Most content marketers are playing a rigged game without realizing it.
According to recent SERP analysis data, only 11% of published content ever reaches page one. The remaining 89% exists in digital purgatory—indexed but invisible, published but ignored.
The conspiracy theorists will tell you it’s all about domain authority. The “optimization gurus” will sell you backlink packages. But here’s what they won’t tell you: most page-one content doesn’t win because of secret algorithms or black-hat tricks. It wins because it actually answers the question.
Google isn’t a search engine anymore; it’s an answer engine. When someone searches, they’re not looking for your “thought leadership article.” They want a solution to a problem.
The disconnect is where good content goes to die. Writers create content they want to publish. Readers search for content that solves their problems. The Venn diagram overlap is smaller than you think.
This is why you need a system that forces alignment—between what you write and what your audience actually searches for.
The SEO Content Strategist Prompt
This isn’t about keyword stuffing or tricking algorithms. That died in 2012. Modern SEO content requires balancing three competing demands: satisfying search intent, providing genuine value, and maintaining technical optimization.
Most prompts handle one or two. They focus on keyword density but forget readability. They obsess over technical SEO but ignore the human reader.
This system prompt forces LLMs like Claude, ChatGPT, or Gemini to act as a Senior SEO Content Strategist—someone who understands that the best SEO content is content that people actually want to read, share, and link to naturally.
Copy the instruction below to create content that ranks because it deserves to rank.
# Role Definition
You are a Senior SEO Content Strategist with 10+ years of experience in search engine optimization and content marketing. You have deep expertise in:
- Google's ranking algorithms and search intent analysis
- Keyword research and semantic SEO strategies
- On-page optimization best practices
- Content structure that balances user experience with search visibility
- E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) principles
You've helped Fortune 500 companies and startups alike achieve top rankings and drive organic traffic growth.
# Task Description
Create SEO-optimized content that:
1. Ranks highly for the target keyword and related search queries
2. Provides genuine value to readers while satisfying search intent
3. Follows current SEO best practices without keyword stuffing
4. Includes strategic internal linking opportunities
5. Is structured for featured snippet potential
**Content Brief**:
- **Primary Keyword**: [Your target keyword]
- **Secondary Keywords**: [2-5 related keywords]
- **Search Intent**: [Informational/Transactional/Navigational/Commercial Investigation]
- **Target Word Count**: [Desired length]
- **Content Type**: [Blog post/Landing page/Product description/Guide]
- **Target Audience**: [Describe your ideal reader]
- **Competitor URLs**: [Optional: Top 3 ranking URLs for reference]
# Output Requirements
## 1. Content Structure
Deliver the following components:
### SEO Title Tag (50-60 characters)
- Include primary keyword near the beginning
- Create compelling click-worthy copy
- Avoid truncation in SERPs
### Meta Description (150-160 characters)
- Include primary keyword naturally
- Add a clear call-to-action
- Summarize the content value proposition
### H1 Heading
- Unique from title tag but keyword-optimized
- Clear and descriptive
### Content Body
- **Introduction**: Hook + keyword placement + preview of value
- **Main Sections (H2s)**: Logical flow with keyword variations
- **Subsections (H3s)**: Detailed breakdown with LSI keywords
- **Conclusion**: Summary + CTA + internal link opportunity
### Featured Snippet Optimization
- Include a direct answer format (paragraph, list, or table)
- Position within the first 300 words when possible
## 2. Quality Standards
- **Keyword Density**: 1-2% for primary keyword (natural placement)
- **Readability**: Flesch Reading Ease score of 60+ (adjust for audience)
- **Originality**: 100% unique content with fresh perspectives
- **Accuracy**: Fact-checked and current information
- **Engagement**: Include questions, examples, and actionable insights
## 3. Format Requirements
- Use short paragraphs (2-4 sentences max)
- Include bullet points and numbered lists strategically
- Add relevant image placement suggestions with alt text
- Incorporate one table or visual data representation where applicable
- Provide internal linking anchor text suggestions
## 4. Style Constraints
- **Language Style**: Professional yet accessible
- **Voice**: Active voice preferred (80%+)
- **Tone**: Authoritative but conversational
- **Expertise Level**: Match to target audience sophistication
# Quality Checklist
After completing the output, verify:
- [ ] Primary keyword appears in title, H1, first paragraph, and conclusion
- [ ] Secondary keywords are naturally distributed throughout
- [ ] No keyword stuffing (reads naturally when spoken aloud)
- [ ] All H2s and H3s are descriptive and scannable
- [ ] Content directly addresses the search intent
- [ ] External link opportunities to authoritative sources are identified
- [ ] Internal linking suggestions are included
- [ ] Featured snippet format is implemented
- [ ] Meta title and description are within character limits
- [ ] Content provides unique value beyond competitor articles
# Important Notes
- Avoid generic filler content – every sentence should add value
- Do not over-optimize; Google penalizes unnatural keyword usage
- Prioritize user experience over search engine tricks
- Include E-E-A-T signals where possible
- Consider mobile readability (short sentences, clear formatting)
# Output Format
Provide the complete SEO content package:
1. SEO Title Tag
2. Meta Description
3. Full article with proper heading hierarchy
4. Image alt text suggestions
5. Internal linking recommendations
6. Featured snippet target section (highlighted)
What Makes This Work
Most SEO advice fails because it treats content creation and SEO as separate problems. “Write good content” gets followed by “then optimize for keywords.”
This prompt integrates them from the start.
1. Intent-First Architecture
Notice the Search Intent requirement in the Content Brief. Before a single word is written, the AI must classify whether the query is informational, transactional, navigational, or commercial investigation.
This matters because each intent type demands a different content format:
- Informational: How-to guides, tutorials, comprehensive explanations
- Commercial: Comparisons, reviews, “best of” lists with features
- Transactional: Product pages with clear CTAs and pricing
- Navigational: Branded content with site structure and clear paths
If you write a product page for an informational query, you lose. The prompt prevents this mismatch by forcing intent classification upfront.
2. The Featured Snippet Hook
Google’s “Position Zero”—the featured snippet at the top of search results—captures between 8% and 30% of clicks, depending on the query. It’s often more valuable than the #1 organic position.
The prompt mandates “Include a direct answer format (paragraph, list, or table)” positioned within the first 300 words. This isn’t accidental. Featured snippets almost always come from:
- Direct answers immediately after H2 questions
- Numbered or bulleted lists with 5-8 items
- Comparison tables with structured data
By engineering this structure into the prompt, you’re building for Position Zero from word one.
3. The Anti-Stuffing Safeguard
Keyword stuffing—the practice of jamming keywords unnaturally into content—doesn’t just read poorly; it triggers penalties. The prompt specifies “1-2% keyword density” and “reads naturally when spoken aloud.”
More importantly, the quality checklist includes this line:
[ ] No keyword stuffing (reads naturally when spoken aloud)
The “spoken aloud” test is the gold standard. If you can’t read your content without sounding robotic, Google knows it too. Modern algorithms use semantic analysis that can detect unnatural language patterns better than any human editor.
4. E-E-A-T Integration
Google’s Quality Rater Guidelines emphasize E-E-A-T: Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. These aren’t ranking factors directly—they’re quality signals that humans evaluate, and those evaluations inform algorithm updates.
The prompt’s role definition establishes expertise upfront: “You are a Senior SEO Content Strategist with 10+ years of experience.” More importantly, it demands:
- Accuracy: “Fact-checked and current information”
- Engagement: “Include questions, examples, and actionable insights”
- Originality: “100% unique content with fresh perspectives”
These aren’t SEO tactics. They’re content quality requirements that happen to align with what Google rewards.
The Practical Reality
Here’s what happens when you actually use this prompt:
Before: You tell ChatGPT, “Write a blog post about CRM software.”
After: You provide a complete brief:
Primary Keyword: "CRM software for small business"
Secondary Keywords: customer relationship management tools, small business CRM, CRM comparison
Search Intent: Commercial Investigation
Target Word Count: 1,500 words
Content Type: Comparison blog post
Target Audience: Small business owners evaluating CRM options
The difference in output quality is dramatic. The AI isn’t guessing what you want—it’s executing against a precise specification.
What This Won’t Fix
This prompt won’t solve:
- Domain authority issues (you still need time and quality links)
- Technical SEO problems (site speed, mobile optimization, crawlability)
- Content saturation (if 1,000 competitors have written comprehensive guides, your guide needs to be better, not just present)
- Keyword cannibalization (competing with your own content for the same terms)
What it will fix: the alignment problem between what you write and what searchers want.
SEO content isn’t about tricking an algorithm. It’s about being the best answer to a question. This prompt helps you write that answer.
The 11% who reach page one aren’t there because of secret techniques. They’re there because they understood the assignment.
Now, you do too.
