Plan skyscraper content by analyzing top-ranking content metrics. Track word count, media types, and linking domains for content you aim to surpass.
The skyscraper technique rests on a premise: find what already ranks for a keyword, then build something measurably better. This planner quantifies that 'better'. You enter the metrics of the top-ranking pages - word count, image and video counts, and linking domains - and it returns the average for each metric plus the strongest page in each dimension, giving you a concrete baseline to surpass. What surprises most users: word count is rarely the gap that matters. The leaders' linking-domain counts are usually the number that decides whether the climb is worth attempting.
A concrete input and expected output from the current implementation.
Input
Pasted metrics for the top three results on 'best standing desks': https://site-a.com/standing-desk-guide | 1,200 words | 5 images | 2 videos | 40 linking domains https://site-b.com/desks/compare | 2,100 words | 8 images | 1 video | 85 linking domains https://site-c.com/blog/best-desk | 1,800 words | 4 images | 0 videos | 60 linking domains
Expected output
Benchmark for 'best standing desks' (top 3): - Average word count: 1,700 (longest: site-b at 2,100) - Average images: 6 (most: site-b at 8) - Average videos: 1 (most: site-a at 2) - Average linking domains: 62 (most: site-b at 85) To outclass this set, exceed 1,700 words, 6 images, 1 video, and 85 linking domains.
The averages are plain means of the entered rows - 5,100 words across three pages is 1,700, and 185 linking domains across three pages is 61.7, rounded to 62. A skyscraper page must clear each column's leader, not just the mean, so the output pairs both numbers per metric.
Each row holds one ranking page: URL, word count, image count, video count, and linking domains. The planner averages every metric across the rows and flags the highest value in each column as the leader. The average covers only the pages you entered, so choose the set deliberately - typically the top three to five results for your keyword.
Output is one number per metric: the average as the floor, the leader's value as the real hurdle. Because the metrics are tracked separately, you can see which dimension demands the most work before you start writing. Linking domains usually dominate, and no word count or media addition substitutes for a link gap.
No. Word count is the most visible metric in the skyscraper method but the weakest on its own; it correlates with rankings in aggregate, not per keyword. If the leaders' linking-domain counts dwarf yours, extra length alone rarely reaches page one. Treat the benchmark as a sizing tool and spend the real effort on link acquisition.
The planner runs entirely in the browser and cannot query live search results or backlink databases, so you supply the data. Linking domains come from a backlink tool such as Ahrefs, Semrush, or Moz; word and media counts you can tally from the pages directly. Use the same source for every row, because the tools count linking domains differently.
The example and behavioral notes were checked against the browser implementation. Standards and primary references below define the relevant format, formula, or platform behavior.
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