Step 4 Research Edit Add Timestamps and Outline

Task Library

Research the topic, clean the transcript, mark timestamps at topic shifts, and build the H2/H3 outline that the article will be written into (Blog Posting Guidelines Step 4).

Category: Content Factory – Process

Use this when GCT is defined (Step 3 complete) and the raw transcript needs to become a structured writing plan.

Inputs

  • The verified transcript and the GCT statement from Step 3
  • Access to the brand's site to survey existing related content (SEO Tree placement, internal-link candidates)
  • Search access to see what currently answers this customer question
  • The article working doc

Steps

  1. Research the topic: search the customer question (the Targeting phrasing) and note what already ranks – what they cover, what they miss, what only this video's first-hand experience can add.
  2. Survey the brand's own site for related posts and the definitive articles this piece should link to later – note where this article fits on the SEO Tree (which trunk/branch it hangs from) before writing.
  3. Clean the transcript: cut false starts, redundancies, and tangents that serve no point. Preserve the speaker's voice, phrasing, and stories – edit for clarity, never into generic AI-speak.
  4. Add a timestamp marker at every topic shift in the transcript (e.g., [02:14] where the story starts). These drive the outline now and clip extraction later.
  5. Build the outline: map each timestamped segment to a proposed H2 (or H3 under it), ordered for the reader rather than strictly chronologically if the spoken order rambles.
  6. Check the outline against GCT: every section must serve the Goal and speak to the Target; cut sections that do neither.
  7. Slot research findings into the outline as expansion notes ("add data here," "compare to X") – clearly separated from what the speaker said.
  8. Update the tracker ("Step 4 done – outline ready") and hand off to step-5-write-article-from-transcript.

Definition of done (QA checklist)

  • Competing answers to the question reviewed and gaps noted
  • SEO Tree placement and internal-link candidates identified before writing
  • Transcript cleaned with speaker's voice intact (spot-check 3 passages against audio)
  • Timestamps marked at every topic shift
  • H2/H3 outline maps to timestamps and survives the GCT check
  • Linked back to the definitive article and relevant siblings

Example(s)

  • Step 4 of every article run documented at /blog-posting-guidelines; the timestamp work also powers extract-15-60-second-clips-from-long-form-video.
  • Example needed as a standalone meta-article – run the Meta-Article Prompt after first documented run.

File in the zip: skills/content-factory-process/step-4-research-edit-add-timestamps-and-outline.md. Download the Task Library zip.

Index: Task Library. Article guidelines.

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