How To Create An SEO Content Brief That ACTUALLY Gets Results

Revisions that never end. Numerous opportunities were missed. Missed deadline after missed deadline.

Does something like that sound familiar?

Look, the content challenges faced by my SEO agency were the same as those faced by you… until we took the SEO content brief and made it our own, we weren’t going anywhere.

What exactly is the content summary?

A document that instructs a writer on how to conceive of and compose a piece of content is known as a content brief. In this context, the term “piece of content” may refer to a blog post, a description of a product or service, a landing page, a page for collecting user data, etc.

However, there are other variations of content briefs to choose from. For instance, a creative brief will be drafted by an advertising agency for their copywriter to use while developing an advertising campaign. In a high-volume content farm, the briefs that are given to the team of content writers are generated by artificial intelligence. Or, in the case of our company, we carefully (and manually) construct SEO content briefs based on research into keywords and an examination of our competitors.

When writing material that is geared toward a certain term, authors typically develop their work in accordance with SEO content briefs. This content has the potential to attract more organic traffic that is also very likely to convert, provided that it is executed effectively.

In most cases, SEO content briefs will offer overarching information regarding the work. However, they are also able to supply additional, more in-depth information regarding the objective of the content, and they can even function as a rough outline. Both approaches were tested, and the results showed that the second approach was superior to the first. I will elaborate further on this point in a moment.

Why a search engine optimization content is brief so important?

Even the most basic SEO content brief can be helpful because it outlines the topics that should be covered in the article. If they don’t have one, writers are forced to fumble around in the dark and frequently miss their target. This is due to the fact that not all writers possess advanced SEO skills.

At Loopex Digital, prior to the establishment of our current procedure, our briefs consisted of nothing more than a keyword and a word count… and that was it. It came to our attention that the writers were turning in drafts that were not search engine optimized. The material “spoke” to the wrong demographic of readers. And perhaps most importantly, there was no obvious plan of action.

As a result of the lessons that this taught us, we provided our writers with a keyword, a word count, and a concise explanation of what the content needed to say. And despite the fact that we discovered the content functioned better than it had in the past, our goal was to have the content perform as good as it possible could.

After going through a few different revisions, we arrived at the current version of this method. (In point of fact, I employed the exact same method when writing the content that you are currently reading! The content brief that was used may be found here (Opens a new window)).

Now, we supply each writer with an SEO content brief that is quite precise and well structured. Each synopsis has a major keyword, a list of secondary keywords, a word count, a topic, a style, anchor text, target links, and a list of competitors. Additionally, there is an article structure. We also provide context, which includes identifying the demographics of the target audience, the purpose of the keywords, and the ultimate goal.

When we have SEO under control, our writers have more room, time, and freedom to regulate their creativity. This is something that we have discovered. In the end, every single piece of content is optimized for search engine optimization (SEO) and it’s interesting. Articles that are prepared in accordance with our briefs receive relevant traffic and high-quality backlinks as a result of this.

Additionally, the well-structured briefs that we provide reduce the amount of back-and-forth that occurs between our team, our writers, and our customers. This is due to the fact that precise SEO content briefs establish unmistakable standards for the material. As a result, we are able to complete fewer revision cycles, have fewer rewrites, and miss fewer deadlines.

What should be included in a content outline for SEO

Here is a comprehensive list of everything you need to develop your own SEO content brief, including guidance that is broken down into step-by-step instructions and excerpts from the brief that we used to write this post. For the forthcoming tasks you have planned, you may also make use of our SEO content brief template (Open Link in a new window).

Information of a general nature

Publisher: Make a note of the location where the completed essay will be published and, if at all possible, offer a link.

Be sure to include the content matter in your writing. Keep in mind that this is not the title of the content, even though in some instances it may be.

Allow the writer to demonstrate that they understand “how to converse.” For instance, some clients would rather have their content written in a more official manner and in the third-person voice. Some customers lean more toward information written in the first-person informal.

Word Count: Determine the optimal word count by computing the average number of words in the top 10 articles that have the highest ranking for the same target keyword. This will give you the perfect word count.

Detailed instructions on what the content should achieve should be given to the writer. This may be referred to as a target, an objective, or a purpose.

Audience: Describe the intended audience for the writer to read so they can better understand who they are speaking to. Include a brief user persona or a list of work titles if at all possible in order to assist the writer in visualizing the audience.

Include the URL slug, and if at all possible, include a keyword in the URL slug itself. This is an important part of SEO.

Write a Meta title with no more than sixty characters and a meta description to be included in the meta data. It is important to incorporate the primary keyword into the meta title as well as the meta description. If at all possible, you should also include a secondary keyword in each.

Provide the writer with a list of primary as well as secondary keywords that they might utilize in their writing. Make sure that you differentiate between the two different kinds of keywords.

Include both internal and external links, as well as any special link information that you require to be included in the content. Alternately, provide the author with detailed instructions regarding which links to pull and from where.

Competition and the targeted purpose of a keyword

Research the top-ranking pages of your competitors that are using the desired keyword. Competing Pages Writers can then read through each piece to gain further insight into the subject at hand and compose content that has been thoroughly researched.

Present the writer with the keyword intent, which could be informational, transactional, or something else entirely, so that they are informed of how to approach the subject matter. This not only helps influence the general style of the piece but also the voice and tone that it has.

Content outline

Content Outline: Create a content outline that is highly structured. This is likely the most crucial section of our SEO content brief template, so make sure you include it.

Additionally, People Ask: Conduct a search on Google using the relevant terms. Make a note of any pertinent stuff in the “People Also Ask” area and use it to create new sections or frequently asked questions.

Detailed Explanation of the Primary Headings: Give specific instructions to the writer on what you want each part to accomplish and how they should go about doing it.

The following are links to useful resources: Have you come across a resource such as an infographic, a video, or anything else that simplifies a difficult concept? Add a link to that resource in your post. This makes it easier for writers to swiftly consume and process information so that they can discuss it in the material they produce.

Screenshots and Images of the Following Particular Sections: Take a screenshot of the area of information in a competitor’s post that is particularly well-written and researched if you find it. Make use of those photos that are located underneath the main headings to demonstrate to the writer what you are seeking.

Readability Check Each draft needs to be able to pass a “readability check” to ensure that there are no sentences that are difficult to understand. Because of this, we suggest that authors run their text through the Hemingway Editor app and then make any necessary edits afterward.

Reader Intent: Request that authors prioritize the reader over Google and its many algorithms while writing. This provides the authors with the space to contribute additional information (or different information) about the subject as required.

Because of this, the finished product is material that is not only well-written but also well-researched, and it is optimized for both the target audience and the goal keyword.