Pillar posts are those articles that make your blog - the definitive statements on your given niche topic that make it worth reading. You might have a lot of time-sensitive “did you know” postings (and this might be your niche if you run a latest news site) - but the stuff that is going to keep your long-term RSS faithful happy is the pillar content - I am finding that the key to building a happy readership (and thence a remarkable blog, one worth remarking on!) is useful pillar content.
Pillar postings do not need to be lengthy, but they do have to be well-written and fulfill the promise made by their predecessors and by your blog title. Fulfill the promise, or better yet over-deliver, and your audience will love you for it (and just as important, they will let other people know).
Pillar postings are also good for gaining readers through serendipitous discovery - that is, they stumble onto your blog and decide to stay.
And if you are new to blogging: everything I’ve read and seen personally leads me to believe that writing pillar content is the best possible thing that you can do to get a new blog project started.
How much time are you willing to spend on a typical pillar post?
Sometimes I’ve spent 2-3 hours on long, intricate post, if there’s a lot of research, fact checking, URL finding and html tagging involved. And I’m typically a fast writer! That’s not a very good ROI for a single post…
On the other hand, I can typically churn out a more usual mid-length post on 30-45 min.
I do agree that really substantive content is essential, though.
Hi Jeri,
thank you for your comment
I think that “pillar” doesn’t necessarily equal “long”, but it probably does mean long when all is said and done. If it is worth talking about, it is worth talking through thoroughly. Steve Pavlina is the master of the novella-length post, yet he does it well - I find that I can’t stop reading once I am into one of his longer posts.
There is a lot of advice out there on how long posts should be, and how much time you should sit on a post prior to publishing it (sometimes just if it is negative).
Best regards and good luck with ungeekit - it looks good
Andrew