/seo-content

name: seo-content
description: "Use this skill when the user needs to write SEO content — blog posts, landing pages, feature pages, comparison pages, how-to guides, or any content meant to rank in search and get cited by AI. Covers content briefs, humanized writing that avoids AI detection, SERP feature targeting, entity optimization, content refresh, and quality self-checks. This is the writing skill — for strategy see seo, for technical implementation see technical-seo, for auditing see seo-audit."

SEO Content Generation

You write SEO content that ranks in Google, gets cited by AI search engines, and reads like a sharp human wrote it — because the fastest way to get penalized or ignored is to publish content that smells like AI.

This skill covers the full content production workflow: brief the piece, write it with humanization baked in, optimize for SERP features and AI citations, then self-check before delivery.

For content strategy and keyword research, see **seo**. For technical implementation (schema, meta tags, CWV), see **technical-seo**. For auditing an existing site, see **seo-audit**.

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The Workflow

Every piece of content follows this sequence:

1. **Brief** — Research the keyword, analyze the SERP, find the angle 2. **Write** — Draft with humanization rules applied from the start (not bolted on after) 3. **Optimize** — Target SERP features, structure for AI citation, handle entity SEO 4. **Check** — Run the quality self-check before delivering

Never skip the brief. Writing without a brief produces generic content that ranks nowhere.

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Step 1: Content Brief

Before writing a single word, produce a brief. This is the most important step — it determines whether the content has a reason to exist.

Brief Template

## Content Brief: [Working Title]

**Target keyword:** [primary keyword]
**Secondary keywords:** [3-5 related terms to include naturally]
**Search intent:** [informational / commercial / transactional]
**Monthly search volume:** [if known, or estimate as low/medium/high]

**SERP analysis:**
- What currently ranks: [describe the top 3-5 results — format, length, angle]
- What's missing: [the gap you'll fill — what do all top results fail to cover?]
- SERP features present: [featured snippet? PAA? video carousel? AI overview?]

**Content angle:** [your unique take — why should THIS piece exist when 10 others already do?]
  Angle types: original data, first-person experience, contrarian position,
  deeper expertise, newer information, better structure, specific audience focus

**Content type:** [how-to / comparison / listicle / guide / landing page / case study]
**Target word count:** [based on what's ranking — match or beat by 20%]

**Outline:**
- H1: [title — keyword-front-loaded, compelling]
- H2: [section] — targets [SERP feature or PAA question]
  - H3: [subsection]
- H2: [section]
  ...

**Internal links:** [2-3 existing pages to link TO from this content]
**Link TO this from:** [1-2 existing pages that should link to this new piece]
**CTA placement:** [where and what — e.g., "inline CTA after section 3 → free trial"]

**Featured snippet target:** [the specific query + format: paragraph/list/table]
**AI citation target:** [the specific question this content should be cited for]

Finding the Angle

The angle is everything. Without one, you're writing content that already exists.

| Angle Type | When to Use | Example | |-----------|-------------|---------| | **Original data** | You have data nobody else does | "We analyzed 2,847 SaaS pricing pages. Here's what converts." | | **First-person experience** | You've actually done the thing | "I migrated 3 production apps from Heroku to Railway. Here's what broke." | | **Contrarian position** | The consensus is wrong or incomplete | "Stop obsessing over domain authority. Here's what actually moves rankings." | | **Deeper expertise** | Top results are shallow | "Every guide says 'use schema markup.' None show you the 6 schemas that actually trigger rich results." | | **Newer information** | Top results are outdated | "Google's March 2026 update changed everything about [topic]. Here's what works now." | | **Specific audience** | Top results are generic | "CI/CD for solo developers — not the enterprise playbook, the one-person-team playbook." |

**If you can't articulate the angle, don't write the piece.** You'll produce another mediocre article that fights for position 11.

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Step 2: Write with Humanization

This is the core of the skill. The humanization rules are not a post-processing step — they're how you write from the first sentence.

For the full humanization framework and anti-detection patterns, see [HUMANIZATION.md](HUMANIZATION.md).

For writing templates by content type, see [CONTENT-TYPES.md](CONTENT-TYPES.md).

The Non-Negotiable Rules

These apply to every piece of content:

**1. Vary your rhythm.** Mix sentence lengths aggressively. Some sentences are three words. Others stretch to thirty, with embedded clauses and asides that give the reader a sense of a mind actually thinking through the problem rather than outputting pre-formed paragraphs.

**2. Have a point of view.** Take positions. "This approach is wrong and here's why" is more valuable than "there are pros and cons to consider." Humans have opinions. AI hedges.

**3. Use first-person experience.** "I tested this" beats "testing reveals." "We found that" beats "research shows." If you don't have personal experience to draw from, use the founder's — ask them what they've seen, done, or learned.

**4. Be specific, not comprehensive.** "Vercel deploys in 8 seconds on a cold start" beats "modern hosting platforms offer fast deployment times." Name the tool. Cite the number. Date the experience.

**5. Write ugly sentences on purpose.** Not every sentence should parse cleanly. Start some with "And" or "But." Use fragments. Interrupt yourself with a dash — then finish the thought. This is how humans actual