Cornerstone Content

The most important and comprehensive pieces of content on a website, designed to cover a broad topic in-depth and to serve as a foundation for related content.

Cornerstone content is typically high-quality, well-researched, and aimed at establishing a website as an authority in its niche.

Importance in SEO

Cornerstone content is vital for SEO because it helps to target broad, high-volume search queries, attract backlinks, and provide a strong internal linking structure for a website.

By linking to and from cornerstone content, websites can distribute link equity throughout their site, improving the overall SEO health.

Example

A blog post that comprehensively covers the history of SEO or a guide that explains how to build a house from scratch would be considered cornerstone content.

Do

  • Identify topics that are central to your industry or expertise.
  • Create long-form content that thoroughly addresses the topic and provides value to readers.
  • Optimize cornerstone content for SEO by including relevant keywords and ensuring it is easily accessible through your site’s navigation.
  • Promote cornerstone content through various channels to attract a wider audience and generate backlinks.
  • Regularly update cornerstone content to keep it fresh and to take advantage of changes in search algorithms.

Don’t

  • Overlook the importance of cornerstone content in your SEO strategy.
  • Create cornerstone content that is not comprehensive or lacks depth.
  • Fail to integrate cornerstone content into your site’s internal linking structure.
  • Neglect to promote or update cornerstone content, which can lead to its relevance and SEO value diminishing over time.
  • Overcrowd your website with too many cornerstone articles, which can dilute the focus and effectiveness of each piece.