t have the time to engage in these activities.
One of these days, I will get there. In the meantime, I can glean from the wisdom of this peer.
BTW, I challenge your assertion that you don’t write well! This article is a direct contradiction of that allegation.
Write on!
Anyone else can’t get to the Wise Money matters site? I keep getting an error message, whether I click on links in the article, type it in directly, or even google it and click on a link there. ???
I guess I need to write an article about “How not to let your site go down when you write a big guest post”
Sorry guys. I got it fixed but my whole network went down and I was in a different city and had to walk our maintenance guy through how to fix it.
It should be back up, and I think it’s time to switch to an external hosting service rather than doing it myself.
wow! for someone who is so busy you really brought one home with this one :-)
I am visiting your site now~ I think you provide a resource for students who visit my site
Don’t try to write a pillar article. Just write the way you always do. Your readers will decide which articles are the best!
Interesting that your Obama post is no1 whilst McCain is 32nd. I guess there is a lot more content linking McCain and idiots together.
I must admit, after a long long time, this is one of the subject that I like. I do believe in things such as “Pillar Articles” which would not only help just blogs but other websites as well to bring in search engine traffic which helps to grow your popularity in the web.
Thanks to CJ and Darren for bringing out this post.
Cheers.