What is Cornerstone Content?
Cornerstone content is a collection of articles on your website that you most want to rank for in search engines. Typically, each piece of cornerstone content acts as both an entry point and ultimate resource on a topic with high search volume.
Why is Cornerstone Content Important?
Cornerstone content helps you rank for competitive topics with high search volumes. Ordinary articles may not suffice; instead, you need to create comprehensive and authoritative resources that visitors are likely to share, recommend, and link to. Additionally, cornerstone content helps users find more relevant content on your website, functioning as a “central hub” for each major topic.
Best Practices for Cornerstone Content
To implement a successful cornerstone content strategy on your website, consider these best practices:
1. Make it Comprehensive
Each piece of cornerstone content should be an "ultimate resource" for its topic. Aim to cover everything that people might want to know about the subject within each cornerstone article.
How to Gauge Comprehensiveness
- List of Questions: Start by listing questions your target reader might have about the topic.
- Content Gap Analysis: Use tools like Ranktracker's Content Gap tool to identify relevant keywords your competitors are ranking for. This can help you find subtopics to cover.
2. Make it Easy to Find
Ensure your cornerstone articles are easily accessible:
- Navigation Menu: Add cornerstone articles to your website’s navigation menu.
- Internal Links: Link to cornerstone content from related articles that get high organic traffic. Use tools like Ranktracker's Site Audit to find these opportunities.
3. Publish and Interlink Related Pieces
Create supporting articles on detailed subtopics and interlink them with your cornerstone content. This approach, known as the hub-and-spoke model, strengthens your internal linking structure and enhances SEO.
4. Update it Frequently
Keep your cornerstone content up-to-date, especially in fast-moving industries. Track the performance of your articles using tools like Ranktracker's Keyword Finder and update them if organic traffic starts to decline.
FAQs
How Many Cornerstone Content Pages Should I Have?
The number of cornerstone content pages depends on your content strategy and keyword research. Identify key topics that require comprehensive "central hubs."
How Should I Categorize Cornerstone Content in WordPress?
If you're using Yoast SEO, mark any WordPress page or post as cornerstone content. This helps keep track of your most important posts and pages but has no direct SEO benefit.
For more insights on creating effective content strategies and improving your SEO, visit the Ranktracker Blog and explore our comprehensive SEO Guide. Additionally, familiarize yourself with key SEO terms and concepts in our SEO Glossary.
