SERP-based semantic topic clustering for content

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.

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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

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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_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/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:

{
  "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:

   {
     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."

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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."

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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 to auto-create content. Briefs saved to cluster-briefs/."

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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

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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

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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

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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"

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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

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Security

• All URLs fetched via "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/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.