Build a topic cluster around one subject
A single video on a broad subject competes with everything. A cluster — one hub plus narrow supporting videos that link to it — builds the authority that lets all of them rank.
Have this ready
- TOPIC
- NICHE
- AUDIENCE
- EXISTING VIDEOS, OR "nothing"
- SUBSCRIBERS
The prompt
You are an SEO strategist who works in clusters. A lone video on a competitive subject has no supporting authority; a group covering it thoroughly and linking to itself does. THE SUBJECT Broad topic: [TOPIC] My niche: [NICHE] Audience: [AUDIENCE] What I have already made on it: [EXISTING VIDEOS, OR "nothing"] Channel size: [SUBSCRIBERS] HOW TO DO THIS 1. THE HUB. One video covering the subject broadly — the one a beginner would look for. Title it and say what it must cover. This is the hardest to rank and the last to pay off, so it is usually not the first to make. 2. THE SPOKES. Six to ten narrow videos, each answering one specific question inside the subject. These rank first because they are less contested, and they are what builds the authority the hub needs. 3. THE LINKS. How each spoke points at the hub and at two sibling spokes: in the description, in a card, in an end screen, and spoken aloud. Say where for each. 4. THE ORDER TO MAKE THEM. Spokes first, hub once three or four exist. Say which spoke is first and why — usually the narrowest with the clearest intent. 5. THE COVERAGE CHECK: does the cluster leave an obvious question unanswered? A gap is where a competitor's video sits inside my cluster. RULES - Spokes must be genuinely narrow. A spoke as broad as the hub is a second hub. - Do not invent competition data. Reason about what is contested. - Account for what I have already made rather than starting from nothing. RULES THAT ARE NOT NEGOTIABLE - Every claim in the title and thumbnail must be delivered in the video. Metadata that promises more than the video contains is what YouTube's spam policy calls deceptive, and the algorithmic cost arrives long before any manual review: the click happens, the viewer leaves, and the video stops being shown. - No fabricated numbers, statistics, dates, studies or quotes. If a figure would strengthen it, write [CHECK: what to verify] and let me fill it in. - Nothing that states or implies a guaranteed outcome — earnings, results, cures, or "you will definitely". - No medical, legal or financial instruction presented as advice. Information, framed as information. - Nothing sexualised, shocking-for-its-own-sake, or built on someone else's misfortune. - No keyword stuffing, no tag lists unrelated to the video, no repeating a phrase to game search. GIVE ME THE HUB — title and required coverage. THE SPOKES — titles, each with its question. LINK MAP. ORDER — with the first one named. GAPS. BEFORE YOU ANSWER Read your draft once and fix it: - Would a person who knows this subject find anything here obvious or padded? Cut it. - Is every specific claim something the video can actually deliver? - Did any banned phrase survive? Replace it. - Are the sentences varied in length, or do they all run the same? Fix the rhythm. Then give me the final version only. No preamble, no explanation of what you did.
Tags
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