Content Production Rules

Created: 11 June 2025
Created: 11 Jun 2025
Last updated: 11 June 2025
Last updated: 11 Jun 2025
🌿 Growing
2 min read

Stealing this from the great Josh Pigford. I want to start putting together better rules for programming and creating with LLMs. This has vibe-coding and agentic-systems written all over it.

1 Narrative Structure

  1. Three-Act Layout, Not H2 Soup • Act I (≈10 %)—Hook + keyword-rich promise. • Act II (≈75 %)—Deep exploration broken into 3-5 logical “beats” (single bold lead-in line okay; avoid nested H3s/H4s). • Act III (≈15 %)—Synthesize insights, call-to-action, and next-step links.
  2. Natural Transitions • Bridge sections with “So what?” sentences instead of new headings. • Use connective devices (questions, contrasts, mini-stories) every 300-400 words to keep readers moving.
  3. Strategic Subheadings Only • H2 count cap: max 5 for the entire article. • No H3/H4 unless absolutely required for step-by-step clarity.

2 Keyword & Entity Handling

  1. Primary Keyword Placement • Title, first 90 characters, one H2, meta description, and final paragraph.
  2. Density Discipline • Target 0.8 %-1 % primary; 0.3 %-0.6 % for each secondary.
  3. Contextual Entities • Integrate 6-10 semantically related entities (people, brands, concepts) that appear in top-ranking SERP pages—spread organically.
  4. Zero-Force Rule • Rewrite awkward exact matches; grammar beats rigidity.

3 Engagement & Readability

  1. Mixed Paragraph Rhythm—2-4 sentences average; a few one-liners permitted for punch.
  2. Story Inserts—Include one concrete anecdote, case study, or stat box every ~600 words.
  3. Embedded Media—Recommend 1 infographic, chart, or image per 800-1,000 words with alt text (“describe + keyword”).
  4. Sensory + Action Verbs—Aim for ≥25 % sentences containing vivid adjectives or verbs to humanize tone.
  5. It’s okay to occasionally be a little light-hearted/approachable. Be authoritative, but friendly (however do NOT be cheesy).

4 LLM-Specific Instructions

  1. Token Variety Monitor—No identical sentence stems within 5 sentences; vary n-grams.
  2. Hallucination Guardrails—Cite at least one reputable source per Act II beat; flag uncertain facts with “VERIFY:”.
  3. Self-Revision Prompt—After draft, run revise_for_repetition_and_clarity() to trim fluff and merge redundant fragments.
  4. Temperature Guideline—0.7 for creative hooks; 0.3 for definition sections.

5 Linking

  1. Internal Links—3-6 pointing to related cornerstone pages; avoid exact-match anchors on every link.

6 Meta & Schema

  1. FAQ-Schema Block—Optional; limit to 3 high-intent Q&As appended after Act III.

7 Pre-Publish Checklist • ❑ Opening 40 words answer search intent. • ❑ H2 count ≤ 5; no orphan H3/H4. • ❑ Keyword densities in range; reads naturally aloud. • ❑ Each Act II beat contains one credible stat or expert quote. • ❑ Flesch Reading Ease ≥ 60. • ❑ search the @⁠Web for 3-5 sources that you can reference and link to in the article, then write the article based on keyword research.