# Competitive Depth Override Guide

**Last Updated:** 2026-02-11
**Purpose:** When and how to override automated competitive-depth recommendations when outlier competitors skew word count targets

## Overview

The script `analyze-competitor-content-depth.php` computes a recommended word count from the average of top 5 SERP competitors. In some cases, this average is skewed by:

- **Mega-hubs:** One competitor (e.g. Sparkasse 55K) covers multiple topics (Karriere, Finanzen, Absicherung) and is not comparable to a focused lexikon article
- **Cross-topic Wikipedia:** Wikipedia pages mix employment-law topics with unrelated ones (Fahrerlaubnis, Strafrecht Schweiz)
- **Different content types:** Listicles vs. definition posts vs. comprehensive guides

When the automated target is unrealistic or misaligned with content type, **manually override** `data/competitive-depth-analysis.md`.

## When to Override

| Condition | Action |
|-----------|--------|
| One competitor is 3x+ larger than the median | Consider excluding from target; use median/focused competitors |
| Wikipedia mixes unrelated topics in content gaps | Filter gaps to topic-relevant only (e.g. Arbeitsverhältnis only) |
| Target exceeds 10,000 words for a lexikon post | Override to 2,500–5,000 per CONTENT_DEPTH_GUIDELINES main topic |
| Target would require fluff or repetition | Use CONTENT_DEPTH_GUIDELINES "Main Topic" (2,500–4,000+) as fallback |

## How to Override

1. **Edit** `docs/content/blog/posts/{category}/{slug}/data/competitive-depth-analysis.md`
2. **Update** the "Word Count Target" section:
   - Set `Recommended Target` to a realistic range (e.g. 4,000–5,000)
   - Add `Rationale` explaining the override (e.g. "Sparkasse mega-hub excluded; target based on kanzlei-chevalier, Wikipedia")
3. **Filter** Content Gaps: remove topics not relevant to the post's focus (e.g. remove Fahrerlaubnis, Strafrecht for employment-law Probezeit)
4. **Save** – `validate-content-outline-quality.php` reads from this file

## Example: Probezeit

- **Automated target:** 18,900 words (averaged Sparkasse 55K with others)
- **Override:** 4,000–5,000 words
- **Rationale:** Sparkasse is a mega-hub; kanzlei-chevalier (4.7K) and Wikipedia (~3.1K) are stronger benchmarks for a focused lexikon article
- **Content gaps:** Removed Fahrerlaubnis, Strafrecht Schweiz; kept only Arbeitsverhältnis, Berufsausbildung, Beamtenrecht

## Relevance Filtering

When `data/target-keywords.json` exists with a primary keyword, `analyze-competitor-content-depth.php` filters content gaps by topic relevance: gaps with < 2 keyword overlap with the primary keyword are excluded. This reduces off-topic gaps from broad competitor pages (e.g. Wikipedia mixing employment-law with unrelated topics).

**When to override:** If relevant gaps were filtered out (e.g. "Karrierechancen" for HR), manually add them to the Content Gaps section in `competitive-depth-analysis.md` or run with `--primary-keyword=` override if the script supports it. Check the generated report for the "Excluded N off-topic gap(s)" message.

## Validation

`validate-content-outline-quality.php` requires CONTENT_OUTLINE.md word count target ≥ 80% of competitive-depth recommended minimum. After override, the outline target must align with the overridden value.

## References

- [CONTENT_DEPTH_GUIDELINES.md](CONTENT_DEPTH_GUIDELINES.md) – Main topic classification, section depth
- [SKYSCRAPER_TECHNIQUE_2026.md](SKYSCRAPER_TECHNIQUE_2026.md) – Competitive analysis workflow
- [BLOG_POST_IMPROVEMENT_PROCESS.md](BLOG_POST_IMPROVEMENT_PROCESS.md) – Full rework workflow