The cluster model -- one pillar page, many supporting articles, all internally linked -- was a useful simplification in 2017. By 2026 it has hardened into a content-production assembly line that frequently produces volume without intent coverage. Nodes are the correction.
Pillars optimise around a head keyword. Buyers do not search around a head keyword -- they search around a sequence of intents that mutate as they learn. Pillars over-serve the entity and under-serve the journey.
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