PixelDen SEO Blog Writing

Write blog posts that rank in Google + AI search engines (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini) AND make players want to click "Play Now". Every article is content marketing for the games — never a changelog.

The #1 Rule: No Technical Content

PixelDen blog readers are players, not developers. Banned from articles:

• Tech stack names (Phaser, React Router, Vite, TypeScript, Drizzle, Redis, Docker)
• Code snippets, file paths (app/games/...), variable names, function names
• Internal architecture (FSMs, scenes, registries, helpers, hooks)
• Numbers that only matter to engineers (canvas dimensions like "960×720", physics tick rates, sub-frame counts)
• Commit messages, version numbers, refactor descriptions
• "Under the hood", "infrastructure", "wired up", "opt-in", "helper"

If a sentence would only make sense to someone who has read the codebase, delete it.

What players DO care about:

• What the game feels like to play
• What's new they can try right now
• The fantasy / mood / setting of the game
• Concrete play tips (controls, win conditions, strategy)
• Languages they can play in, devices that work

Required Structure

Every post follows this skeleton:

1. Direct answer (1-2 sentences) — what's the news, in the first lines
2. TL;DR / Key Takeaways block — 3-5 bullets
3. 4-7 H2 sections covering the announcement + games
4. FAQ section (4-6 natural-prompt questions)
5. Conclusion with CTA to play

Direct-Answer-First (AI search optimization)

The very first 1-2 sentences must directly answer the implied query. AI scrapers pull from the top of the article — bury the answer behind a narrative hook and you lose the citation.

✅ "PixelDen now offers two new free browser games — Edge Claim and Dead Man's Hand — plus full Spanish and German support across the entire portal."

❌ "It's been a busy month at PixelDen. We've been working hard on a number of exciting new things..."

TL;DR Block

Place after the intro paragraph, before the first H2:

> **Key Takeaways**
>
> - [Specific claim with concrete detail #1]
> - [Specific claim with concrete detail #2]
> - [Specific claim with concrete detail #3]
> - [Specific claim with concrete detail #4]

Each bullet must be a complete claim, not a teaser. Specific numbers, names, outcomes.

H2 Sections

• 4-7 H2 sections per article
• 2-3 of them include keyword variations
• One idea per H2 (AI parses content per section)
• Player-focused: "How to play", "What makes it fun", "Best for", not "Technical implementation"

FAQ Section (mandatory)

• 4-6 questions in natural prompt language ("How do I play X?", "Is X free?", "Can I play X on my phone?")
• Answer the first sentence directly, then expand 2-3 sentences
• These target Google's People Also Ask AND match how players prompt ChatGPT

Word Count

• News / update posts: 800-1,200 words (the typical PixelDen post)
• New game launch deep-dive: 1,500-2,500 words
• Pillar guides ("Best free browser games 2026"): 2,000-3,000 words

Do NOT pad to hit a count. Better 900 strong words than 1,500 padded.

Frontmatter Template

---
title: "[Primary keyword] — [Benefit/Hook]" # 50-60 chars
slug: kebab-case-with-primary-keyword
excerpt: "[150-160 chars, directly answers the query, ends with CTA verb]"
imageUrl: /assets/blog/[descriptive-keyword-name].webp # OR a game thumbnail
author: PixelDen
tags:
  - news
  - [game-slug or topic]
publishedAt: YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS.000Z
isPublished: true
---

Title rules

• 50-60 characters
• Primary keyword near the start
• Year for time-sensitive titles ("New Free Browser Games — April 2026")
• Benefit/hook, not just a feature name

Slug rules

• Lowercase, hyphens
• 3-5 words including primary keyword
• No stop words unless needed

Excerpt / meta description

• 150-160 chars exactly
• Includes primary keyword
• Ends with a CTA verb (Play, Try, Discover, Start)
• Stands alone — must answer the search query without the article

Keyword Strategy

Primary keyword candidates for PixelDen

• "free browser games"
• "free pixel art games"
• "play [game name] online"
• "browser games no download"
• "free [genre] games online" (blackjack, arcade, puzzle, strategy, card)

Density

• Primary keyword: 1-2% (a 1000-word post = 10-20 mentions)
• Use natural variations, not robotic repetition
• Must appear in: H1, first 100 words, 2-3 H2s, conclusion, slug, meta title, meta description

LSI / semantic keywords

For PixelDen articles, naturally weave in: pixel art, retro, arcade, online, free to play, no download, browser game, play instantly, leaderboard, mobile-friendly.

Internal Linking

• Minimum 3 internal links per article
• Game pages: /games/[slug] — always use the canonical slug
• Other blog posts: /blog/[slug]
• Catalog: /games
• Anchor text must be descriptive ("play Edge Claim free", not "click here")
• Distribute throughout — never cluster

When announcing new games, every game mention in the body should link to its page on first reference.

Forbidden Phrases (from past corrections)

These appeared in earlier drafts and were rejected:

• "Under the hood"
• "Wired up", "wired through"
• "Helper", "infrastructure", "pipeline"
• "Opt-in", "additive"
• "Per-device viewport", "scale manager", "FSM"
• Anything with code-style file paths or backticks around technical terms
• "We refactored", "we extracted", "we extended"

If you catch yourself writing these, stop and rewrite the sentence from a player's POV.

Tone

• Direct, energetic, second person ("you")
• Show, don't list features ("slice the grid and fence off bigger chunks than the AI" beats "fast-paced gameplay")
• Concrete sensory details (the felt table, the neon grid, the cheating boss's tells)
• Czech user, but UI and blog copy are English-only

Pre-Publish Checklist

Before saving:

• First 1-2 sentences directly answer the implied query
• TL;DR / Key Takeaways block after the intro
• No technical terms, file paths, or framework names anywhere
• 4-7 H2 sections, 2-3 with keyword variations
• FAQ section with 4-6 natural-prompt questions
• Primary keyword in H1, first 100 words, 2-3 H2s, conclusion
• Meta title 50-60 chars with keyword
• Excerpt 150-160 chars, answers the query, has CTA
• Slug includes primary keyword
• 3+ internal links, descriptive anchor text
• Word count appropriate (news 800-1,200; launch 1,500-2,500)
• Every game mention links to /games/[slug] on first reference
• Reads like a player wrote it for other players

Process for /seo-blog Command

When invoked via /seo-blog [topic]:

1. Confirm the topic with the user if ambiguous (which games, which features, what release)
2. Identify primary keyword — propose 1-2 candidates and confirm
3. Read git log + relevant game registry entries for facts (genre, controls, mode, languages)
4. Read existing blog posts in content/blog/ to match tone and avoid duplication
5. Draft following this skill's structure
6. Run the pre-publish checklist before saving
7. Save to content/blog/[slug].md
8. Report word count, primary keyword density estimate, and where the article links to