Generate editorial calendars for blogs with topic clusters, publishing schedules, content decay detection, freshness update plans, seasonal opportunities, content mix formula, template integration, and distribution scheduling. Plans monthly or quarterly calendars optimized for SEO topic authority and AI citation freshness requirements (30-day update cycles). Use when user says "editorial calendar", "content calendar", "blog calendar", "publishing schedule", "blog plan", "content plan", "what should I write".
Generate editorial calendars for blogs with topic clusters, publishing schedules, content decay detection, freshness update plans, seasonal opportunities, content mix formula, template integration, and distribution scheduling. Plans monthly or quarterly calendars optimized for SEO topic authority and AI citation freshness requirements (30-day update cycles). Use when user says "editorial calendar", "content calendar", "blog calendar", "publishing schedule", "blog plan", "content plan", "what should I write".
user-invokable
true
argument-hint
[<niche>]
license
MIT
id
blog-calendar
domain
content
invoked_by
["blog-researcher"]
depends_on
[]
Blog Calendar: Editorial Planning
Generates editorial calendars with topic clusters, publishing cadence,
freshness update schedules, content decay detection, template recommendations,
distribution planning, and seasonal hooks. Optimized for building topical
authority (Google) and maintaining citation freshness (AI platforms).
Cross-reference
This skill operates at the FLOW Find stage. Before selecting topics, run
/blog flow find for keyword discovery, content prioritization, and audience
avatar prompts that should inform cluster selection and topic sequencing.
Workflow
Step 1: Understand the Blog
Gather context:
Niche/industry: What is the blog about?
Existing content: Scan for existing blog posts (Glob for *.md, *.mdx, *.html)
Publishing cadence: How often can they publish? (default: 2x/week)
Timeframe: Monthly or quarterly calendar?
Business goals: What should the blog drive? (traffic, leads, authority)
Use WebSearch to validate timing of trends before scheduling
Step 5: Generate the Calendar
Content Mix Formula
Apply the recommended content mix ratio:
60% new content / 30% freshness updates / 10% repurposed content
Cadence
Monthly Posts
New
Refreshes
Repurposed
2 posts/week
8
5
2
1
3 posts/week
12
7
4
1
4 posts/week
16
10
5
1
1 post/week
4
2-3
1
0-1
Within new posts, aim for content type diversity:
Guides/How-tos: 30-40% of new content
Comparisons/Alternatives: 15-20%
Listicles/Roundups: 15-20%
Case studies/Data research: 10-15%
Thought leadership/News analysis: 10-15%
Template Integration
For each new post entry, recommend a content template from these 12 available:
how-to-guide, listicle, case-study, comparison, pillar-page,
product-review, thought-leadership, roundup, tutorial,
news-analysis, data-research, faq-knowledge
Reference: references/content-templates.md for full template details.
Monthly Calendar Format
# Editorial Calendar: [Month Year]
## Publishing Cadence: [N] posts/week
## Content Mix: [N] new / [N] refreshes / [N] repurposed
### Week 1: [Date Range]
| Day | Type | Title | Template | Cluster | Target Keyword | Status |
|-----|------|-------|----------|---------|---------------|--------|
| Mon | New | [Title] | how-to-guide | [Cluster] | [keyword] | Draft |
| Thu | Update | [Existing post] | - | [Cluster] | [keyword] | Refresh |
### Week 2: [Date Range]
| Day | Type | Title | Template | Cluster | Target Keyword | Status |
|-----|------|-------|----------|---------|---------------|--------|
| Mon | New | [Title] | comparison | [Cluster] | [keyword] | Brief |
| Thu | New | [Title] | listicle | [Cluster] | [keyword] | Brief |
### Week 3: [Date Range]
[...]
### Week 4: [Date Range]
[...]
## Content Mix This Month
- New posts: [N]
- Freshness updates: [N]
- Repurposed content: [N]
- Content types: [guides, comparisons, how-tos, listicles, ...]
## Freshness Update Queue
| Post | Last Updated | Priority | Scheduled |
|------|-------------|----------|-----------|
| [slug] | [date] | High | Week 2 |
| [slug] | [date] | Medium | Week 4 |
## Seasonal Hooks
- [Event/trend and how to leverage it]
Track the build-out state of each topic cluster. Prioritize completing
partially-built clusters over starting new ones.
## Topic Cluster Progress
| Cluster | Pillar | Spokes Published | Spokes Planned | Coverage |
|---------|--------|-----------------|----------------|----------|
| [Topic] | Published | 5/10 | 5 this quarter | 50% |
| [Topic] | Draft | 2/8 | 3 this quarter | 25% |
| [Topic] | Not started | 0/6 | 1 this quarter | 0% |
Rules for cluster prioritization:
Clusters at 50%+ coverage: highest priority to complete
Clusters with published pillar but few spokes: second priority
New clusters: only start when existing clusters reach 75%+ coverage
Never have more than 3 clusters in active build-out simultaneously
Step 5.6: Distribution Scheduling
For each new post, plan distribution across channels. Include distribution
timing in the calendar output.
## Distribution Schedule
| Post | Publish Date | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email | YouTube |
|------|-------------|----------|--------|-------|---------|
| [Title] | [Date] | Same day | +2-3 days | Next batch | If pillar |
Channel timing rules:
LinkedIn: Same day as publish (share key insight + link)
Reddit: 2-3 days after publish (share genuine insight, not a link drop)
Email newsletter: Batch weekly (include 2-3 posts per newsletter)
YouTube: Plan companion video for pillar posts only (resource-intensive)
Twitter/X: Same day as publish (thread key takeaways)
Reference: references/distribution-playbook.md for detailed channel tactics.
Step 5.7: Freshness Automation
Set up a system for ongoing freshness maintenance:
## Freshness Schedule: Next 30 Days
| Post | Last Updated | Next Refresh Date | Priority | Owner |
|------|-------------|-------------------|----------|-------|
| [slug] | [date] | [date + 30] | High | [name] |
| [slug] | [date] | [date + 90] | Medium | [name] |
Automation recommendations:
Set calendar reminders for 30-day refresh cycles on high-traffic posts
List posts by "next refresh date" in ascending order (most urgent first)
Prioritize refresh order by traffic/importance
After each refresh, update the lastUpdated frontmatter field
Track refresh history to measure freshness impact on rankings/citations
Suggest running /blog rewrite for each scheduled refresh
Step 6: Save & Next Steps
Save the calendar and suggest:
Start with /blog brief <first-topic> to create the first content brief
Use /blog write to generate articles from briefs
Use /blog rewrite for freshness updates on existing content
Re-run /blog calendar next month/quarter for the next plan
Review the Content Decay Report weekly and address Critical items first
Track Topic Cluster Progress monthly to ensure clusters reach completion
