| name | content-strategy |
| description | Use 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 we write about,' 'content calendar,' 'content pillars,' 'editorial calendar,' or 'blog strategy.' |
Content Strategy
Expert knowledge for planning, prioritizing, and executing a content program that drives organic traffic, builds authority, and converts readers into customers.
Core Framework: The Topic Cluster Model
- Pillar page: Comprehensive, authoritative guide on a broad topic (2,000-5,000+ words)
- Cluster content: Narrower posts that cover subtopics in depth, internally linking to the pillar
- Internal links: Every cluster page links to the pillar; pillar links to each cluster
Pillar selection criteria: High search volume (> 5,000/month), directly relevant to ICP decision-making, your product solves the core problem, you can produce 8-15 cluster posts around it.
Step 1: Audience Intent Mapping
| Stage | Intent | Content Type |
|---|
| Unaware | Learning about a problem | Educational guides, "what is X" |
| Problem-aware | Researching solutions | How-to guides, comparison content |
| Solution-aware | Evaluating specific products | Review content, case studies |
| Product-aware | Comparing you vs competitors | Vs pages, feature deep-dives, ROI content |
| Customer | Getting more value | Knowledge base, advanced guides |
Bottom-of-funnel content converts at 5-10× the rate of top-of-funnel.
Step 2: Content Audit (existing sites)
- Keep + optimize: Good content that ranks but could be improved
- Update: Outdated content with remaining potential
- Merge: Multiple thin posts on the same topic
- Remove: Content with no traffic and no purpose
Step 3: Keyword Research & Prioritization
Prioritization matrix:
| Criteria | Weight |
|---|
| Monthly search volume | 25% |
| Business relevance (ICP fit) | 35% |
| Keyword difficulty (inverted) | 25% |
| CTA / conversion fit | 15% |
High business relevance beats high search volume.
Step 4: Content Pillar Design
- 3-5 pillars for most SaaS companies at early/growth stage
- Each pillar = one core use case or ICP pain point
- Each pillar should have at least 10 plausible cluster topics
Step 5: Editorial Calendar Design
Recommended mix for early-stage SaaS:
- 40% top-of-funnel (educational, broad keywords)
- 30% middle-of-funnel (how-to, use case, problem-solution)
- 30% bottom-of-funnel (comparison, alternative, ROI, case studies)
Calendar template fields: Title, Target keyword, Pillar, Funnel stage, Target ICP, Content type, Publish date, Word count, Internal link targets, CTA.
Content Quality Criteria
- Search intent match
- Comprehensiveness
- Freshness signals
- Unique angle
- Conversion path
Distribution Strategy
Content repurposing waterfall:
- Long-form blog post (core asset)
- → LinkedIn carousel
- → Twitter/X thread
- → Email newsletter section
- → Short-form video script
- → Podcast talking points
Common Rationalizations
| Rationalization | Reality |
|---|
| "We need to write about everything to build authority" | Topical depth beats breadth. 20 posts on one cluster outperform 100 posts on 100 unrelated topics. |
| "More posts = more traffic" | One great post beats five mediocre ones. |
| "We'll figure out distribution later" | Content without distribution is a tree falling in an empty forest. |
| "SEO takes too long" | Compounding organic traffic is the best marketing asset you can build. |
Verification
