What is cornerstone content?

This station explains everything you request to cognize astir cornerstone contented – oregon evergreen content, arsenic it’s besides known. You’ll larn what it is, wherefore it’s important for SEO, however to constitute this benignant of contented and however you should nexus from your posts to your cornerstone articles.

What is cornerstone content?

Cornerstone contented is the halfway of your website. It consists of the best, astir important articles connected your site; the pages oregon posts you privation to fertile highest successful the hunt engines. Cornerstone articles are usually comparatively long, informative articles, combining insights from antithetic blog posts and covering everything that’s important astir a definite topic.

Their absorption is to supply the champion and astir implicit accusation connected a peculiar topic, alternatively than to merchantability products. Still, they should bespeak your concern oregon pass your ngo perfectly.

Cornerstone contented tin beryllium either a blog station oregon a page. But whichever they are, you should marque definite they’re precise good written, update them often, and purpose to get them to fertile for your astir competitory keywords.

Why are cornerstone articles truthful important for SEO?

Cornerstone contented plays a important relation successful immoderate SEO strategy. It tin beryllium hard to fertile for search terms that are precise popular, but a cornerstone attack tin assistance you tackle those competitory hunt terms. If you constitute a batch of pages connected akin subjects, you request to archer Google which of them is the astir important. If you don’t, you’ll beryllium eating distant your ain chances to rank good successful the hunt results. Providing the correct internal nexus structure between your posts tells Google which nonfiction is the astir important.

Link operation for cornerstones

Cornerstone articles should person a salient spot connected your website. Ideally, idiosyncratic should beryllium capable to click consecutive from your homepage to your cornerstone articles. Also, each your different posts astir akin topics should nexus backmost to their corresponding cornerstone article, truthful its value is wide from your tract structure. As your tract develops, you volition constitute tons of caller blog posts approaching that taxable from different angles, each 1 linking backmost to your cornerstone article. This interior linking operation volition summation the accidental of your cornerstone contented pages ranking successful Google searches.

The pursuing metaphor mightiness assistance you recognize this principle: ideate you’re looking astatine a representation of a authorities oregon country. Small towns and large cities volition each beryllium interconnected somehow. But the large cities volition person galore much roads starring towards them than the tiny towns. Those cities are your cornerstones, receiving the astir links. The tiny towns are your posts connected much circumstantial topics. There are immoderate roads (links) starring to them, but not arsenic galore arsenic to the large cities.

A much factual example: astatine Yoast, we constitute a batch of antithetic posts astir SEO copywriting, each looking astatine a antithetic facet of SEO copywriting. The cornerstone nonfiction for this taxable is the ultimate usher to SEO Copywriting, and whenever we constitute a caller station connected SEO copywriting, we adhd a nexus to that cornerstone article. In doing so, I’ll marque wide to Google that the eventual usher is the astir important nonfiction astir SEO Copywriting connected our site, thereby expanding its chances to rank.

Which articles are my cornerstones?

Choose your cornerstones carefully. Think of the 4 oregon 5 pages you would similar idiosyncratic to work erstwhile they archetypal sojourn your website. These articles should beryllium the cornerstones of your site. Which articles are astir important to you? Which are the astir implicit and authoritative? Do these people the keywords you astir privation to fertile for?

It mightiness beryllium tempting to deliberation of your homepage arsenic a cornerstone article, but that’s not truly what your homepage does. Although it does person tons of links starring backmost to it, content-wise it doesn’t truly bash what a cornerstone should do. A cornerstone nonfiction should people a circumstantial topic, with tons of in-depth contented talking astir that topic. Your homepage volition beryllium overmuch much wide than this, truthful it doesn’t springiness you the aforesaid accidental to fertile for your people keywords. That being said, of course, it is important to walk clip optimizing your homepage.

If your website is enormous, you’ll person much cornerstones than if your website is small. You’ll astir apt constitute astir much than 1 topic, truthful beryllium definite to take a cornerstone nonfiction from each category.

The conception of cornerstone contented is truthful important, that our Yoast SEO for WordPress plugins and Yoast SEO for Shopify app see an enactment to bespeak whether oregon not a leafage is cornerstone content. If you people pages arsenic cornerstone content, Yoast SEO helps you constitute kick-ass contented and physique a coagulated interior linking structure.

In the classical editor, the Yoast meta container has a Cornerstone contented toggle. The artifact exertion has 1 in the sidebar

Marking your cornerstone articles means you tin make a database of them successful your station overview, truthful you tin easy enactment connected improving them. And, astir importantly, the nexus proposition instrumentality in Yoast SEO Premium will springiness precedence to the articles that you people arsenic cornerstone content, truthful you’ll ne'er hide to nexus to your champion nonfiction connected a definite taxable if you constitute astir thing related.

Optimizing your cornerstones with Yoast SEO

Yoast SEO offers a circumstantial cornerstone contented investigation that helps you optimize your cornerstone content. Yoast SEO for WordPress besides includes a substance nexus counter, and – successful Premium – adjacent interior linking suggestions, successful which cornerstone articles get precedence implicit different posts.

Read more: Set up cornerstone contented and get it ranking successful 6 steps »

Cornerstone analysis

If you truly privation to marque your cornerstone articles great, you request circumstantial contented investigation for cornerstones. Content marked arsenic cornerstone volition beryllium judged much strictly than accustomed connected SEO and readability successful the contented analysis, arsenic you privation this nonfiction to beryllium longer, person fantabulous content, support the reader’s attraction and fertile high. Read how this investigation helps you optimize your cornerstones successful Yoast SEO for WordPress and Yoast SEO for Shopify.

Text nexus counter

With Yoast SEO for WordPress you tin filter your cornerstone articles successful the station overview to spot however galore interior links a station has pointing to it and however galore posts it links to. This text nexus counter is highly utile due to the fact that you tin spot astatine a glimpse if your cornerstone contented has capable links from other, related posts:

Internal linking suggestions

Yoast SEO Premium has an internal linking feature. We analyse what you constitute and usage the astir salient words successful your substance to find which articles are related – and truthful which you should nexus to. Cornerstone articles are treated otherwise successful our calculation of interior linking suggestions due to the fact that they are much important and person a higher value. To springiness these articles much prominence, we spot the cornerstone articles astatine the apical of the database of the interior linking suggestions. That makes it overmuch easier for you to nexus to your captious articles.

5 steps to a slayer cornerstone approach

Ideally, you should bash extended keyword research, which volition assistance you to nutrient truly awesome, long, informative and beautifully written cornerstone articles. But what if you don’t person that overmuch time? And what if you’ve already written tons of articles? Follow these 5 steps to marque slayer cornerstone content.

Step 1: Think astir your keywords

You person to determine connected the indispensable keywords you privation to fertile for. Your cornerstone articles should beryllium optimized for the ‘head’ oregon astir competitory keywords, truthful beryllium definite to transportation retired some keyword research.

Step 2: Choose the champion post

Go done the posts that are optimized for keywords surrounding the astir important keywords. Which station bash you deliberation is the best? That’ll beryllium your cornerstone from present on!

Step 3: Rewrite it

Rewrite your cornerstone article. Make it awesome and SEO-friendly. As cornerstone articles are usually lengthy, wage other attraction to readability. Make definite you usage plentifulness of headings. An scale astatine the opening of a agelong cornerstone nonfiction is besides a large idea. Expand your nonfiction and marque definite it’s wholly up to date. And don’t hide to rewrite and update that nonfiction regularly.

Step 4: Optimize your different posts connected agelong process variants

The different blog posts astir akin topics arsenic your cornerstone nonfiction should be optimized for agelong process variants of the ‘head’ keyword you’re attacking successful your cornerstone article.

Step 5: Linking from process to head

You person to archer Google that your caller cornerstone nonfiction is the astir important nonfiction connected that taxable connected your site. Don’t hide to nexus from each the long tail articles to your cornerstone article!

Quick wins!

In existent life, possibly you bash not person the clip to make specified an elaborate structure. Still, penning an nonfiction astir a circumstantial taxable often leads to inspiration to constitute an nonfiction astir a akin topic. You should past effort to optimize this 2nd station for a somewhat antithetic absorption keyword and nexus these posts internally.

Every clip you constitute a post, you should deliberation astir akin posts you person written and nexus to these. Do you already person an important nonfiction astir this, adjacent though it is not wholly awesome yet? If you usage Yoast SEO Premium, support an oculus connected the interior linking instrumentality to spot what comes up.

Also, marque definite you acceptable up the close linking structure. This does not instrumentality a batch of your clip and could truly assistance to fertile your astir important article. Take a look astatine each the posts connected the taxable you person already written astir and adhd links to your astir important nonfiction from each of your (less awesome) posts astir that circumstantial topic. You tin usage the Yoast substance nexus counter to regularly cheque if determination are capable interior links to your important articles.

Do our SEO workout: the cornerstone contented approach

Want to physique a fantastic cornerstone contented strategy successful WordPress? Do our SEO workout: the cornerstone contented approach to rapidly powerfulness up your interior linking. With the workout, you’ll get each the guidance you request to marque definite that your astir important articles person capable interior links pointing to them. You tin find the tools you request close determination successful the workout — each you request to bash is travel the steps. Give it a go!

The archetypal measurement successful the cornerstone contented SEO workout in Yoast SEO Premium

Yoast’s plans for cornerstone content

Site operation is important for SEO. Having a coagulated tract operation means some hunt engines and visitors tin easy navigate your tract to find what they want. To assistance you execute this, we are continually moving connected galore much features successful Yoast SEO that’ll amended the operation of your website.

Keep reading: SEO Copywriting: the implicit usher »