| name | seo-content-brief |
| description | SEO content brief — turn a target keyword into a writer-ready outline by analyzing the top-ranking competitors, finding their content gaps, and specifying H2/H3 structure, word targets, FAQs, and E-E-A-T requirements. Feeds the seo-writing pipeline (Stage 2). |
| allowed-tools | Read, Write, Glob, Grep, WebSearch, WebFetch |
SEO Content Brief — Competitor-Beating Outlines
A brief isn't a topic and a word count. It's a blueprint that guarantees the article covers everything the top 3 competitors cover AND the gaps they miss — before a single sentence is written.
When this skill activates
Implicit: "write a content brief for [keyword]", "outline an article that beats the competition", "what should this article cover".
Explicit: "Use the seo-content-brief skill to [task]."
Routed from: [[seo-writing]] Stage 2, /mk:seo keywords.
Scope
Covers:
- SERP + top-3-competitor analysis (headings, depth, word count).
- Content-gap detection (what everyone misses).
- Outline: H2/H3 structure, per-section word targets + writer notes.
- Sapo (lede), FAQ block from People Also Ask.
- E-E-A-T requirements (author signal, sources, original insight).
Does NOT cover:
- The cluster/tree structure → [[seo-cluster]].
- Writing the body → [[seo-content]] / [[seo-writing]] Stage 3.
- On-page meta (title tag, slug) → [[seo-writing]] Stage 4.
The brief pipeline
- SERP the target keyword (locale-aware) → top 3 organic URLs.
- Extract skeletons — for each URL:
h1, all h2/h3, word_count, meta_description. Headings only (token saver).
- Gap analysis — what do all 3 miss or treat shallowly? These become your edge sections.
- Build the outline — union of competitor sub-topics (never thinner) + gap sections (the edge), ordered by intent.
- Set targets — per-H2
estimated_words summing to ≈ 1.2–1.5× the longest competitor; a note_for_writer per section (angle, real data to inject, what to avoid).
- FAQ + sapo — 3–6 PAA questions with bullet answer-points; a keyword-first 2–3 sentence lede.
Brief schema
{
"h1": "final H1, compelling + keyword-rich",
"sapo": "2–3 sentence lede, keyword in sentence 1, no fluff",
"sections": [
{ "h2": "...", "h3_list": ["...","..."], "estimated_words": 300,
"note_for_writer": "angle / real data to use / what to avoid" }
],
"faqs": [ { "question": "...", "answer_points": "• ...\n• ..." } ]
}
E-E-A-T requirements (bake into every brief)
| Signal | What the brief must specify |
|---|
| Experience | First-hand angle — a test, a process, a real observation to include |
| Expertise | Depth markers — named techniques, specifics, correct terminology |
| Authoritativeness | Sources to cite (link out to authorities); original data/insight to add |
| Trust | Author with credentials; visible date; no unsupported claims |
Key concepts
- Content gap — the section your competitors don't have; the reason to rank above them. Force ≥2 per brief.
- Search intent ordering — sequence sections the way the searcher's need unfolds: definition → how → compare → troubleshoot.
- Depth over length — the word target is a guide, not a padding quota. A brief that specifies specificity (data, examples) beats one that just says "1500 words".
Output
- The brief JSON/markdown, written to
plans/marketing/<site>/briefs/<slug>.brief.md.
- Kept for audit + re-writes (a
rewrite in the pipeline re-uses the brief).
Cross-references
plans/marketing-context.md — required hub (business context, forbidden words)- [[seo-writing]] — consumes this as Stage 2 (Analyst prompt lives there)
- [[seo-cluster]] — provides the node this brief expands
- [[seo-content]] — E-E-A-T quality bar for the eventual body
.claude/workflows/marketing-rules.md — content quality rules (§3 E-E-A-T)
Provenance
Imported from AgriciDaniel/claude-seo and adapted for KitForge. The competitor-gap + outline method matches the seo-writing pipeline's Analyst stage (Stage 2).
