A content plan your team can actually execute.
Most content strategies are slide decks that die in Notion. Ours are operational documents — keyword sheets, topic maps, editorial calendars, and per-article briefs — that get used every week for a year.
What we deliver
A content strategy is supposed to answer four questions: what should we write, in what order, for whom, and against which competitors. Most strategies answer the first question with a list of trendy topics and stop there.
Our strategies answer all four — and produce the artifacts your team actually uses. The keyword research sheet your editorial team consults weekly. The topic cluster map that decides what new piece reinforces what existing piece. The editorial calendar with publish dates and assigned authors. The 5-10 sample briefs your team uses as templates for every article that follows.
The deliverables, specifically
What ships at the end of a content strategy engagement:
- Keyword research workbook (XLSX). 100-300 target keywords with monthly search volume, difficulty estimate, search intent classification (informational, commercial, transactional), and topic-cluster grouping.
- Topic cluster map. Visual map showing pillar-and-spoke relationships. Helps your team see which articles reinforce which others, and where internal linking opportunities live.
- 12-month editorial calendar. Topics scheduled by publication date, assigned to topic clusters, with notes on intended search-intent stage.
- 5-10 sample content briefs. Writer-ready specifications: title, meta, H1-H3 outline, target keyword + LSI keywords, recommended word count, internal link suggestions, intended CTA, success metric. Your writers use these as templates.
- Strategic recommendations document. Voice, tone, length conventions, what to avoid, how to handle YMYL topics, distribution channel recommendations.
Who this is for
This service fits if:
- You have writers (in-house, agency, or freelance) but no SEO direction guiding what they produce
- You publish regularly but traffic isn't growing — usually a sign of misaligned topic strategy
- You're starting a content function from scratch and need the strategic foundation before the first piece ships
- You suspect you're writing about the wrong things, or writing about the right things in the wrong order
This service does not fit if:
- You don't have writers and aren't planning to hire any (we strategize, we don't write)
- You want one-off keyword research without the topic-cluster work (we don't sell standalone keyword sheets)
- You want to publish 50+ articles/month with AI generation as the production method (talk to us about AI Integration first — that's a different shape of engagement)
The process.
We map the territory.
Keyword discovery via competitor analysis, search intent modeling, and existing-page analysis. Topic clustering. Initial editorial calendar draft. Findings shared at end of week 2.
We write the templates.
5-10 sample briefs that your writers will use as templates for every article going forward. Strategic recommendations doc covering voice, tone, format, and distribution.
We train the team.
Walkthrough session with your editorial team. We answer the "but what about..." questions and adjust the calendar based on team input. Final deliverables ship at end of week 4.
"We don't disappear after the strategy ships. The first 30 days post-handoff are when most strategies fall apart in execution. We stay available for editorial questions during that window at no additional charge."
What it costs.
Content strategy engagements start at $12,500 and scale based on site size and depth of competitive analysis.
- $12,500 — Standard strategy. 100-150 keywords, topic clusters, 12-month calendar, 5 sample briefs. 4 weeks.
- $18,500 — Strategy + competitive depth. 200-300 keywords, deeper competitor content analysis, 10 sample briefs, voice and tone documentation. 5-6 weeks.
- $3,500/month — Brief generation retainer. Add-on after strategy ships. We produce 8-15 briefs per month so your writers always have queue. Optional, not required.
Bundled pricing available when paired with an SEO audit. Get in touch for a scoping call.
Common questions.
How is this different from what an SEO agency does?
Most agencies bundle strategy with execution and bill monthly. We deliver strategy as a project — finite, scoped, and yours to keep. After we hand off, your team owns the strategy. You're not locked into a monthly retainer to retain access to your own keyword research.
Will you write the actual articles?
No. We brief writers, define quality bars, and review drafts if you want, but we don't write. Most clients have writers already (in-house, contractor, or agency) — we make those writers more effective. If you don't have writers, we can refer you to writing partners we trust.
Can you incorporate AI content into the strategy?
Yes, with caveats. AI-assisted production for first drafts is reasonable for many topics. Pure AI generation for YMYL or high-stakes content isn't. The strategy will distinguish between the two and recommend appropriate workflows. If AI integration is the main goal, see our AI Integration service.
How many keywords is enough?
It depends on site size and ambition. For most B2B SaaS engagements, 100-150 well-clustered keywords cover 12 months of work for a 1-2 person editorial team. DTC brands often need more, since they need product-page coverage in addition to blog topics. We'll size the keyword set based on your team's capacity, not arbitrary scope.
Do you cover technical SEO in the strategy?
Lightly — we'll flag content-related technical issues (canonicalization, schema for articles, internal linking gaps). For a deep technical audit, that's a separate engagement (see SEO Audits). Many clients run an audit first, then content strategy.
What if we want briefs but not the full strategy?
We don't sell standalone briefs without the strategic foundation. Briefs without strategy produce articles that compete with your own existing content or chase keywords your site has no business pursuing. The strategy is what makes the briefs valuable.
Ready to talk?
30-minute calls. No pitch deck. We'll either be useful or we won't, and you'll know within the first 10 minutes.
Start a conversation