seo-content-strategist skill

---
name: seo-content-strategist
description: Expert SEO content strategy for SaaS and B2B sites. Use when doing keyword research, planning content clusters, creating pillar pages, optimizing on-page SEO, fixing technical SEO issues, building links, refreshing content, implementing programmatic SEO, mapping search intent, optimizing for SERP features, or measuring content performance. Use for SEO audits, content gap analysis, and organic growth strategy.
---

# SEO Content Strategist

Expert SEO content strategy for sustainable organic growth — from keyword research to content clusters, technical optimization to link building.

## Philosophy

Great SEO content strategy is about earning rankings, not gaming algorithms:

1. **Search intent is king** — Rank for what users actually want, not what you want to rank for
2. **Content depth beats content breadth** — 10 authoritative pages outperform 100 thin ones
3. **Technical foundation enables content** — Brilliant content on a broken site goes nowhere
4. **Compound growth is the goal** — Content assets that appreciate over time

## How This Skill Works

When invoked, apply the guidelines in `rules/` organized by:

- `keyword-*` — Keyword research, topic discovery, intent mapping
- `cluster-*` — Content clusters, pillar pages, internal linking
- `onpage-*` — On-page optimization, meta tags, content structure
- `technical-*` — Technical SEO, site architecture, performance
- `links-*` — Link building, digital PR, authority building
- `refresh-*` — Content optimization, decay prevention, updates
- `programmatic-*` — Programmatic SEO, template pages, scale content
- `serp-*` — SERP features, featured snippets, rich results
- `measurement-*` — Performance tracking, attribution, reporting

## Core Frameworks

### The SEO Content Flywheel

```
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                                                             │
│   ┌──────────────┐    ┌──────────────┐    ┌──────────────┐ │
│   │   RESEARCH   │───▶│   CREATE     │───▶│   OPTIMIZE   │ │
│   │  (Keywords)  │    │  (Content)   │    │  (On-page)   │ │
│   └──────────────┘    └──────────────┘    └──────────────┘ │
│          ▲                                       │         │
│          │            ┌──────────────┐           │         │
│          └────────────│   MEASURE    │◀──────────┘         │
│                       │   (Iterate)  │                     │
│                       └──────────────┘                     │
│                                                             │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
```

### Search Intent Matrix

| Intent Type | User Goal | Content Type | Conversion Potential |
|-------------|-----------|--------------|---------------------|
| **Informational** | Learn something | Blog posts, guides, how-tos | Low (awareness) |
| **Navigational** | Find specific site | Brand pages, product pages | Medium (recognition) |
| **Commercial** | Research before buying | Comparisons, reviews, lists | High (consideration) |
| **Transactional** | Make a purchase | Product pages, pricing, signup | Highest (decision) |

### Content Cluster Architecture

```
                    ┌─────────────────────┐
                    │    PILLAR PAGE      │
                    │ (Broad topic, 3k+)  │
                    └─────────┬───────────┘
                              │
        ┌─────────────────────┼─────────────────────┐
        │                     │                     │
        ▼                     ▼                     ▼
┌───────────────┐   ┌───────────────┐   ┌───────────────┐
│  CLUSTER #1   │   │  CLUSTER #2   │   │  CLUSTER #3   │
│ (Subtopic A)  │   │ (Subtopic B)  │   │ (Subtopic C)  │
└───────┬───────┘   └───────┬───────┘   └───────┬───────┘
        │                   │                   │
   ┌────┴────┐         ┌────┴────┐         ┌────┴────┐
   │         │         │         │         │         │
   ▼         ▼         ▼         ▼         ▼         ▼
┌─────┐  ┌─────┐   ┌─────┐  ┌─────┐   ┌─────┐  ┌─────┐
│Post │  │Post │   │Post │  │Post │   │Post │  │Post │
└─────┘  └─────┘   └─────┘  └─────┘   └─────┘  └─────┘
```

### Keyword Prioritization Quadrant

| | Low Difficulty | High Difficulty |
|---|---|---|
| **High Volume** | Quick wins (prioritize) | Long-term plays |
| **Low Volume** | Low priority | Avoid |

But consider: Low volume + high intent often beats high volume + low intent.

## Key Metrics

| Metric | What It Measures | Target |
|--------|------------------|--------|
| **Organic Traffic** | Total non-paid visitors | +20% QoQ |
| **Keyword Rankings** | Position for target terms | Top 10 → Top 3 |
| **Click-Through Rate** | SERP clicks / impressions | >3% for top 5 |
| **Organic Conversions** | Goal completions from SEO | Varies by funnel |
| **Domain Authority** | Overall site strength | Industry benchmark |
| **Indexed Pages** | Pages Google recognizes | 100% of intended |
| **Core Web Vitals** | Page experience signals | All green |
| **Backlink Growth** | New referring domains | +10-20 quality/month |

## Content Type ROI

| Content Type | Time to Rank | Traffic Potential | Link Potential | Effort |
|--------------|--------------|-------------------|----------------|--------|
| **Pillar pages** | 3-6 months | Very High | High | High |
| **How-to guides** | 2-4 months | High | Medium | Medium |
| **Comparison posts** | 1-3 months | Medium | Low | Medium |
| **Tool/template pages** | 1-2 months | Medium | High | Low |
| **Glossary terms** | 1-2 months | Low | Low | Low |
| **Original research** | 3-6 months | Medium | Very High | Very High |
| **Programmatic pages** | 2-4 months | Very High (aggregate) | Low | High (initial) |

## Anti-Patterns

- **Keyword stuffing** — Destroys readability, triggers spam filters
- **Thin content at scale** — 100 weak pages hurt more than 10 strong ones
- **Ignoring search intent** — Ranking for wrong intent = high bounce rate
- **Publishing and praying** — Content without promotion doesn't get links
- **Chasing volume over intent** — 100 visitors who convert > 10,000 who don't
- **Neglecting technical SEO** — Great content on slow, broken sites fails
- **No internal linking** — Orphan pages don't get crawled or ranked
- **Set and forget** — Content decays without updates
- **Buying links** — Short-term gains, long-term penalties
- **Copying competitors** — Me-too content rarely outranks the original