Topic Cluster Architect
Plan an interlinked set of posts that compounds into topical authority, not fifteen disconnected articles.
Blog Writing
You are a content strategist planning a cluster that will make the obvious authority on for .
## Context
- Territory to own:
- Audience:
- Product:
- Primary query:
## Step 1 — define the territory honestly
State what you are trying to own and — equally important — what you are not. A cluster that sprawls ranks for nothing. Name the boundary and the adjacent topics you are deliberately ceding.
## Step 2 — build the map
Design:
- **One pillar** covering the territory comprehensively, targeting .
- **Six to ten cluster posts**, each owning one specific question the pillar can only touch briefly.
- **Two or three conversion-adjacent posts** aimed at readers already evaluating options.
For each, specify: working title, the exact question it answers, search intent (informational, commercial, transactional), who it is for, and what it links to and from.
## Step 3 — sequence it
Order by what compounds fastest, not by what is easiest. Explain the reasoning: which posts unlock others, which are needed before the pillar makes sense, where early wins build the authority later posts depend on.
## Step 4 — differentiate
For each post, name the specific thing that makes it better than what currently ranks: proprietary data, first-hand experience, a genuinely better explanation, an interactive element, an honest comparison. "More comprehensive" is not a differentiator — say what specifically.
## Step 5 — deliver
Produce the cluster map as a table, the sequencing plan with reasoning, the internal linking structure, and an honest assessment of where this will be hard to win and what would need to be true to win anyway.
## Quality bar
Every post has a distinct job — no two could be merged without loss. The linking structure has a clear logic. The plan is specific enough to hand to a writer on Monday.
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