---
name: seo-cluster
description: >
  SERP-based semantic topic clustering for content architecture planning. Groups
  keywords by actual Google SERP overlap (not text similarity), designs hub-and-spoke
  content clusters with internal link matrices, and generates interactive
  visualizations. Optionally executes content creation if claude-blog is installed.
  Use when user says "topic cluster", "content cluster", "semantic clustering",
  "pillar page", "hub and spoke", "content architecture", "keyword grouping",
  or "cluster plan".
user-invocable: true
argument-hint: "<seed-keyword or url>"
license: MIT
metadata:
  author: AgriciDaniel
  original_author: "Lutfiya Miller (Pro Hub Challenge Winner)"
  version: "2.2.4"
  category: seo
---

# Semantic Topic Clustering

SERP-overlap-driven keyword clustering for content architecture. Groups keywords
by how Google actually ranks them (shared top-10 results), not by text similarity.
Designs hub-and-spoke content clusters with internal link matrices and generates
interactive cluster map visualizations.

**Scripts:** Located at the plugin root `scripts/` directory.

---

## Quick Reference

| Command | What it does |
|---------|-------------|
| `/seo cluster plan <seed-keyword>` | Full planning workflow: expand, cluster, architect, visualize |
| `/seo cluster plan --from strategy` | Import from existing `/seo plan` output |
| `/seo cluster execute` | Execute plan: create content via claude-blog or output briefs |
| `/seo cluster map` | Regenerate the interactive cluster visualization |

---

## Planning Workflow

### Step 1: Seed Keyword Expansion

Expand the seed keyword into 30-50 variants using WebSearch:

1. **Related searches**: Search the seed, extract "related searches" and "people also search for"
2. **People Also Ask (PAA)**: Extract all PAA questions from SERP results
3. **Long-tail modifiers**: Append common modifiers: "best", "how to", "vs", "for beginners", "tools", "examples", "guide", "template", "mistakes", "checklist"
4. **Question mining**: Generate who/what/when/where/why/how variants
5. **Intent modifiers**: Add commercial modifiers: "pricing", "review", "alternative", "comparison", "free", "top"

**Deduplication:** Normalize variants (lowercase, strip articles), remove exact duplicates.
Target: 30-50 unique keyword variants. If under 30, run a second expansion pass
with the top PAA questions as seeds.

### Step 2: SERP Overlap Clustering

This is the core differentiator. Load `references/serp-overlap-methodology.md` for
the full algorithm.

**Process:**
1. Group keywords by initial intent guess (reduces pairwise comparisons)
2. For each candidate pair within a group, WebSearch both keywords
3. Count shared URLs in the top 10 organic results (ignore ads, featured snippets, PAA)
4. Apply thresholds:

| Shared Results | Relationship | Action |
|---------------|-------------|--------|
| 7-10 | Same post | Merge into single target page |
| 4-6 | Same cluster | Group under same spoke cluster |
| 2-3 | Interlink | Place in adjacent clusters, add cross-links |
| 0-1 | Separate | Assign to different clusters or exclude |

**Optimization:** With 40 keywords, full pairwise = 780 comparisons. Instead:
- Pre-group by intent (4 groups of ~10 = 4 x 45 = 180 comparisons)
- Only cross-check group boundary keywords
- Skip pairs where both are long-tail variants of the same head term (assume same cluster)

**DataForSEO integration:** If DataForSEO MCP is available, use `serp_organic_live_advanced`
instead of WebSearch for SERP data. Run `claude-seo run dataforseo_costs.py check serp_organic_live_advanced --count N`
before each batch. If `"status": "needs_approval"`, show cost estimate and ask user.
If `"status": "blocked"`, fall back to WebSearch.

### Step 3: Intent Classification

Classify each keyword into one of four intent categories:

| Intent | Signals | Include in Clusters? |
|--------|---------|---------------------|
| Informational | how, what, why, guide, tutorial, learn | Yes |
| Commercial | best, top, review, comparison, vs, alternative | Yes |
| Transactional | buy, price, discount, coupon, order, sign up | Yes |
| Navigational | brand names, specific product names, login | No (exclude) |

Remove navigational keywords from clustering. Flag borderline cases for
manual review. Keywords can have mixed intent (e.g., "best CRM software" is
both commercial and informational) -- classify by dominant intent.

### Step 4: Hub-and-Spoke Architecture

Load `references/hub-spoke-architecture.md` for full specifications.

**Design the cluster structure:**

1. **Select the pillar keyword**: Highest volume, broadest intent, most SERP overlap with other keywords
2. **Group spokes into clusters**: Each cluster is a subtopic area (2-5 clusters per pillar)
3. **Assign posts to clusters**: Each cluster gets 2-4 spoke posts
4. **Select templates per post**: Based on intent classification:

| Intent Pattern | Template Options |
|---------------|-----------------|
| Informational (broad) | ultimate-guide |
| Informational (how) | how-to |
| Informational (list) | listicle |
| Informational (concept) | explainer |
| Commercial (compare) | comparison |
| Commercial (evaluate) | review |
| Commercial (rank) | best-of |
| Transactional | landing-page |

5. **Set word count targets:**
   - Pillar page: 2500-4000 words
   - Spoke posts: 1200-1800 words

6. **Cannibalization check**: No two posts share the same primary keyword. If SERP
   overlap is 7+, merge those keywords into a single post targeting both.

### Step 5: Internal Link Matrix

Design the bidirectional linking structure:

| Link Type | Direction | Requirement |
|-----------|-----------|-------------|
| Spoke to pillar | spoke -> pillar | Mandatory (every spoke) |
| Pillar to spoke | pillar -> spoke | Mandatory (every spoke) |
| Spoke to spoke (within cluster) | spoke <-> spoke | 2-3 links per post |
| Cross-cluster | spoke -> spoke (other cluster) | 0-1 links per post |

**Rules:**
- Every post must have minimum 3 incoming internal links
- No orphan pages (every post reachable from pillar in 2 clicks)
- Anchor text must use target keyword or close variant (no "click here")
- Link placement: within body content, not just navigation/sidebar

Generate the link matrix as a JSON adjacency list:
```json
{
  "links": [
    { "from": "pillar", "to": "cluster-0-post-0", "type": "mandatory", "anchor": "keyword" },
    { "from": "cluster-0-post-0", "to": "pillar", "type": "mandatory", "anchor": "keyword" }
  ]
}
```

### Step 6: Interactive Cluster Map

Generate `cluster-map.html` using the template at `templates/cluster-map.html`.

1. Read the template file
2. Build the `CLUSTER_DATA` JSON object from the cluster plan:
   ```javascript
   {
     pillar: { title, keyword, volume, template, wordCount, url },
     clusters: [{ name, color, posts: [{ title, keyword, volume, template, wordCount, url, status }] }],
     links: [{ from, to, type }],
     meta: { totalPosts, totalClusters, totalLinks, estimatedWords }
   }
   ```
3. Replace the `CLUSTER_DATA` placeholder in the template with the actual JSON
4. Write the completed HTML file to the output directory
5. Inform user: "Open `cluster-map.html` in a browser to explore the interactive cluster map."

---

## Strategy Import

When invoked with `--from strategy`:

1. Look for the most recent `/seo plan` output in the current directory (search for
   files matching `*SEO*Plan*`, `*strategy*`, `*content-strategy*`)
2. Parse markdown tables for: keywords, page types, content pillars, URL structures
3. Validate extracted data: check for duplicates, missing keywords, incomplete entries
4. Enrich with SERP data: run SERP overlap analysis on extracted keywords
5. Build cluster plan using the imported keywords as the starting set (skip Step 1)

If no strategy file is found, prompt the user: "No existing SEO plan found in the
current directory. Run `/seo plan` first, or provide a seed keyword for fresh clustering."

---

## Execution Workflow

When `/seo cluster execute` is invoked:

### Check for claude-blog

```
Test: Does ~/.claude/skills/blog/SKILL.md exist?
```

**If claude-blog IS installed:**

1. Load `references/execution-workflow.md` for the full algorithm
2. Read `cluster-plan.json` from the current directory
3. Check for resume state: scan output directory for already-written posts
4. Execute in priority order: pillar first, then spokes by volume (highest first)
5. For each post, invoke the `blog-write` skill with cluster context:
   - Cluster role (pillar or spoke)
   - Position in cluster (cluster index, post index)
   - Target keyword and secondary keywords
   - Template type and word count target
   - Internal links to include (with anchors)
   - Links to receive from future posts (placeholder markers)
6. After each post is written, scan previous posts for backward link placeholders
   and inject the new post's URL
7. After all posts are written, generate the cluster scorecard

**If claude-blog is NOT installed:**

1. Generate detailed content briefs for each post in the cluster plan
2. Each brief includes:
   - Title and meta description
   - Primary keyword and secondary keywords
   - Template type and suggested structure (H2/H3 outline)
   - Word count target
   - Internal links to include (with anchor text)
   - Key points to cover
   - Competing pages to differentiate from
3. Write briefs to `cluster-briefs/` directory as individual markdown files
4. Inform user: "Install [claude-blog](https://github.com/AgriciDaniel/claude-blog)
   to auto-create content. Briefs saved to `cluster-briefs/`."

---

## Cluster Scorecard

Post-execution quality report. Run automatically after `/seo cluster execute` or
on demand via analysis of the output directory.

| Metric | Target | How Measured |
|--------|--------|-------------|
| Coverage | 100% | Posts written / posts planned |
| Link Density | 3+ per post | Count internal links per post |
| Orphan Pages | 0 | Posts with < 1 incoming link |
| Cannibalization | 0 conflicts | Check for duplicate primary keywords |
| Image Count | 1+ per post | Posts with at least one image |
| Pillar Links | 100% | All spokes link to pillar and vice versa |
| Cross-Links | 80%+ | Recommended spoke-to-spoke links implemented |
| Content Gaps | 0 | Planned posts that were skipped or incomplete |

---

## Map Regeneration

When `/seo cluster map` is invoked:

1. Read `cluster-plan.json` from the current directory
2. Scan output directory and update post statuses (planned vs written)
3. Regenerate `cluster-map.html` with updated statuses
4. Report: posts written vs planned, link completion percentage

---

## Output Files

All outputs are written to the current working directory:

| File | Description |
|------|-------------|
| `cluster-plan.json` | Machine-readable cluster plan (full data) |
| `cluster-plan.md` | Human-readable cluster plan summary |
| `cluster-map.html` | Interactive SVG visualization |
| `cluster-briefs/` | Content briefs (if no claude-blog) |
| `cluster-scorecard.md` | Post-execution quality report |

---

## Cross-Skill Integration

| Skill | Relationship |
|-------|-------------|
| `seo-plan` | Import source: strategy import reads seo-plan output |
| `seo-content` | Quality check: E-E-A-T validation of generated content |
| `seo-schema` | Schema markup: Article, BreadcrumbList, ItemList for cluster pages |
| `seo-dataforseo` | Data source: SERP data when DataForSEO MCP is available |
| `seo-google` | Reporting: generate PDF report of cluster plan and scorecard |

After cluster planning or execution completes, offer:
"Generate a PDF report? Use `/seo google report`"

---

## Error Handling

| Error | Cause | Resolution |
|-------|-------|------------|
| "No seed keyword provided" | Missing argument | Prompt user for seed keyword or URL |
| "Insufficient keyword variants" | Expansion yielded < 15 keywords | Run second expansion pass with PAA questions |
| "SERP data unavailable" | WebSearch and DataForSEO both failing | Retry after 30s; if persistent, use intent-only clustering with warning |
| "No strategy file found" | `--from strategy` but no plan exists | Prompt user to run `/seo plan` first |
| "cluster-plan.json not found" | Execute without planning | Prompt user to run `/seo cluster plan` first |
| "claude-blog not installed" | Execute attempted without blog skill | Generate content briefs instead; suggest installation |
| "DataForSEO budget exceeded" | Cost check returned "blocked" | Fall back to WebSearch; inform user |
| "Duplicate primary keywords" | Cannibalization detected | Merge affected posts or reassign keywords |
| "Orphan page detected" | Post missing incoming links | Add links from nearest cluster siblings |
| "Resume state corrupted" | Mismatch between plan and output | Rebuild state from output directory scan |

---

## Security

- All URLs fetched via `claude-seo run render_page.py <url> --mode auto` (SPA-aware SSRF protection via `url_safety`)
- No credentials stored or transmitted
- Output files contain no PII or API keys
- DataForSEO cost checks run before every API call

## FLOW Framework Integration

For prompt-guided keyword research and gap analysis, use `/seo flow find [url|topic]`: FLOW's 5 find-stage prompts complement the SERP-overlap clustering methodology with structured discovery prompts.
