Content Marketing Services That Start With a Map, Not Words

Buying content marketing services before anyone has made a plan is a bit like building a house by ordering the bricks first. You end up with a pile of articles, a monthly invoice, and no clear idea which ones were supposed to bring in customers.

I start with the map. Before anyone writes a word, I research what your buyers actually search for, group those searches into topics, and decide which pages your site needs and in what order. That's called a topical map. Then every article gets a brief (a one-page plan of what it must answer, prove and link to) before it gets a draft.

The result is content built for two readers at once: Google, which ranks pages, and AI assistants like ChatGPT and Copilot, which quote them. If you'd like a map for your site, tell me about your business in a short questionnaire. I reply with a plan and a fixed quote within one business day.

Starting at $500 for keyword research and a topical map, and $300 per SEO article of about 1,500 words. Articles include the research, the brief, the writing, on-page optimization and cited sources.

What you get

• Keyword research. What people in your market type into Google, how often, and what they want when they do. Real search data, not guesses.
• A topical map. Your topics grouped into clusters, each with a main page and supporting articles, mapped to the services you sell. You'll see which pages already exist, which need fixing, and which are missing.
• A brief for every article. The question it answers, the search it targets, the facts it needs, the sources to cite, and the pages it links to.
• The writing. Plain English, your voice, and specific to your trade.
• On-page optimization. Title, meta description, headings and internal links done before the article goes live.
• Sources. Every stat links to where it came from. If I can't verify it, it doesn't go in.

How it works

1. You fill in the questionnaire. What you sell, who buys it, and what's already on your site.
2. I reply with a plan and a fixed quote within one business day.
3. Research and map. Typically one to two weeks, longer for large sites or several service lines. You get the map as a shared spreadsheet you keep.
4. A short interview. Usually 20 to 30 minutes with you or a staff member, per topic cluster. This is where the first-hand detail comes from: the questions customers ask, the mistakes you see, the prices you quote.
5. Briefs, then articles. You approve each brief before I write. Articles typically arrive within a week of brief approval. Rounds of edits that change the brief take longer.

Why the brief comes before the words

Here's the angle in one line: a 1,500-word article written to a word count is filler. A 1,500-word article written to a brief is an answer.

Google doesn't reward word counts

Google's guide to helpful content lists "Are you writing to a particular word count" as a warning sign, along with producing lots of content on many topics "in hopes that some of it might perform well." My price is set per article of about 1,500 words because buyers need a number. The real length comes from the brief. If a question deserves 900 words, it gets 900.

Here's what a brief looks like (a sample for an imaginary roofing contractor):

# Brief: one per article, approved before writing starts. Changes nothing on your site.
Target search:    "how long does a roof replacement take"
Reader:           homeowner, already has a quote, worried about weather and noise
Must answer:      typical days by roof size, what delays it, what happens if it rains
Proof needed:     owner interview (real crew schedule), manufacturer install guide
Links out to:     /roof-replacement/ (service page), /roof-replacement-cost/ (blog)
Not covering:     financing, insurance claims (separate articles in the map)

The "Not covering" line matters as much as the rest. It's how a map keeps your articles from competing with each other for the same search.

Content that AI assistants can quote

Google's own guide to generative AI search says optimizing for it "is optimizing for the search experience, and thus still SEO". The same guide says you don't need special AI files or markup, and there's no requirement to chop content into tiny pieces. What it does recommend is a unique point of view and content that isn't a commodity.

In practice, that means the interview is the most valuable part of the job. An article that says "it depends on the roof" is commodity. An article that says "on a typical house, our crew finishes in X days, and here's what adds another day" (with your real X and your real reasons) is something an AI answer can cite. Your experience is the part a competitor can't copy.

Some of this is measurable now. Bing Webmaster Tools added an AI Performance report that shows how often your pages are cited in Copilot and Bing's AI answers. It only covers Microsoft's products, but it's free and first-party, so it's worth having. On the Google side, I track the articles in the Search Console Performance report.

What I won't do

Google's spam policies name scaled content abuse: many pages generated mainly to manipulate rankings. Thirty thin articles a month is how small sites get there. I'd rather write four that answer real questions. I also don't sell llms.txt files or "AI-ready content packages". My plain-English take on llms.txt explains why.

Who this is for (and who it isn't)

This fits businesses that sell something people research before buying: contractors with big-ticket jobs, clinics, law firms, local retailers with a specialty, and SaaS startups. You'll need someone who can spare 20 to 30 minutes per topic cluster for the interview. I work remotely across the US and Canada.

It isn't for you if you want volume over substance. I'm the wrong hire for 30 posts a month. It also isn't the first step if your existing pages are underperforming. Tuning what you already have through page-by-page optimization is often cheaper than writing new. And if you'd like the whole program run for you, the content plan is already part of my ongoing SEO retainer.

Content marketing services pricing

My prices, as of October 2026:

Most clients start with the map, then order articles from it in batches. Specialist topics that need deep research, such as legal or medical content, can cost more, and I'll quote that up front. Prices are in USD, and Canadian clients can pay in CAD at the day's exchange rate. Every other service is priced on the full price list.

Why hand it to me

I've done SEO for 20+ years and worked on sites in 14 languages. That taught me that good content is mostly research and structure, and the writing comes last. I speak English, French and Russian natively, so French content for Quebec doesn't have to go through a translation agency.

I also do the technical side myself. When an article needs a table, schema markup checked, a redirect from an old URL, or tracking on a form, I don't have to wait for anyone. Once the articles exist, good ones tend to attract links on their own, and editorial link building can help the best of them get found.

Content marketing FAQ

What is a topical map?

A topical map is a plan of every topic your site should cover, grouped into clusters. Each cluster has a main page, often a service page, and supporting articles that answer related questions and link back to it. It shows what exists, what's missing, and what order to build in. It also stops two articles from targeting the same search and competing with each other.

How much do SEO content writing services cost?

At BigRed, keyword research and a topical map start at $500, and an SEO article of about 1,500 words starts at $300, including the research, brief, on-page optimization and sources. Freelance and agency rates vary widely, mostly with how much research and expertise go into each piece. Ask any provider whether the price includes a brief, fact-checking and sources, or just the words.

How do I get my content cited by ChatGPT and Google's AI answers?

Start with content that has something only you can say: real numbers, real processes, real experience. Google says AI search optimization is still SEO, with no special files required. The pages also need to be crawlable by AI search bots, which some firewalls block. If AI visibility is your main goal, my AI search optimization work covers crawler access and citations in depth.

How many articles do I need each month?

Fewer than most people think. A small business with a clear map often does well with two to four strong articles a month, plus updates to existing pages. The map shows how many pages your topics actually need, so you're not paying for filler. Some months the best investment is improving an old article rather than writing a new one.

Next step

If you'd like a content plan that starts with research rather than a word count, send me the details through the content questionnaire. I'll come back with a plan, a fixed quote, and the first few topics I'd tackle.