Key Takeaways
- Before examining the structural differences, it helps to understand where each term originates and what practitioners actually mean when they use them.
- The clearest way to understand the difference between a hub page and a pillar page is to look at where the value lives in each model.
- The topic cluster model, popularised by HubSpot's research into how search engines assess topical authority, uses a pillar page as its centrepiece.
- The decision between these two approaches depends on what you are trying to achieve and where you are in your content maturity.
- Most articles about hub and pillar pages focus on structure: how many words, how many internal links, what the table of contents should look like.
- Yes — and many well-executed pages combine both functions deliberately.
- If you are unsure whether your existing content strategy uses hub pages, pillar pages, or an unclear hybrid of both, sta
Content strategists and SEO practitioners often use "hub page" and "pillar page" interchangeably — but they describe subtly different approaches to organising content, and conflating them leads to structures that serve neither readers nor search engines well. What is the difference between hub page and pillar page? At the simplest level: a pillar page is a long-form, comprehensive piece of content that covers a broad topic in depth; a hub page is primarily a navigational layer that organises and links to related content without necessarily covering the topic exhaustively itself. The distinction matters because it shapes how you write, how you link, and ultimately how search engines assess your topical authority.
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Defining the Terms: Pillar Page vs Hub Page
Before examining the structural differences, it helps to understand where each term originates and what practitioners actually mean when they use them.
What Is a Pillar Page?
A pillar page is a long-form, comprehensive piece of content built around a broad topic. It covers the subject at a high level — touching every major subtopic — while linking out to dedicated cluster articles that explore each of those subtopics in depth. The pillar page itself is a genuine piece of content: someone could read it and walk away substantially better informed, even without clicking through to the cluster articles.
Structurally, a pillar page typically includes a table of contents, clear H2 and H3 sections mapping to subtopics, and bidirectional internal links connecting it to its cluster. Word count is usually substantial — not because length is an SEO signal in isolation, but because genuine breadth of coverage on a complex topic naturally produces length. The pillar page targets a broad head term, and its cluster pages target the long-tail queries that branch off it.
What Is a Hub Page?
A hub page is primarily a navigational and organisational device. Its job is to help users (and search engines) find related content across a site, rather than to deliver comprehensive coverage of a topic in its own right. A hub page might introduce a theme, list or card-link to related articles, and provide brief signposts to each — but the substantive content lives in the linked pages, not the hub itself.
Think of a hub page like a well-designed magazine section front. It tells you what the section covers, surfaces the most relevant articles, and helps you choose where to go. It is curated navigation, not exhaustive explanation.
The Real Difference Between a Hub Page and a Pillar Page
The clearest way to understand the difference between a hub page and a pillar page is to look at where the value lives in each model.
With a pillar page, the value lives in the page itself. A reader who arrives from a search engine finds substantive answers, structured explanation, and enough depth to make the visit worthwhile — even before they click a single internal link. The pillar page earns its rankings through content quality and topical depth, not just through link architecture.
With a hub page, the value lives in the pages it connects to. The hub is a better entry point and a better navigation experience, but it is not attempting to rank for a broad head term on its own content merits. Its authority comes from the coherence of its collection, not from the depth of its own writing.
| Dimension | Pillar Page | Hub Page |
|---|---|---|
| Primary purpose | Rank for a broad topic; educate comprehensively | Navigate readers to related content |
| Content depth | High — covers the topic substantively | Low to medium — mostly signposting |
| Target query type | Broad head terms (e.g. "content marketing") | Category or theme (e.g. "Our content resources") |
| SEO ranking intent | Yes — designed to rank in organic search | Sometimes — but not the primary goal |
| Linked-to content | Cluster articles (8–12 typically) | Any related articles across site sections |
| Where value lives | In the pillar page content itself | In the linked pages the hub organises |
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How Topic Clusters Connect Both Models
The topic cluster model, popularised by HubSpot's research into how search engines assess topical authority, uses a pillar page as its centrepiece. The pillar covers a broad topic; cluster pages cover specific subtopics; internal links connect them bidirectionally. Search engines interpret this interconnected structure as a signal that a site has genuine depth and breadth of expertise on a subject.
A hub page can serve a complementary role within a broader site architecture — sitting above pillar pages as a category-level organiser, or linking across multiple topic clusters that share a theme. Some organisations build hub pages at the top of their information architecture and pillar pages one level below, with cluster articles beneath those. In this configuration, the hub page is not competing with the pillar; it is a different layer of the same structure.
The mistake is treating hub and pillar as synonyms and then building something that does neither job well — a long page that tries to rank but is mostly a list of links, or a comprehensive content piece with no clear navigational structure. Both archetypes have a clear job; the confusion arises when teams borrow terminology without committing to the underlying model.
When to Build a Pillar Page and When to Build a Hub Page
The decision between these two approaches depends on what you are trying to achieve and where you are in your content maturity.
Build a Pillar Page When:
- You are targeting a specific broad keyword in organic search and need to rank for it on content merit.
- You have (or plan to build) a cluster of supporting articles that can link back to a central resource.
- Your audience arrives from search engines with genuine questions about a broad topic that you can answer comprehensively in one place.
- You want to signal topical authority to search engines around a defined subject area.
Build a Hub Page When:
- You have a large volume of existing content across a theme and users are struggling to find it.
- You want to improve internal link equity distribution across a category of articles.
- You are organising resources for a broad audience (e.g. a "Learning Centre" or "Resource Library") where navigation matters more than ranking for a single keyword.
- You have multiple pillar pages within a theme and need a higher-level entry point to tie them together.
The Mistake Most Teams Make With Both Models
Most articles about hub and pillar pages focus on structure: how many words, how many internal links, what the table of contents should look like. That is necessary but insufficient. The error most content teams make is architectural — they build the page before deciding what job it needs to do.
A pillar page that does not genuinely answer the reader's questions is just a long hub page that is trying to rank. A hub page that tries to rank for a broad keyword without substantive content is a pillar page that has been underinvested. The structural difference matters less than the intentional difference: are you building something people will read, or something people will navigate through?
One concrete way to test your own page: if you removed every internal link from it, would a reader still find it valuable? If yes, you have built something closer to a pillar page. If no, you have built a hub. Neither is wrong — but you should know which you are building before you write a single word.
This distinction is also becoming more important in the context of AI search. AI systems that surface cited content in their responses tend to pull from pages that contain substantive, well-organised answers — which is pillar page territory. Hub pages serve human navigation well, but they are less likely to be the page an AI cites when answering a question about your area of expertise. If visibility in AI-generated answers matters to your strategy, the pillar model deserves priority.
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FAQ
Can a page be both a hub page and a pillar page at the same time?
Yes — and many well-executed pages combine both functions deliberately. A long-form pillar page that includes a clear table of contents and prominent links to cluster articles is simultaneously a navigational hub and a substantive content resource. The distinction is about emphasis and primary purpose. If the page ranks on its own content merits and also organises surrounding content, that is a well-designed pillar page with hub characteristics — not a separate category.
Does a hub page hurt SEO if it has thin content?
A hub page with very thin content — a short introduction and a list of links — can be a weak SEO asset if it is being asked to rank for competitive keywords. If the hub page exists primarily as an internal navigation tool and is not the primary target for organic search visibility, thin content is less of a concern. The problem arises when teams build thin hub pages and then wonder why they are not ranking. Search engines reward content that genuinely serves the reader's query; a list of links rarely does that on its own.
How many cluster pages should a pillar page link to?
There is no universal rule, but most practitioners find that a cluster of six to twelve supporting articles creates a meaningful signal of topical depth without becoming unmanageable. The more important principle is relevance: each cluster page should address a specific subtopic that the pillar page introduces but does not fully explore. Linking to tangentially related articles just to inflate cluster size dilutes the signal rather than strengthening it.
Should hub pages be included in the main navigation?
Hub pages are strong candidates for main or secondary navigation because their purpose is to help users find related content. Including a hub page in your site's navigation gives it consistent internal link equity from every page on the site — which in turn helps the pages it links to. Pillar pages may or may not sit in navigation depending on your site architecture; they are more likely to be discovered via organic search than via a navigation menu.
What to Do This Week
If you are unsure whether your existing content strategy uses hub pages, pillar pages, or an unclear hybrid of both, start here:
- Audit your top five most-linked internal pages. For each one, ask: does this page rank on its own content merit, or does it exist primarily to organise links? That answer tells you which category it falls into — and whether it is doing its job.
- Pick one broad topic you want to rank for. Map out the subtopics underneath it. If you have five or more existing articles on those subtopics, you have the raw material for a proper topic cluster — you likely just need a pillar page to anchor it.
- Check whether your pillar page candidates pass the "no-links" test. Remove the internal links mentally. Is the content still valuable? If not, invest in the content before worrying about the architecture.
- Decide whether you need a hub above your pillars. If you have three or more pillar pages covering related themes, a hub page at the category level can improve both user navigation and link equity flow across those pillars.
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Written by
Anjan LuthraManaging Partner, Indexed
Anjan Luthra is Managing Partner at Indexed. He has spent over a decade inside high-growth companies building organic search into their primary acquisition channel, and writes about SEO strategy, AI search, and revenue a…