Pillar-and-Cluster Content Architecture

What it does

Pillar-and-Cluster Content Architecture is a Cursor skill: a SKILL.md playbook that AgenticKit installs at .cursor/skills/pillar-cluster. Cursor's agent loads it when the task matches the skill description, instead of stuffing the same rules into every chat.

Building scalable organic content engines using pillar pages and supporting cluster articles with bi-directional internal linking strategies.

Topical authority trees, internal linking webs, and cluster sub-topics. The file is domain knowledge, not a slash macro. You do not type it. The agent reads it when the job is pillar cluster.

Why it exists

Default Cursor has no memory of how your team ships positioning, copy, and launch assets. Founders paste the same conventions into chat, then watch the model drift on the next turn. This skill exists so those conventions live on disk and load only when relevant.

It ships in the Marketing Kit. It is wired to the Content Strategy Lead (content-marketer) and Technical & On-Page SEO Lead (seo-specialist) agents. It is wired to the /blog-post: SEO Blog Post & Technical Tutorial Generator and /seo-audit: Technical SEO & Keyword Cluster Audit commands. That graph is the point: the skill is the standard, the agent is the role, the command is the trigger.

When to use it

• Use Pillar-and-Cluster Content Architecture when the work is specifically about topical authority trees, internal linking webs, and cluster sub-topics.
• Load it before a long session that will touch this surface more than once. A one-line edit does not need the full playbook.
• Use it when you are writing something a buyer will see: landing copy, launch posts, SEO pages, or positioning docs.

When not to use it

• Do not treat the skill as a replacement for a slash command. Skills teach. Commands run a pipeline.
• Do not paste the whole SKILL.md into chat. If Cursor is not loading it, fix the description or invoke the matching command.
• Do not use it to generate spam or spray the same launch post across every channel.

Example workflow

1. Install the Marketing Kit so .cursor/skills/pillar-cluster lands in the repo.
2. Open a new Cursor agent chat pointed at the files this skill governs.
3. Ask the Content Strategy Lead (content-marketer) to read the skill, or run /blog-post: SEO Blog Post & Technical Tutorial Generator.
4. Review the first artifact against the practices below. If it violates one, stop and correct the file. Do not prompt 'just finish it'.
5. Commit the skill-guided files with the rest of the slice so the next session inherits the same standard.

Example usage

Example prompt: "Read .cursor/skills/pillar-cluster and apply it to this change. Do not invent extra conventions."

Or trigger the pipeline: /blog-post: SEO Blog Post & Technical Tutorial Generator. That command is written to load this skill.

Check the output against: Build comprehensive pillar guides covering broad high-volume developer topics

Example output

• The skill itself does not write a single output file. It changes what the agent is allowed to produce in positioning, copy, and launch assets.
• When you run /blog-post: SEO Blog Post & Technical Tutorial Generator, expect repo files plus notes under docs/, not a chat-only answer.

Best practices

• Build comprehensive pillar guides covering broad high-volume developer topics
• Write 5-10 specific cluster articles addressing sub-topics and long-tail questions
• Link every cluster article back to the main pillar page using descriptive anchor text
• Link pillar pages contextually to product landing pages and free interactive tools

Common mistakes

• Ignoring "Build comprehensive pillar guides covering broad high-volume developer topics" and hoping a later prompt will clean it up.
• Copying the skill into .cursor/rules as always-on. That burns context and fights Cursor's load-on-match design.
• Running two overlapping skills that contradict each other in the same turn.
• Publishing generated copy without a human pass. The skill is a playbook, not a publisher.