What is a pillar post?

This is where you can learn all about Pillar Posts...

If you are a blogger you definitely need to not only know what a pillar post is you need to write at least one and probably 5 to get more traffic to your blog.

A pillar post is the type of information that your readers would search for in google.

A pillar post is a post that holds up or supports your blog.

It is a post that you are really proud of and that you are extremely happy to share.

It is usually a longer, rather than a shorter post.

It should be an in depth post covering one specific core topic. (Think about having 3 core topics)

It should use a specific keyword or related group of keywords.

It should be thorough.

It should ideally be about the core principles of your blog.

It could answer questions that your readers want answered.

It should be relevant and useful to your readers.

It could explain a theory or concept.

It could be problem solving.

It should be an evergreen post, meaning that it stays relevant overtime.

It must be your own unique work and hopefully have some unique ideas.

It would be amazing if it was groundbreaking or not found on many other blogs.

WHY IS A PILLAR POST IMPORTANT FOR YOUR BLOG?
Pillar posts, or cornerstone posts, as they are often called, will help your blog be found in search.
They help people understand what your blog is all about.
Help you become an authority in your niche.
Also they are great to share so other people know what your blog is all about.

GOOD NEWS
You may already have some posts on your blog that, with a little bit of work, can easily become great pillar posts. If you can answer the question better than anyone else your post will become worthy of linking to.

HEADLINES AND KEYWORDS
Choose your relevant Keywords and place them in the title and in the first paragraph.
Here is a FREE keyword shortcut from Neil Patel called UberSuggest.  Just type in one keyword and UberSuggest will generate more words for you to consider. You don't even have to add your email.

WHO CALLED IT A PILLAR POST?
In 2006 that great Australian/Canadian blogger Yaro Starak used the term in an article on Problogger 

Write at least five major “pillar” articles. A pillar article is usually a tutorial style article aimed to teach your audience something. Generally they are longer than 500 words and have lots of very practical tips or advice. This article you are currently reading could be considered a pillar article since it is very practical and a good “how-to” lesson. This style of article has long term appeal, stays current (it isn’t news or time dependent) and offers real value and insight. The more pillars you have on your blog the better.

It's time for Fibro Friday

As people living in chronic pain we often try anything that we find hoping that it will help reduce our pain and many other symptoms. The thing is that just as each person may experience different symptoms they also may find different things that help them, There is no one size fits all with Fibromyalgia and no one thing that everybody finds helps them.

Last week I enjoyed reading many different ideas for reducing symptoms: Sue talked about Chronic Magnesium Deficiency and whether it was aggravating our Fibro; Melissa gave me her 22 suggestions for increasing energy (and who doesn't want more of that); Cynthia discussed why she does yoga to help pain and Julie explained myofascial release therapy. 

There were so many great articles if you missed them you can find them all here. I wonder what we will find at this week's Fibro linkup below?

Julie Ryan from Counting My Spoons

Julie Ryan began her blog Counting My Spoons in 2010 when her journey with Fibromyalgia began. The title comes from the Spoon Theory written by Christine Miserandino that explains energy in terms of how many spoons we have on any given day. 

These days Julie does not spend a lot of time counting her spoons as she has learned how to manage her symptoms and is helping others to do the same. Julie believes that we are all much more than our illnesses. (she lives with migraine, TMJ issues, endometriosis, a thyroid condition as well as fibromyalgia.) 

I’ve learned how to manage my illness and I hope that I can help you do the same. 

At the very least, I hope I can help you live an inspired life despite your chronic illness. Take a look at what’s helped me the most with managing my illness.

Julie is quite a prolific writer who shares many helpful, informative posts at her blog including:

• 16 Things Fibromyalgia Sufferers Need to STOP Doing
• What Chronic Illness Does to a Marriage
• 10 Things You Should Never Say to Someone With Fibromyalgia
• 8 Things Those with Chronic Illness Need to Know

You can keep up with her posts by subscribing to receive notification emails as they are posted. 

You can also follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

Pain Awareness Month

As September is Pain Awareness Month and 100% of people with Fibromyalgia experience pain, I thought it was fitting to share quotes about pain and specifically chronic pain. 

Chronic pain is considered to be any pain that lasts for 3 months or longer and that is definitely the case in Fibro. 

Chronic pain is widely believed to represent disease itself. It can be made much worse by environmental and psychological factors. Chronic pain persists over a longer period of time than acute pain and is resistant to most medical treatments. It can—and often does—cause severe problems for patients. NINDS

“Of pain you could wish only one thing: that it should stop. Nothing in the world was so bad as physical pain. In the face of pain there are no heroes.” George Orwell, 1984

“I'm in pain all the time,' I said, 'and if I gave into it then I'd do nothing.” 
Bernard Cornwell, The Empty Throne

“If I only could explain 
How much I miss
that precious moment 
when I was free
from the shackles of chronic pain.” 
Jenni Johanna Toivonen

“The erosion of an effective patient-physician relationship has no place when dealing with chronic pain. Worst of all, dismissing the patient's pain is as devastating as crushing a patient's hope.” 
― Melissa Cady, Paindemic: A Practical and Holistic Look at Chronic Pain

Please feel free to share these quotes and images.