Create Seo Plan

---
name: create-seo-plan
description: When the user wants an SEO strategy or a plan for more organic traffic from Google. Baselines the site against its competitors with DataForSEO (and the user's Google Search Console when connected), finds the keyword, market and comparison gaps, picks the SEO tactics that fit the numbers, and hands back a 30-60-90 day plan with owners and KPIs. Also use when the user mentions SEO, an SEO strategy, an SEO plan for next quarter, an SEO roadmap, how do we get more organic traffic, where should our SEO effort go, or help with our SEO with no job named. One named SEO job goes to its own skill (audit-technical-seo, diagnose-traffic-drop, find-seo-quick-wins, create-seo-content-plan, write-seo-brief and the rest); AI answers to create-ai-search-plan; backlinks to create-link-building-plan; more signups with no channel named to create-growth-plan, where do I start to manifold-get-started.
compatibility: Requires the Manifold MCP connector, signed in with a Manifold account that has credits. Without it the skill stops and tells the user how to connect.
---

# SEO strategy

A strategy answers three questions before anyone writes a page: what the site already wins, where competitors get the organic traffic the site does not, and which SEO skills get the most traffic for the hours the team has. It ends in a 90-day plan, not a keyword list. The rules for reading Google live in the [Google search notes](references/platforms/google.md), which every SEO skill shares.

## Connector check

This skill runs on the manifold MCP server. Before the first step, confirm that its tools are available: look for `seo_get_domain_overview` and `seo_get_keyword_gap` (hosts often add a prefix, for example `mcp__manifold__seo_get_domain_overview`).

- If no manifold tool is there, stop and tell the user: "This needs the Manifold connector. If you installed the Manifold plugin, connect Manifold on the plugin's Connectors tab (Customize > Plugins in Claude), run `/mcp` in Claude Code, or run `codex mcp login manifold` in Codex. Otherwise add the remote MCP server `https://mcp.manifoldmcp.com/mcp` and sign in: in Claude or ChatGPT as a custom connector, in Claude Code with `claude mcp add --transport http manifold https://mcp.manifoldmcp.com/mcp` and then `/mcp`. Other clients: https://www.manifoldmcp.com/docs/clients." Do not answer from memory instead.
- Then follow the tool checks in the [Google search notes](references/platforms/google.md#tools): the `seo_*` tools are required, the `console_*` tools optional.

## Product context

Before the first question, look for the product marketing context file: `.agents/product-marketing.md` (in older setups `.claude/product-marketing.md` or `product-marketing-context.md`). If it exists, read it and take every input it answers (the site, the ICP, the competitors, the market, the goals and budget, the keywords that matter) from it; ask only for what it lacks. If it does not exist and the job needs more than two answers about the business, offer [manifold-get-started](../manifold-get-started/SKILL.md) first.

## Inputs to settle first

Ask for these in one message. For anything the user does not answer, use the default and say that you assumed it.

- **Goal**: what organic search should bring (default: signups from commercial and transactional keywords) and how success is measured (default: estimated organic traffic and keywords in the top 10, or clicks if Search Console is connected).
- **Stage**: a new site with almost no rankings, or an established one. `seo_get_domain_overview` in step 2 answers it if the user does not know.
- **ICP**: who buys, so the keywords are the words those people search with.
- **Budget**: credits for the research (this skill costs about 110) and writing hours per week. Default: 1,000 credits and one new or refreshed page a week.
- **Team**: who writes, and whether anyone can change templates, redirects and page speed. Default: the founder writes; no developer time.
- **Competitors**: two or three that sell the same thing. Default: the top three from `seo_get_serp_competitors` that are real businesses, not publishers or marketplaces.
- **Horizon**: default 90 days.

## Steps

1. **Intake.** Settle the inputs above and restate them in one short list, marking the defaults. Check for the `console_*` tools as the [Google search notes](references/platforms/google.md#search-console) say: with Search Console the site's own numbers are measured, without it every number is an estimate.
2. **Baseline.** Say the cost first: about 55 credits for the site and three competitors.
   - `seo_get_domain_overview` on the site and each competitor (5 credits each): `domain_rank`, `organic_traffic`, `organic_keywords`, `positions` and `top_pages`.
   - `seo_get_ranked_keywords` on the site with `limit: 300` (20 credits): how many keywords rank 4 to 20, which pages earn the traffic, and the median `kd` of its top-10 keywords, which sets its reach (the [keyword floors](references/platforms/google.md#keyword-floors)).
   - `seo_run_technical_crawl` with `max_pages` sized to the site, up to 500 (15 credits), then `get_task` (free) after `poll_after_s`: `onpage_score`, `non_indexable`, `broken_links` and the top `issues[]`.
   - With Search Console: `console_get_search_analytics` with `dimensions: ["page"]` and then `dimensions: ["query"]` for the last 90 days (free), which replaces the estimates for the site.
   - `seo_get_serp_competitors` on the site (10 credits) only if the user named no competitors.
3. **Gaps.** About 55 credits more.
   - Keyword gap: `seo_get_keyword_gap` with each competitor (10 credits each). Keep the rows that clear the floors, count them by `intent`, and note the `competitor_url` pages that carry the most.
   - Market: `seo_search_keywords` on the category the ICP searches for (10 credits). Read `trend[12]` on the biggest terms for rising or falling demand.
   - Comparison demand: `seo_get_keyword_metrics` on "<competitor> alternative", "<competitor> alternatives" and "<product> vs <competitor>" for each competitor (10 credits for up to 100 phrases).
   - Format: `seo_get_serp` on the five biggest gap keywords (1 credit each). Note whether vendor pages rank or only publishers, forums and videos, and whether `features` includes `ai_overview`.
4. **Tactics.** Choose two to four of these skills and say why each fits the numbers:
   - [audit-technical-seo](../audit-technical-seo/SKILL.md) first when the crawl shows 5xx pages, noindex or canonical errors on pages that earn traffic, or more than about 5 percent of pages broken or non-indexable. Nothing else works until pages can be indexed.
   - [find-seo-quick-wins](../find-seo-quick-wins/SKILL.md) when 20 or more keywords rank 4 to 20 above the floors: the cheapest traffic there is.
   - [diagnose-traffic-drop](../diagnose-traffic-drop/SKILL.md) when the user reports a fall, or the site's Search Console clicks fell against the same 90 days a year earlier (one more free call in step 2).
   - [refresh-content](../refresh-content/SKILL.md) when older pages rank on page two or lost traffic.
   - [create-seo-content-plan](../create-seo-content-plan/SKILL.md), then a [write-seo-brief](../write-seo-brief/SKILL.md) per page, when the keyword gap holds clusters the site has no page for.
   - [plan-comparison-pages](../plan-comparison-pages/SKILL.md) when "alternative" or "vs" phrases for the competitors have volume.
   - [optimize-page](../optimize-page/SKILL.md) for each money page (pricing, product, top feature) that ranks below the top 3 for its keyword.
   - [fix-keyword-cannibalization](../fix-keyword-cannibalization/SKILL.md) when two URLs of the site rank for the same main keyword in step 2.
   - [create-migration-plan](../create-migration-plan/SKILL.md) when a redesign, replatform or domain change falls inside the horizon: it comes before everything else.
   - [track-rankings](../track-rankings/SKILL.md) to record the starting positions of the 10 to 20 keywords the plan targets.
5. **Plan.** A 30-60-90 day plan with an owner and a KPI per period, and three first actions for this week. A typical shape: by day 30, technical blockers fixed and quick wins shipped; by day 60, the first refreshes and the first cluster published; by day 90, the second cluster and the money pages optimized. Size the page count to the team's writing hours.
   - KPIs the tools can measure again later: estimated `organic_traffic` and `positions` (top 3, top 10) from `seo_get_domain_overview` (5 credits); the positions of the target keywords with `seo_get_position` (6 credits each); the keywords each new page ranks for with `seo_get_ranked_keywords` on its URL (10 credits); `onpage_score` and `non_indexable` from a second crawl; clicks and impressions by page when Search Console is connected. For weekly measurement, [track-rankings](../track-rankings/SKILL.md).
6. **Deliver** one document: the inputs with defaults marked, a baseline table (site against each competitor: domain rank, estimated organic traffic, organic keywords, keywords in the top 10), the gaps in three lines each, the chosen tactics with the linked skill and why, the 30-60-90 table (period, work, owner, KPI, target), and the three first actions.

## Judgment

- Follow the [Google search notes](references/platforms/google.md): [Search Console](references/platforms/google.md#search-console) against estimates, the [keyword floors](references/platforms/google.md#keyword-floors), the [credits](references/platforms/google.md#credits) and the [handoff](references/platforms/google.md#handoff).
- SEO moves over months. New pages take three to six months to settle; the 30-day KPI is work shipped and technical fixes, the 90-day KPI is rankings and traffic.
- A site whose domain rank sits far below its competitors' will not win their head terms this quarter. Take the long tail under its reach, and send the pages that need links to [create-link-building-plan](../create-link-building-plan/SKILL.md).
- The pace comes from the team, not the keyword list. One good page a week beats five thin ones.
- Estimated traffic is directional. Compare the site with its competitors on the same estimate, and never promise the user a traffic number from it.
- Where `ai_overview` sits on most informational SERPs, clicks to those pages will be lower than the volume suggests. Weight commercial keywords higher, and point the user to [check-ai-overviews](../check-ai-overviews/SKILL.md) for being cited in the answer.
- If the baseline shows a site that cannot be indexed, the whole plan is the audit until that is fixed.

## Related skills

- The SEO tactics this plan picks from: [audit-technical-seo](../audit-technical-seo/SKILL.md), [diagnose-traffic-drop](../diagnose-traffic-drop/SKILL.md), [create-migration-plan](../create-migration-plan/SKILL.md), [find-seo-quick-wins](../find-seo-quick-wins/SKILL.md), [refresh-content](../refresh-content/SKILL.md), [create-seo-content-plan](../create-seo-content-plan/SKILL.md), [write-seo-brief](../write-seo-brief/SKILL.md), [optimize-page](../optimize-page/SKILL.md), [plan-comparison-pages](../plan-comparison-pages/SKILL.md), [fix-keyword-cannibalization](../fix-keyword-cannibalization/SKILL.md).
- Mentions and citations in AI answers (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews): [create-ai-search-plan](../create-ai-search-plan/SKILL.md), and for the site's own keywords [check-ai-overviews](../check-ai-overviews/SKILL.md).
- Backlinks, link prospects and other sites' "best X" lists: [create-link-building-plan](../create-link-building-plan/SKILL.md), [find-best-of-lists](../find-best-of-lists/SKILL.md).
- Who the competitors are: [find-competitors](../find-competitors/SKILL.md). Keywords to bid on in Google Ads: [find-google-ads-keywords](../find-google-ads-keywords/SKILL.md).
- Rankings tracked every week: [track-rankings](../track-rankings/SKILL.md).
- "Where do I start" or "more signups" with no channel named: [create-growth-plan](../create-growth-plan/SKILL.md).