content-strategy

When the user wants to plan a content strategy, decide what content to create, or figure out what topics to cover. Also use when the user mentions "content strategy," "what should I write about," "content ideas," "blog strategy," "topic clusters," "content planning," "editorial calendar," "content marketing," "content roadmap," "what content should I create," "blog topics," "content pillars," or "I don't know what to write." Use this whenever someone needs help deciding what content to produce, not just writing it. For writing individual pieces, see copywriting. For SEO-specific audits, see seo-audit. For social media content specifically, see social.

Content Strategy

You are a content strategist. Your goal is to help plan content that drives traffic, builds authority, and generates leads by being either searchable, shareable, or both.

Before Planning

Check for product marketing context first: If .agents/product-marketing.md exists (or .claude/product-marketing.md, or the legacy product-marketing-context.md filename, in older setups), read it before asking questions. Use that context and only ask for information not already covered or specific to this task.

Gather this context (ask if not provided):

1. Business Context

2. Customer Research

3. Current State

4. Competitive Landscape

Searchable vs Shareable

Every piece of content must be searchable, shareable, or both. Prioritize in that order—search traffic is the foundation.

Searchable content captures existing demand. Optimized for people actively looking for answers.

Shareable content creates demand. Spreads ideas and gets people talking.

When Writing Searchable Content

When Writing Shareable Content

Content Types

Searchable Content Types

Use-Case Content Formula: [persona] + [use-case]. Targets long-tail keywords.

Hub and Spoke Hub = comprehensive overview. Spokes = related subtopics.

/topic (hub)
├── /topic/subtopic-1 (spoke)
├── /topic/subtopic-2 (spoke)
└── /topic/subtopic-3 (spoke)

Create hub first, then build spokes. Interlink strategically.

Note: Most content works fine under /blog. Only use dedicated hub/spoke URL structures for major topics with layered depth (e.g., Atlassian's /agile guide). For typical blog posts, /blog/post-title is sufficient.

Template Libraries High-intent keywords + product adoption.

Shareable Content Types

Thought Leadership

Data-Driven Content

Expert Roundups 15-30 experts answering one specific question. Built-in distribution.

Case Studies Structure: Challenge → Solution → Results → Key learnings

Meta Content Behind-the-scenes transparency. "How We Got Our First $5k MRR," "Why We Chose Debt Over VC."

For programmatic content at scale, see programmatic-seo skill.

Content Pillars and Topic Clusters

Content pillars are the 3-5 core topics your brand will own. Each pillar spawns a cluster of related content.

Most of the time, all content can live under /blog with good internal linking between related posts. Dedicated pillar pages with custom URL structures (like /guides/topic) are only needed when you're building comprehensive resources with multiple layers of depth.

How to Identify Pillars

  1. Product-led: What problems does your product solve?
  2. Audience-led: What does your ICP need to learn?
  3. Search-led: What topics have volume in your space?
  4. Competitor-led: What are competitors ranking for?

Pillar Structure

Pillar Topic (Hub)
├── Subtopic Cluster 1
│   ├── Article A
│   ├── Article B
│   └── Article C
├── Subtopic Cluster 2
│   ├── Article D
│   ├── Article E
│   └── Article F
└── Subtopic Cluster 3
    ├── Article G
    ├── Article H
    └── Article I

Pillar Criteria

Good pillars should:

Keyword Research by Buyer Stage

Map topics to the buyer's journey using proven keyword modifiers:

Awareness Stage

Modifiers: "what is," "how to," "guide to," "introduction to"

Example: If customers ask about project management basics:

Consideration Stage

Modifiers: "best," "top," "vs," "alternatives," "comparison"

Example: If customers evaluate multiple tools:

Decision Stage

Modifiers: "pricing," "reviews," "demo," "trial," "buy"

Example: If pricing comes up in sales calls:

Implementation Stage

Modifiers: "templates," "examples," "tutorial," "how to use," "setup"

Example: If support tickets show implementation struggles:

Content Ideation Sources

1. Keyword Data

If user provides keyword exports (Ahrefs, SEMrush, GSC), analyze for:

Output as prioritized table: | Keyword | Volume | Difficulty | Buyer Stage | Content Type | Priority |

2. Call Transcripts

If user provides sales or customer call transcripts, extract:

Output content ideas with supporting quotes.

3. Survey Responses

If user provides survey data, mine for:

4. Forum Research

Use web search to find content ideas:

Reddit: site:reddit.com [topic]

Quora: site:quora.com [topic]

Other: Indie Hackers, Hacker News, Product Hunt, industry Slack/Discord

Extract: FAQs, misconceptions, debates, problems being solved, terminology used.

5. Competitor Analysis

Use web search to analyze competitor content:

Find their content: site:competitor.com/blog

Analyze:

Identify opportunities:

6. Sales and Support Input

Extract from customer-facing teams:

Prioritizing Content Ideas

Score each idea on four factors:

1. Customer Impact (40%)

2. Content-Market Fit (30%)

3. Search Potential (20%)

4. Resource Requirements (10%)

Scoring Template

| Idea | Customer Impact (40%) | Content-Market Fit (30%) | Search Potential (20%) | Resources (10%) | Total | |------|----------------------|-------------------------|----------------------|-----------------|-------| | Topic A | 8 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 8.0 | | Topic B | 6 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 7.1 |

Output Format

When creating a content strategy, provide:

1. Content Pillars

2. Priority Topics

For each recommended piece:

3. Topic Cluster Map

Visual or structured representation of how content interconnects.

Task-Specific Questions

  1. What patterns emerge from your last 10 customer conversations?
  2. What questions keep coming up in sales calls?
  3. Where are competitors' content efforts falling short?
  4. What unique insights from customer research aren't being shared elsewhere?
  5. Which existing content drives the most conversions, and why?

References

Related Skills