Content Strategy
Decide what you are not going to publish, then write the rest
A content strategy is mostly a set of decisions about what not to make: which topics you have no realistic claim to, which existing pages should be merged or removed, and which pieces are worth more effort than anything new.
The work
Six decisions, in the order they have to be made
A content strategy is not a document that lists articles. It is a sequence of decisions, and the fourth one is the one most teams never make.
Map the demand, then map the intent behind it
Not just what people search but what they want when they search it. The same phrase can mean early research, active comparison or immediate purchase, and a page that guesses wrong will be well written and useless.
You get: Intent-mapped demand map for the commercial cluster
Audit what you already own
Every page gets a decision: keep, refresh, merge or remove. This is where most of the immediate value sits, because sites that have been publishing for years are usually carrying several pages competing for the same search.
You get: Page-level keep, refresh, merge or remove decisions
Build the clusters
Group topics so that one substantial page carries the main intent and the supporting pages genuinely support it rather than duplicate it. Then plan the internal links properly, because a cluster with no linking is just a list.
You get: Cluster architecture and internal linking plan
Write the no-list
The explicit record of topics we are not covering and why: no realistic chance of competing, no commercial connection, no genuine expertise, or already served adequately by an existing page. This is the document that lets someone refuse an idea.
You get: Written no-list with a reason against each entry
Brief so the writing has somewhere to go
Each brief states the reason the piece exists, the question it answers, what it must say that the ranking pages do not, and which internal expert has to be interviewed for it to be worth reading.
You get: Editorial briefs with a stated reason to exist
Plan for decay before it happens
Content ages. Prices change, tools are replaced, guidance is updated. A refresh schedule tied to real signals keeps the pages that earn from quietly declining while attention goes to new work.
You get: Refresh schedule and decay monitoring
The recurring decision
Refresh what exists, or commission something new?
| Dimension | Refresh what exists | Commission something new |
|---|---|---|
| When it applies | A page already addresses this intent and is close enough that the gap looks fixable | There is real demand nothing on the site addresses, or the existing page serves a different intent entirely |
| What it costs | Usually a fraction of a new commission, because the structure and the links already exist | Full cost: research, expert time, writing, editing, design and internal linking from scratch |
| How quickly it shows | Faster, because the page already has history, links and crawl attention | Slower, because a new URL has to earn its standing before it can be judged |
| The risk | A careless rewrite can lose what was already working, so changes are made deliberately and tracked | The new page competes with something you already own and both end up weaker |
| What it needs from you | Updated facts, current pricing or process detail, and a short expert review | A full interview, original material, and time from someone who actually knows the subject |
The wrong target
Publishing volume measures effort, not progress. Sixty pages that each deserve to exist will outperform six hundred that mostly do not, and the six hundred are harder to maintain.
Volume targets have a predictable failure pattern. To hit the number, briefs get thinner, expert interviews get skipped, and pieces get assembled from whatever is already ranking. The output is competent, indistinguishable, and gives no one a reason to link to it or cite it.
It also creates a maintenance liability. Every page published is a page that will eventually go out of date, compete with something newer, or need a decision made about it. Sites that publish faster than they can maintain end up spending their next budget on cleaning up the last one.
What you receive
What is actually in the strategy
This is a working document your team can use without us, not a slide deck. If it cannot be used to make a decision in a Monday meeting, it has not done its job.
- A demand map with intent classified per query group, not just a keyword list
- A page-by-page audit of what you already own, with a decision and a reason for each
- Cluster architecture showing which page owns which intent and how they link
- The no-list: topics we are deliberately not covering, and why each was ruled out
- A prioritised backlog with refresh and new-commission items ranked against each other
- Editorial briefs for the first tranche, each with a stated reason to exist
- An interview plan naming which internal experts are needed for which pieces
- A refresh calendar for the pages already earning something worth protecting
- A measurement framework tied to enquiries and pipeline rather than to sessions
Questions
What teams ask about content strategy
How is this different from a content calendar?
A calendar answers when. A strategy answers whether, and that is the harder and more valuable question. It sets out which topics are worth your effort, which are not, what each piece has to do commercially, and how the pages relate to one another.
The practical test is whether someone can use the document to refuse an idea. If a plan cannot justify saying no to a plausible suggestion, it is a schedule rather than a strategy.
Will you recommend deleting content we paid for?
Sometimes, though merging is more common than deleting. Where three thin pages address the same question, combining them into one substantial page and redirecting the others usually produces a stronger result than leaving all three to compete.
We never remove anything without showing you what it currently earns in traffic, links and enquiries. Pages that produce nothing measurable and cannot realistically be improved are the only ones we suggest retiring outright.
How do you decide between refreshing a page and writing a new one?
We look at whether a page already ranking exists for that intent, how far off it is, and whether the gap is quality, coverage, structure or authority. If an existing page is close and the gap is fixable, refreshing it is cheaper, faster and more likely to work.
New pieces are commissioned where there is genuine demand nothing on the site addresses, or where the existing page is targeting a materially different intent and forcing them together would serve neither.
How much should we be publishing?
Less than most calendars assume, and with more effort per piece. Volume targets tend to produce material that summarises what already ranks, which gives nobody a reason to read it, link to it or cite it.
We plan around what your team can genuinely produce at a standard worth publishing, including the time your subject-matter experts can realistically give. A slower cadence that holds its quality beats a fast one that quietly declines.
What do you need from our team?
Access to people who know things: usually a salesperson, someone in delivery, and one senior expert. Short recorded conversations, not writing assignments.
We also want your objection list, your lost-deal reasons and whatever your support team gets asked repeatedly. That material is more useful than any keyword tool because it is specific to how your customers actually decide.
Find out which of your pages are working against each other
Most sites that have been publishing for a few years are carrying pages that compete for the same search. On a strategy call we look for those first, because consolidating them is usually the fastest thing you can do.
Related
Where to go next
- our content workThe wider practice this planning work sits inside.
- the organic programme this feedsStrategy is worth little without the technical and authority work beside it.
- digital PR campaignsWhere the assets worth linking to come from.
- visibility in AI answersClear, well-structured content is the input there too.
- how long organic work takes
- the standards we publish to
Last updated · Reviewed by Zubair Afzal