Strategies, keywords and pillars
A strategy holds a brief, pillars, keywords and a calendar. Run one per audience or campaign, and see where the strategist's keyword data comes from.
Updated
A strategy is one content plan: a brief, pillars, keywords and a calendar of dated posts. Every workspace has a main strategy, and you can add more for other audiences, products or campaigns.
What a strategy contains
| Part | What it is |
|---|---|
| Brief | What the site is, who it’s for, its goals and positioning, and what to avoid |
| Pillars | The main themes the content returns to. Keywords and posts belong to a pillar |
| Keywords | Search phrases to target, grouped by pillar |
| Calendar | Dated posts, each with a format, a keyword and an angle |
| Voice | How the writing should sound |
| Editorial mix | How autopilot rotates formats, pillars and subjects when it fills the calendar. See editorial mix |
When you save a strategy, these become workspace documents that every draft reads. See documents and house rules.
Where keywords come from
The strategist researches what ranks for your topics and what people ask. When volume data is available, the Keywords section shows each phrase’s monthly searches and a difficulty from 0 to 100, and names the source. When it isn’t, the section says the keywords come “from what ranks and what people ask; no volume data”.
With Search Console or Bing Webmaster Tools connected, the strategist also plans from the searches your site already appears for. It also gets a short summary of your site’s authority metrics, so the plan fits how strong the site is. See connect Search Console and Analytics.
To change keywords, ask the strategist (“review our keywords and suggest gaps”), or remove one directly with its remove button. Save the plan afterwards.
Run more than one strategy
Use separate strategies when the audiences or goals differ, for example a product launch next to your everyday blog.
- On Strategy, open the strategy menu (it shows the current strategy’s name).
- Choose New strategy….
- Give it a Name and a Goal, for example “Get found by people comparing e-bike conversion kits before our March launch.”
- The new strategy starts from the main strategy’s brief and voice. The strategist proposes a plan for it, keeping clear of keywords the other strategies already target.
Each strategy has its own calendar, its own Draft posts button and its own color on the merged calendar. The Overview and autopilot cover every active strategy.
Pause or archive a strategy
Open the strategy menu and choose Rename, pause or archive… to change its Status:
- Active: autopilot drafts its posts as they come due.
- Paused: autopilot skips it. You can still draft its posts by hand.
- Archived: it leaves the calendar. Its documents stay. Show archived in the strategy menu lists archived strategies with Unarchive to bring one back.
The main strategy can’t be archived.
Refresh pages you already have
A calendar post can refresh an existing page on your site instead of creating a new one. The refresh keeps the page’s URL. If Wavefront published that page, the post is drafted as a revision of it, so publishing updates the same page. Ask the strategist for a refresh, or use Ask the strategist next to an opportunity on the Performance page.
Who can change a strategy
- Owners and editors talk to the strategist, edit and save plans, and create strategies.
- Viewers can read every strategy.
- Agents connected over MCP and API keys with the right scope can create strategies and edit plans. Posts they add are recorded as theirs, and autopilot never auto-approves their drafts.
Still need help? Email support@adwave.com with your workspace name and what you were doing.