There are many ways and means in the field of content marketing. One of these is the cornerstone content strategy, which has proven to be particularly effective and should therefore not be overlooked when implementing your own marketing strategy. Cornerstone content is a good way to achieve better rankings, especially for highly competitive keywords. But what exactly does the term actually mean? What do we need to consider, how can it be implemented and do we really need it? We'll show you all the important points about the concept.
What is Cornerstone Content?
Have you already read about cornerstone content in various SEO articles for WordPress, for example, but don't know what the term means? We would be happy to explain what it is all about.
Cornerstone content as a concept is successful if you want to rank well for a whole range of topics.
Google is already very good at analyzing the context of content and is therefore able to determine the relevance of related (linked) texts for a subject area. As a rule, subject areas do not require just one text in which everything can be explained, but depending on the topic, many, possibly even many individual articles are required, which are brought together and held together via the "cornerstone". For Google, this is a positive signal for the competence and value of the content. Especially for highly frequented keywords, this offers the opportunity to rank well. If you translate the term cornerstone, you will see "cornerstone content". Cornerstone content must:
- be very informative
- Inform professionally
- offer clear added value for the reader
- cover a subject area completely
Of course, this does not mean that all other (related) articles should not offer any information or added value. All the articles you create need relevant and helpful information. However, cornerstone content should be the icing on the cake and clearly outshine the other articles. It forms the basis on which the other articles are built and placed around the main article. A cornerstone text is very detailed, offers basic knowledge and remains topical over a long period of time. It addresses very specific target groups so that traffic is generated over a long period of time. The more extensive and detailed cornerstone content is, the better it is for your blog and your search engine ranking on google. Thanks to these comprehensive articles, readers get all the information they need from a single source. For you, this means that readers stay on your site longer, share posts, perceive you as competent and ultimately convert more often.
What is the purpose of this content variant?
Do you have hard-to-rank topics, search terms or search phrases that you would like to use to move up in the search results? But the competition is tough and it's not easy to achieve better results? Cornerstone content is one way to perform better in such cases. If you are already writing various articles on your topic, they may compete with each other in an unfavorable case. The search engines do not know which article is particularly relevant and, in case of doubt, give preference to another page. Goal not achieved. However, if an article is declared as cornerstone content, you are indicating to the search engine that this is the most important article and that all other related articles should be seen as supplements or extensions. In this case, your page is more relevant to your topic for Google, ranks better and is displayed more often. It is also a good idea to provide the most important article(s) with an internal link directly from the homepage. If a user clicks on the main article, they will be taken from there to the other linked articles. In principle, you can imagine the system as a pyramid. At the top is the cornerstone content and below it are subpages with articles on other long-tail keywords.
The path to Cornerstone Content - how to make the right decision!
But how exactly do you find out which article should become Cornerstone Content? In principle, only a few steps are necessary to implement the project. The individual steps are:
- Find the most important keyword for your subject area.
- Create a blog post about this if one does not already exist.
- Optimize your most important article.
- Optimize the subpages and long-tail articles.
- Think about the internal and external links.
As you can see, the system is actually not that complicated. You now proceed step by step to achieve your goal and perform well with the desired keywords. But what do you need to consider in the individual steps?
Find the most important keyword - this is how you do it
First of all, you need to carry out keyword research on your subject area. Find out the appropriate search terms and see which keywords are particularly difficult to rank for. Ask yourself which keywords your competitors are ranking well for. Once you have identified your most important keyword, place it at the top of the list. Place the other keywords for other subpages below it. You should mainly optimize for longtails, as there is often less competition here and readers are already further along in their research process.
Longtails and shorttails - what are the differences?
In the field of SEO, the terms longtails and shorttails are often used. As the names suggest, the difference lies in the length or number of words. A shorttail keyword is a single word. Longtails, on the other hand, are keyword combinations and phrases. Especially with highly competitive keywords, it is an art to rank high in the search engines with a longtail keyword. In addition, it usually makes less sense to optimize a text for a single word.
An example makes this easier to understand. If a small or medium-sized company is looking for a reliable marketing company in Munich, for example, the company really wants to find a specialist from this city. As a result, the person searching is very likely to enter the keyword phrase marketing company in Munich. The pages that are optimized and relevant are listed as results. However, if a page only focuses on marketing without a city name, this page will certainly not appear on the first page.
Create or select a blog post
Do you already have a few posts on your blog that you could use? Now select the post that is or should be aligned with the most important keyword from the existing posts. Before you declare the article as cornerstone content, check the content and added value once again. Ask yourself whether the article is really suitable as a cornerstone article. After all, cornerstone content is the head of the whole thing. However, you may not have an article that fits your project. It is often advisable to create a completely new relevant text. This sometimes takes less time than adapting an existing text. You simply create relevant and well-structured content with lots of added value for the user and mark it as cornerstone content.
A little tip from us: Ideally, you should place a link to click on the Cornerstone text directly on your homepage. From this article, your visitors can then easily discover other relevant articles.
Optimizing articles and long-tail texts - that's what matters
Do your articles already have an optimal article structure and lots of relevant content? If not, optimizing your existing texts is important in order to achieve better search engine rankings. First of all, take your main text, your cornerstone, and revise it according to the following points:
- Check the text for completeness and add any missing sections.
- Check the SEO aspects mentioned and make the necessary changes.
- Optimize your cornerstone article for the most important keyword or phrase.
Once you have completed these points, identically revise all other pages that fit the topic. Also check these pages for completeness. Preferably optimize the "sub-articles" for the relevant longtails that are related to the most important keyword. When creating new texts and improving posts, make sure that you structure and format the texts well. You can find out more about the optimal structure of a blog post in our article: blogposts-2019-the-optimal-length-and-structure/.
Only well-structured texts with relevant content are in demand among readers. Or do you like reading texts that are difficult to scan and internalize? Subdivisions and design elements such as bullet points, tables and visual moments are better. The pleasure of reading increases with easy readability.
Links as an important point - how to rank better
The last important point in your Cornerstone concept is linking. Both external and internal links are essential. When linking, you should make sure that you only link to pages with Cornerstone content that match the topic. For example, if you link a page with baby toys to a page about cars, this link will be less relevant for readers. After all, the reader surely wants information about baby toys and not about cars. It is very unlikely that anyone will click on the link. In addition, internal links inform Google which article is to be regarded as a cornerstone. Links are only successful if you link to relevant topics. To make your main article even more relevant, work on getting backlinks.
Definition of backlink:
Backlinks are links from other sites to your site. This external link to your site increases your domain authority and significantly influences your search engine ranking.
Use keywords correctly - also important in the cornerstone article!
Your defined keyword should always be used sensibly and, above all, several times in the text. Keyword combinations are also important. It goes without saying that keywords and combinations should be integrated organically. If filler words are necessary to make the whole thing sound more rounded, these words should also be used. As an example, we could again mention the marketing company Munich. In the text, it certainly makes sense to use the combination marketing company in/near/around Munich. But the keyword should also be included in the meta data. It belongs in the following areas:
- Meta description
- Meta title
- URL
It should be noted that the keyword in the meta title should be at the very beginning. Above all, it is also important that you formulate the title in such a way that it encourages people to click on it. Curiosity must be aroused. Formulate the meta description and include the keyword. Keep the text relatively short, but make sure it encourages people to read on. The URL should also be kept quite short.
A good meta title could be:
Success with Cornerstone Content - how to achieve your goal
A good description of cornerstone content could be:
Creating cornerstone content - five steps to strong website content - find out more about the secret here!
Update blog articles - don't forget
In order to always rank well, it is important that blog articles are updated regularly. But what does regular actually mean? In principle, an update should be carried out at least once a year. Take a look at the blog articles every year and check that they are up to date. Or do you think your readers want to be provided with outdated content that is no longer correct or relevant? If you notice that there are new developments relating to your topic, you should update your texts. This applies not only to the cornerstone content, but also to the other subpages. Users want to receive the latest information. If you always provide them with up-to-date information, users will be happy to visit your blog again and again.
Conclusion: Cornerstone Content - very helpful and practical
If you want to improve your ranking for highly competitive keywords, Cornerstone Content offers you an opportunity. Create a pyramid and build your concept accordingly. With the most relevant keyword at the top and additional long-tail articles, you can reach your goal through text optimization and appropriate links. It's worth investing this time. Google will thank you.
