How to Pick the Perfect Blog Content Pillars for Your Small Business

Starting a blog is a wonderful addition to your online marketing strategy. But there's one mistake I see a lot of small businesses making that's working against your best efforts.

Not having blog content pillars.

Now, nobody panic. If you haven't heard the term "content pillar" before or don't know why you need them, you've come to the right place.

In this guide, I'm covering absolutely everything small business owners need to know about blog content pillars. By the end of the post, you'll have all the tools you need to implement them in your business.

What are Blog Content Pillars?

Content pillars are the core topics that your blog covers. Like the columns on your porch, they support your overall blog strategy and provide a clear definition of what your blog talks about. Without them, your entire content strategy will collapse.

Note: You may also see content pillars called topic clusters or content buckets online. To avoid confusion, I'm sticking to the term content pillars in this post.

Why Do You Need Blog Content Pillars?

At this point, you're probably asking why you really need content pillars? Do they add that much to your business?

If you want to run a blog that attracts views online and helps convert visitors to customers, then yes, you need content pillars. And here are three reasons they're so vital.

Create Content Cohesion

When people visit your blog, you want them to know what to expect. A casual reader should be able to easily articulate what your blog is about in a single sentence. It's kind of like a magazine. If you pick up a copy of Vogue, you don't expect to find an article on car repair because they write about fashion.

Now, you may not think having consistent content is important. But think about any of your favorite magazines, blogs, YouTube channels, or social media accounts. You love them because they talk about something specific, right?

Well, the same thing goes for your blog. You want people to love reading your blog because they know you always share the best tips about X or interesting thoughts about _. That's what keeps them coming back.

Build Online Authority

Do you know why websites like HubSpot, Cosmopolitan, or HGTV always seem to be on page one of Google? Because they've built up a lot of online authority. They're go-to places for marketing advice, women's lifestyle content, and home decor, respectively.

When you keep posting quality content on specific topics, you're telling Google and your readers that you know what you're talking about. The more Google sees you providing helpful content, the higher your site will rank. Higher ranking = more people finding you = more sales.

Easier Content Creation

Choosing only a few topics to write about might seem constricting at first. But really, having too many choices makes things harder.

If I told you to write a blog post right now on any topic you want, coming up with something would probably take you a while. But if I said to write a blog post about a tip for running a small business, you could come up with an idea and have a draft done in under an hour.

Limiting your choices removes the overwhelm of writing content. And you'll find it doesn't stifle your creativity at all. If you know you write posts on slow fashion and sustainable living, you can come up with enough ideas about those two overall topics to run a blog for years.

How to Pick Your Blog Content Pillars

So, how do you go about picking these content pillars? I'm going to give you a simple five-step process to help you do just that. I suggest setting aside a few hours for this activity so you can take your time with it.

Step 1: Understand Your Audience

The first thing you NEED to remember about your business blog is that it’s not about you. “Oh, I want to write about-” no.

It’s not about what you want. It’s about what your audience is interested in. Writing about what you want is how you end up with a blog that attracts crickets instead of views.

That’s why the first step in deciding your content pillars is audience research. What topics/kinds of content are your target audience interested in? What other blogs do they read? What Instagram or YouTube accounts do they follow?

If you already have an audience, you can figure this out by asking them with a poll or a simple questionnaire. If not, you’ll need to do a little internet digging using things like Reddit, Facebook Groups, and similar websites (see step two for more on that).

Write down the answers you find in a notebook or Google Doc to refer back to later.

Step 2: Research Similar Businesses

Next, you’re going to find other people in your niche and see what they’re writing about on their blogs or talking about on social media. What are their chosen topics? What kinds of content do they create?

You’re not doing this to copy them. You’re just trying to see what’s already out there, especially if you share a similar audience. This lets you see what your target customer is already enjoying and helps you find any topic gaps your blog could fill.

For example, maybe you have an unusually scented candle business. There are several other small businesses like yours, and on their blogs, they talk about candle scents, care guides, and home decor. But not a lot of them talk about gifts, which is something your audience loves and ties into your product.

Take notes on the blogs you research, their topics, and any content gaps you notice in your notebook or Google Doc.

Step 3: Brainstorm Topics

Now, we're getting to my favorite part- brainstorming. You’re going to sit down with your research and write a list of every topic idea that you can think of.

During this step, don't hold back. Don't judge yourself. Write down every idea, good or bad. If it helps, set a timer for 15-30 minutes and work on brainstorming until the alarm rings.

Here are a few examples to show what I mean.

Indie Bookstore:

• Book reviews

• Book recommendations

• Book events

• Gift ideas

• Book news

• Book-to-movie adaptations

• Book customization ideas

• Reading challenges

• Thought essays

Stationery Business:

• Stationery reviews

• Gift ideas

• Craft projects

• Letter writing

• Business supplies

• Home organization

• Craft events

• Artist spotlights

Slow Fashion Business:

• Sustainable fashion

• Supply chain information

• Outfit ideas

• Second-hand shopping

• Behind the scenes

• Slow living

• Garment repair

Step 4: Choose 3-5 Topic Clusters

Great job on coming up with all those ideas. Give yourself a pat on the back and take a little break before you continue with step four.

When you come back, look over your list. You're going to pick 3-5 topics to be your blog content pillars.

That might seem like a small number, but it’s better to go narrow and deep than broad and shallow. In fact, I recommend sticking with three content pillars, especially if you’re just starting, to keep you focused and prevent overwhelm.

Remember, when picking your content pillars, you're not choosing ideas that you like the best. Although you should be at least semi-passionate about them, or writing content will feel like a chore. 

Instead, you're looking for ideas that are 1) Relevant to your business, 2) Interesting to your customers, and 3) Something you can rank for on Google. Make a second list of any ideas that fit all three criteria, then pick the best ideas from it (if you end up with more than three).

Step 5: Brainstorm Subtopics and Content

While you’ve already got the brain juices flowing, it’s a great time to brainstorm your subtopics and content ideas.

Subtopics are the mini-subjects you write about inside your main topic. For example, if you're running a sustainable fashion business and decide to make "slow living" one of your content pillars, a few subtopics could be hygge, upcycling, and mindfulness.

Unlike content pillars, your subtopics might shift and change with time. I recommend picking a few, though, to help your content be even more focused and, again, prevent overwhelm when it comes time to write a new post.

Speaking of posts, I bet you've had quite a few come to mind while picking your topics and subtopics. You should go ahead and write them all down in your blog post idea list so you can use them to plan content later on. Nothing's worse than forgetting that one awesome post idea you had because you didn't write it down.

Optional: Assess Your Current Content

This step is for those of you who already had an active blog before you decided on your content pillars. Take an hour or so to look at the posts you’ve already published. Get out your notebook or Google Doc again and make a list of which posts align with your content pillars and which ones don’t.

The ones that already align can stay, maybe with a few tweaks. But for the others, you could either rewrite to match your content pillars or just remove them from your blog entirely.

I know it may be hard, but it’s better to present unified content to visitors. You don’t want to have an old blog post on painting a room bringing in a lot of traffic, only for people to discover your blog is actually about stationery products.

Congrats! You now have 3-5 blog content pillars to guide your content strategy from here on. You’ll be pleasantly surprised by the difference it makes in the posts you write and the response of your audience.

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