SEO Strategy & Planning

SEO is a long game that compounds. This skill helps you plan a content strategy that drives organic signups — deciding what to build, in what order, targeting which keywords.

This skill answers what to write and where. For the other SEO concerns:

• seo-content — How to write it (content briefs, humanized writing, SERP feature targeting)
• technical-seo — How to implement it in code (meta tags, schema, CWV, crawlability, GEO)
• seo-audit — How to assess what exists (scan a codebase, produce an action plan)

Workflow

SEO Strategy Setup:
- [ ] Research keywords for your niche (see Keyword Intent Mapping below)
- [ ] Map keywords to page types (feature, comparison, blog, etc.)
- [ ] Build content architecture (site structure + URL patterns)
- [ ] Prioritize: bottom-funnel pages first, then mid, then top
- [ ] Create internal linking plan
- [ ] Set up tracking (Google Search Console)
- [ ] Build content calendar (2-5 pieces/month)

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Core Principles

• SEO is not gaming Google — it's structuring content so it's findable and useful.
• Content quality and relevance determine rankings. Technical SEO is table stakes.
• Target intent, not just keywords. "Best CRM" and "CRM pricing" have completely different searchers.
• One page per intent. Cannibalizing your own rankings is the most common SaaS SEO mistake.
• Internal linking is your most underused lever.

Don't Do Yet

• Don't obsess over technical SEO before you have content. Schema markup on an empty blog is pointless.
• Don't buy backlinks. Google penalizes this. Earn them with good content.
• Don't write 50 blog posts at once. Start with 5 high-intent pages, measure, iterate.
• Don't hire an SEO agency before doing keyword research yourself. You understand your customers better than they do.

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SEO Timeline: Set Realistic Expectations

Timeframe	What to Expect
Month 1-2	Pages indexed, minimal traffic. Focus on building content.
Month 3-4	Long-tail keywords start ranking (page 2-3).
Month 5-6	Some pages reach page 1 for low-competition terms.
Month 6-12	Compound growth as domain authority builds.

Reality check: SEO takes 3-6 months to show results. If you need signups this week, use paid ads or outreach. SEO is the engine you build now so you're not paying for every click forever.

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Content Architecture for SaaS

Build your site structure around search intent, not your org chart.

High-Priority Pages (Build First)

Page Type	URL Pattern	Search Intent
Homepage	/	Branded searches, direct traffic
Feature pages	/features/[feature]	"How to [solve problem]"
Pricing page	/pricing	"[Product] pricing", "[category] pricing"
Comparison pages	/compare/[competitor]	"[Product] vs [Competitor]"
Use case pages	/for/[audience]	"[Category] for [role/industry]"

Content Pages (Build Over Time)

Page Type	URL Pattern	Search Intent
How-to guides	/blog/how-to-[action]	Tutorials that drive signups
Listicles	/blog/best-[category]	"Best [category] tools" — feature your product
Guides	/blog/[topic]-guide	Comprehensive mid-funnel content
Templates	/templates/[use-case]	"[Use case] template" — free value
Glossary	/glossary/[term]	"What is [term]?" — top-of-funnel

Tell AI:

Create a content architecture for our SaaS product [name]:
- Product solves [problem] for [audience]
- Main features: [list features]
- Top 3 competitors: [list competitors]
Generate a sitemap with URL patterns for: homepage, feature pages, comparison pages,
use case pages, and initial blog post ideas. Prioritize by search intent value.

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Keyword Intent Mapping

Every keyword has an intent. Match your page type to the intent:

Intent	Example Searches	Best Page Type
Informational	"what is [concept]", "how to [action]"	Blog post, glossary entry
Navigational	"[your brand] login", "[your brand] pricing"	Ensure YOUR pages rank #1
Commercial	"best [category] tools", "[tool A] vs [tool B]"	Comparison page, listicle
Transactional	"[category] pricing", "buy [product]"	Pricing page, signup page

Keyword Research by Tool

Claude Code (has web access via Ahrefs MCP or web search):

Do keyword research for our product [name] in the [category] space:
- Find 20 keywords our ICP would search for
- Classify each by intent (informational, navigational, commercial, transactional)
- Estimate competition level (low, medium, high)
- Recommend which page type to create for each keyword
- Prioritize: low competition + high intent first

Lovable / Replit / Cursor (no web access — bring your own data):

1. Do keyword research first using a free tool: Google Search Console (what you already rank for), Google autocomplete (type your topic and note suggestions), or AnswerThePublic
2. Then paste results into your AI tool:

Here are my keyword research results: [paste keywords + volumes]
Classify each by intent, recommend a page type for each, and prioritize by
low competition + high intent.

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Internal Linking Strategy

Internal links are free and high-impact. Use them intentionally.

Rules

• Every blog post links to at least 1 feature/product page
• Every feature page links to related features and relevant blog posts
• Use descriptive anchor text: "our workflow automation feature" not "click here"
• Create hub pages that link to all content in a topic cluster

Topic Clusters

Group content around themes. Each cluster has:

1. Pillar page — Comprehensive overview (e.g., "Complete Guide to [Topic]")
2. Cluster pages — Specific subtopics (e.g., "How to [specific action]")
3. Internal links — Every cluster page links to the pillar. Pillar links to all clusters.

Tell AI:

Build an internal linking plan for our site:
- Audit existing pages and identify linking opportunities
- For each blog post, suggest 2-3 internal links to product/feature pages
- For each feature page, suggest 2-3 links to related blog posts
- Identify gaps: pages with zero internal links pointing to them
- Use descriptive anchor text (not "click here" or "learn more")

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Content Planning

Prioritization Framework

Write content in this order:

1. Bottom-of-funnel first: Comparison pages, pricing page, feature pages — these convert
2. Mid-funnel: How-to guides, use case pages — these build authority
3. Top-of-funnel: Glossary, broad guides — these drive volume (but lower conversion)

Content Calendar (Simple Version)

Claude Code:

Create a 3-month content calendar for our SaaS blog:
- Product: [name], solves [problem] for [audience]
- Goal: drive organic signups
- Mix: 2 bottom-funnel pieces, 2 mid-funnel pieces, 1 top-funnel piece per month
- For each piece: title, target keyword, intent, URL, and brief outline
- Use web search to validate keyword difficulty before finalizing

Lovable / Replit / Cursor: Use the same prompt above but remove the last line (these tools can't search the web). Instead, validate keywords yourself in Google Search Console or a free tool like Ubersuggest first, then paste your validated keyword list into the prompt.

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Measuring SEO Results

Metric	Tool	What It Tells You
Organic traffic	Google Search Console (free)	How many people find you via search
Keyword rankings	Google Search Console	Which queries you appear for and position
Click-through rate	Google Search Console	Whether your titles/descriptions earn clicks
Organic signups	Your analytics tool	Whether SEO traffic actually converts

Tell AI:

Set up SEO tracking:
- Connect Google Search Console to our site
- Add UTM parameters to track organic → signup conversion
- Create a monthly report: top 10 pages by organic traffic, top 10 keywords by impressions,
  click-through rate by page, and organic signup count

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Common Mistakes

Mistake	Fix
Writing content with no keyword research	Research first. Every page should target a specific keyword + intent.
Targeting high-competition keywords first	Start with long-tail, low-competition keywords. Build authority before going after "CRM software".
No internal links	Link every page to related pages. It's free and high-impact.
Duplicate intent across pages	One page per search intent. Don't create 3 blog posts targeting the same keyword.
Expecting results in 2 weeks	SEO takes 3-6 months. Track progress monthly, not daily.
Ignoring existing content	Update and improve old content before writing new. A refreshed page ranks faster than a new one.