seo-blog-pre-writing

name

seo-blog-pre-writing

description

Use when preparing a Cerkl SEO blog post for drafting. Reads the upstream SEO brief from `seo/briefs/<slug>.md`, carries its schema decisions (pillar, solution, keywords, internal links) into a Webflow-ready pre-writing file, and adds the per-post decisions the brief doesn't cover (Top/Middle/Bottom CTA variants, meta description, full H1/H2/H3 outline). Triggers on phrases like "pre-writing for [topic]", "set up the blog brief for [post]", "outline this blog post". Output: `blog-posts-pre-writing/YYYY-MM-DD_[slug]_pre-writing.md`.

SEO Blog Pre-Writing

Pre-writing turns a queued SEO brief into a draft-ready pre-writing file. The brief (produced by the SEO function in seo/briefs/) already decided pillar, solution, keywords, hub link, sibling URLs, and angle. Pre-writing's job is to (a) carry those forward verbatim, (b) pick the specific CTA variants the brief doesn't specify, (c) write meta tags, and (d) expand the angle into a full outline.

Inputs

1. The SEO brief — /Users/travisfoster/claude-code/cerkl/marketing/seo/briefs/<slug>.md. This is the source of truth for pillar, solution, keywords, and internal links. If the brief is missing, stop and ask — pre-writing should not invent these properties.
2. The brief's status: field — should be scheduled (or in-progress). If it's queued, the planner hasn't picked it up yet; verify with Travis before proceeding.

Output

Create the pre-writing file at:

/Users/travisfoster/claude-code/cerkl/marketing/channels/seo-blog/blog-posts-pre-writing/YYYY-MM-DD_[slug]_pre-writing.md

Where YYYY-MM-DD is the publish date (from the brief's scheduled_for: or the content plan row) and [slug] is the URL slug from the brief.

After creating the file, flip the brief's status: to in-progress.

---

Properties to complete

Group A — Carry from the SEO brief (no re-derivation)

Field	Source in brief
Title	title:
Slug	slug:
Primary Keyword	primary_keyword:
Secondary Keywords (3)	secondary_keywords:
Primary Solution	primary_solution:
Primary Category	target_pillar: (Webflow value)
All Categories (cross-cutting tags)	all_categories:
Hub page link	"Internal linking" section
Sibling links (≥2, same pillar)	"Internal linking" section
Why-now context (for writer)	"Why now" section
Pre-flight checks (cannibalization, refresh-vs-new)	"Pre-flight checks" section

If any of these are blank or contradictory in the brief, stop and flag back to SEO — don't fill them in here.

Output shape: render Group A as a ## Properties block at the top of the pre-writing file. Include every field above — hub link, sibling URLs (with planned H2/H3 placement noted), why-now, and pre-flight checks all carry forward into the file so drafting and editing can see them. Recent pre-writing outputs have dropped these; don't.

Group B — Decided in pre-writing

Field	Notes
Top CTA	Pick the variant — see table below. Driven by Primary Solution + topic focus.
Middle CTA	Pick the variant — see table below. Driven by Primary Solution + topic focus.
Bottom CTA	Pick the variant — see table below. Always required.
Meta Title	Typically the same as Title; tune if title is >60 chars.
Meta Description	140–160 chars; lead with the primary keyword; include the value promise.
Outline for Writing	Full H1 / H2 / H3 outline. Include primary keyword in H1 and ≥1 H2/H3. Expand on the brief's angle.

---

CTA variant selection

Top CTA

Leave blank when Primary Solution is Educational or Omni AI.

Option	When to use
Email General Top	Article discusses both Gmail and Outlook, or is tool-agnostic
Gmail General Top	Article focuses specifically on Gmail
Outlook General Top	Article focuses specifically on Outlook
(blank)	Primary Solution is Educational or Omni AI

Middle CTA

Leave blank when Primary Solution is Educational.

Option	When to use
Email Design Middle	Designing emails
Email Distribution Lists Middle	Managing distribution lists
Email Surveys Middle	Email surveys
Email Analytics Middle	Email analytics or measurement
Email Newsletter Middle	Internal newsletters
Email Acknowledgments Middle	Email acknowledgments or read receipts
Omni AI Channel Complexity Middle	Omni AI multi-channel management
Omni AI Deskless Workforce Middle	Omni AI for frontline/deskless workers
Omni AI Personalization Middle	Omni AI personalization
(blank)	Primary Solution is Educational

Bottom CTA

Always required — never blank.

Option	When to use
Email General Bottom	Tool-agnostic or both Gmail and Outlook
Gmail General Bottom	Gmail-specific
Outlook General Bottom	Outlook-specific

---

Categories reference

Webflow's Primary Category (= pillar) is set by the brief. Pick the matching label:

Webflow value (from brief target_pillar:)	Display label
employee-email	Internal Email Communication
internal-communication-strategy	Internal Communication Strategy
employee-engagement-articles	Employee Engagement and Experience
internal-communications-measurement	Internal Communications Measurement
mobile-employee-experience	Frontline and Mobile Workforce

All Categories (the multi-tag field) comes from the brief's all_categories: list. Use it to tag cross-cutting themes like AI in IC, Audience Segmentation, Healthcare, Remote/Hybrid. There is no "Secondary Category" anymore — Webflow uses multi-tag.

---

Optional research lookup

If the brief's frontmatter has needs_research: true, read the IC research wiki before writing the outline. Otherwise skip this section.

Read directly — no sub-agent dispatch:

1. /Users/travisfoster/claude-code/cerkl/research/cerkl-research/wiki/index.md — find topic / concept / entity pages relevant to the brief's primary keyword and angle.
2. The 3–8 pages identified above (across wiki/topics/, wiki/concepts/, wiki/entities/).
3. Source pages in wiki/sources/ linked from those pages when their stats or claims would strengthen the outline.

How to use it:

• Pull stats, frameworks, and named practitioners into the outline as concrete anchors — the brief gives the angle; the wiki gives the proof points.
• Cite [[source-slug]] references inline in the pre-writing outline so drafting can resolve them to URLs.
• Apply Blog Post Research Mode (cerkl-research/CLAUDE.md:136-149): exclude competitor-sourced stats and citations. The competitor list is in that file; competitors can be discussed as subject matter, just not cited as evidence.
• At the end of the outline, list **Competitor sources excluded:** [names] so Travis sees what was held back.

If the wiki has nothing relevant for this brief, note that in the pre-writing file and proceed with the brief alone — don't fabricate citations.

---

Outline for writing

Expand the brief's "Angle / outline" section into a full H1 / H2 / H3 structure:

• H1 includes the primary keyword (verbatim or close paraphrase)
• ≥1 H2 or H3 includes the primary keyword or a secondary keyword
• Structure should commit to the search intent — for "how-to" intent, sections are steps; for "best X" intent, sections are options
• Where the brief lists sibling links, note in the outline which H2/H3 will host the link (so the writer knows where to place it, not just that links exist)
• Mark the planned Content 1 / Content 2 split point in the H2 list — typically the H2 where the post pivots from diagnosis to operational fixes. Webflow's blog template renders Content 1 (first half, diagnosis arc) and Content 2 (second half, operational arc) as separate Rich Text fields, and the editing skill drops a **[Middle CTA — variant]** marker at this boundary. Balance the two halves so each can stand alone — outlines with 5 diagnosis H2s and 1 operational H2 will force the writer to over- or under-build a half. See seo-blog-editing/SKILL.md for the full marker spec.

---

When done

1. Save the pre-writing file at the path above.
2. Flip the brief's status: from scheduled to in-progress.
3. The pre-writing file is the direct input for seo-blog-drafting.