A first topic cluster, step 2: plan the posts

In step 1 you picked one subject and listed six or seven parts of it. Now turn that list into a topic cluster your team can write in a month or two.

One main post at the centre of the topic cluster #

Every cluster has one Pillar post: a long post that covers the whole subject at a glance. It answers the big question in a few lines, then gives each part a short section that ends with a link to that part's own post.

Write it last, not first. By the time the short posts are done, you will know the subject far better, and the main post will be sharper for it.

One short post per part #

Each part gets a post of its own that answers one question well. Keep each to one job. A post that tries to answer three questions answers none of them clearly.

Give each short post a brief before anyone writes a word: the question, the reader, the one thing they should do after reading, and the posts it links to. Our content brief template holds all of this on one page.

Put it on the calendar #

A cluster of seven posts is two months of work for a small team. Spread it out: one short post a week, with the main post at the end. Leave a gap every few weeks for edits and late facts, as our content calendar guide explains.

Write the plan down in one place #

Keep the plan in one sheet: the subject line you wrote first, each post's question, its writer, its due date and its links. When someone asks what the cluster is for, the sheet answers.

The search engine guides from Moz say the same in their own words: plan around what searchers need, not around single words.

Next, step 3 links the cluster, so every post leads readers to the next one.