article-rewriter

name	article-rewriter
description	Rewrites existing articles with fresh angles, updated data, and improved SEO while preserving core message. Use when refreshing outdated content or adapting articles for new audiences.
allowed-tools	Read Write Glob
metadata	{"author":"matthewhitcham","version":"1.0"}

Article Rewriter

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when you need to:

• Refresh an outdated blog post with current data and improved structure
• Rewrite an article with a new angle for a different audience
• Improve SEO performance of existing content that has lost rankings
• Update a competitor-style article into original, higher-quality content

DO NOT use this skill for spinning or plagiarizing content. This skill produces genuinely rewritten content that adds new value.

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Core Principle

A REWRITE MUST MAKE THE CONTENT MEANINGFULLY BETTER — NOT JUST DIFFERENT. IF THE REWRITE ADDS NO NEW VALUE, IT IS A WASTE OF TIME.

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Phase 1: Brief

Required Inputs

Input	What to Ask	Default
Original article	"Paste the article or provide the URL."	No default — must be provided
Rewrite goal	"Why are you rewriting? SEO refresh, new audience, updated info, better quality?"	SEO refresh
Target keyword	"What keyword should the rewritten version target?"	Same as original
Audience	"Same audience or different?"	Same audience
What to keep	"Any sections, examples, or data that must stay?"	Preserve core message and structure
What to change	"What specifically needs improvement?"	User's discretion — will audit
Word count	"Target length for the rewrite?"	Match original +/- 20%

GATE: Confirm brief and review original article before proceeding.

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Phase 2: Audit and Plan

Content Audit

Before rewriting, analyze the original article on these dimensions:

## Content Audit

**Strengths (keep these):**
- [What works well — strong sections, good examples, solid structure]

**Weaknesses (fix these):**
- [Outdated data, weak intro, poor formatting, missing sections]

**SEO Issues:**
- [Keyword placement, meta description, heading structure, density]

**Structural Issues:**
- [Flow problems, missing transitions, wall-of-text sections]

**Missing Elements:**
- [Examples, data, internal links, CTA, visuals]

Rewrite Plan

## Rewrite Plan

**New angle/hook:** [How the rewrite will open differently]
**Sections to keep (with updates):** [List]
**Sections to rewrite completely:** [List]
**Sections to add:** [List]
**Sections to cut:** [List]
**New data or examples to include:** [List]

GATE: Present audit and plan for approval before rewriting.

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Phase 3: Write

Rewriting Rules

Rule	Detail
Never copy-paste paragraphs	Every paragraph must be rewritten, not rearranged
New intro required	The opening paragraph must be completely original
Add new value	Include at least 2 new examples, data points, or insights not in the original
Improve structure	Fix heading hierarchy, add lists where text is dense
Update data	Replace outdated statistics with current ones (note sources)
Better formatting	Short paragraphs, bold key phrases, bullet points for lists of 3+
SEO optimization	Apply keyword placement rules (H1, first 100 words, H2s, meta description)

Rewrite Checklist (per section)

For each section of the rewrite:

• Is this meaningfully different from the original (not just synonym swaps)?
• Does it add new value (examples, data, perspective)?
• Is it better structured and more readable?
• Does it serve the target keyword better?

Deliverables

1. Full rewritten article with proper heading structure
2. Meta description (150-160 characters)
3. Change summary — what was kept, changed, added, and removed

## Change Summary

| Section | Action | Detail |
|---------|--------|--------|
| Intro | Completely rewritten | New hook using [approach] |
| Section 2 | Updated | New data from [source], added example |
| Section 4 | Added | New section on [topic] not in original |
| Section 6 | Removed | Redundant with Section 3 |

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Phase 4: Polish

1. Before/After Comparison

Highlight 2-3 key improvements:

## Key Improvements

**1. Intro**
Before: "In today's digital world, content marketing is important..."
After: "We published 47 blog posts last year. Three of them drove 80% of our traffic. Here's what made them different."

**2. [Section name]**
Before: [Brief excerpt]
After: [Brief excerpt]

2. SEO Improvement Checklist

## SEO Checklist

- [ ] Target keyword appears in the H1
- [ ] Keyword in first 100 words
- [ ] Keyword in at least one H2
- [ ] Keyword density between 0.5-1.5%
- [ ] New meta description written (150-160 chars)
- [ ] Heading hierarchy is correct (H1 > H2 > H3)
- [ ] Internal links added or updated
- [ ] Alt text suggestions for any images
- [ ] Word count meets target

3. Readability Assessment

Compare readability metrics before and after: reading level, average sentence length, passive voice percentage.

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Example: Rewriting "10 Email Marketing Tips" from 2022

Audit findings:
- Outdated stats (2021 data)
- Generic tips with no examples
- No keyword optimization
- 800 words (too thin for ranking)

Rewrite plan:
- New angle: "10 Email Marketing Tactics That Work in 2025"
- Add specific examples for each tip
- Include 2024-2025 email marketing data
- Expand to 1,800 words with deeper coverage
- Target keyword: "email marketing tactics 2025"

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Anti-Patterns

• Synonym swapping — replacing words with synonyms is not rewriting. It is spinning, and readers and search engines can tell.
• Keeping the same intro — the intro is the most important paragraph. If it does not change, the rewrite feels stale.
• No new value added — if the rewrite has the same examples, same data, and same structure, it is not worth publishing.
• Ignoring outdated data — rewriting around old statistics undermines credibility. Update or remove.
• Making it longer without making it better — adding 500 words of fluff to hit a word count hurts quality.

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Recovery

• Original is good but outdated: Focus the rewrite on data updates, new examples, and SEO fixes. Preserve the structure.
• Original is poorly written: Rewrite from scratch using the original as a topic brief, not a template.
• No new data available: Substitute with qualitative improvements — better examples, clearer explanations, stronger structure.
• User wants minimal changes: Create a "light refresh" — new intro, updated data, improved meta description, better formatting. Flag that light refreshes have limited SEO impact.
• Rewrite is too similar to original: Compare paragraphs side-by-side. Any paragraph that is more than 50% similar needs another pass.