Content briefs are where SEO either gets done or doesn't. A brief that just says "write an article on [topic], around 2,000 words" produces a 2,000-word essay that may or may not rank. A brief that encodes the SERP-derived intent, the H2 outline, the depth target, the internal-link plan, and the editorial moat produces an article that ranks because it was designed to rank from the first line. The brief is the SEO; the writing is execution.
This guide goes straight to the workflow: the 8-section brief template, the per-section ranking discipline, and the brief-review checklist that catches cannibalization risk before a writer wastes a week on a doomed article.
The 8-section content brief template
Every brief should encode the same eight inputs. Skip a section and you push the SEO decision onto the writer (who is not always the right person to make it).
1. Target query (and the SERP-mirror diagnosis)
One specific keyword as the head term, plus 3-5 closely-related variants. Plus the SERP analysis: what page format ranks (informational article / listicle / category page), what the median word count is in the top 10, what SERP features appear (featured snippet / People Also Ask / Image Pack).
The writer needs to know what FORMAT to produce. Don't just say "write about CRMs" - say "write a comparison-style article in the format of the top 8 results in the SERP, ~2,500 words, structured to earn the featured snippet currently held by Hubspot."
2. User intent (the implied question)
One sentence stating what the searcher actually wants. "How does a CRM work?" implies "I'm evaluating CRMs and need to understand what they do" - the article should explain, not just define. "Best CRM for small business" implies "I'm shopping" - the article should compare options.
This single sentence prevents the writer from drifting into adjacent topics that miss the intent.
3. H2 outline (the depth scaffolding)
5-8 H2 headings that cover the topics the SERP top-3 cover, plus 1-2 angles the SERP misses. This is the most important section in the brief - it's the page outline before any words are written.
Each H2 should be specific enough to write to. "Pricing" is not a brief; "How CRM pricing works (per-seat vs per-feature vs flat-rate, and what each means for budget)" is.
4. Word count target (sized to SERP median)
Specific, derived from the SERP-benchmark workflow. Not "around 2,000 words" but "2,400 words ± 15%, matching the SERP median of 2,400 from the top 10 results." Writer commits to depth, not to padding.
5. Internal-link plan (where this article points and what points to it)
3-5 specific internal links the article should include in the body, with anchor text suggestions. Plus 2-3 specific internal pages that should add a body link TO this article on publish (so it joins the link graph instead of becoming an orphan).
The writer doesn't have to come up with these - the SEO planner does, before writing starts.
6. Editorial moat (the unique angle)
What does THIS article do that the SERP top 10 don't? A unique data point, an opinionated framework, a workflow nobody else publishes, a counterexample to common advice. Without this, the article competes only on depth - which works for some queries and loses on competitive ones.
The moat is what justifies publishing the article at all. If you can't articulate one, the brief isn't ready.
7. Cannibalization check (does this overlap with anything we already have?)
Before writing, search "site:yoursite.com [target query]" - if any existing URL shows up, the new article would cannibalize. Either: (a) update the existing URL instead of writing a new one, or (b) confirm the new article has a clearly differentiated intent so they don't compete.
Skipping this check is how established sites end up with cannibalization clusters of 5-10 pages over years. Catch it at brief time, not after publication.
8. Distribution plan (what the article does after publish)
Where the article gets shared, what newsletter it goes in, which existing pages get internal links to it. Distribution isn't strictly SEO, but it accelerates the inbound-link acquisition and engagement signals that affect ranking.
The biggest mistake: briefs without the SERP-mirror diagnostic
The single most common bad brief: "write an article about [topic], around 2,000 words, include a few examples." The writer does their best, produces a competent article, and it doesn't rank. The post-mortem reveals the article is in the wrong format (informational essay when the SERP wants a listicle), the wrong word count (2,000 when the SERP wants 4,000), and missing the H2 topics Google considers comprehensive coverage.
The fix is the brief. Add 30 minutes of SERP analysis to every brief and you eliminate 80% of "this article doesn't rank" post-mortems. The 30 minutes is for:
- Searching the target query in incognito and reading the top 10 results.
- Counting words on the top 10; calculating the median.
- Reading the top-3 H2 outlines; building a union of universal topics.
- Identifying SERP features (featured snippet / People Also Ask / Image Pack).
- Spot-checking the format (article vs listicle vs comparison vs category page).
- Searching site:yoursite.com [query] for cannibalization candidates.
None of this is hard. Most teams don't do it because the brief workflow doesn't require it. Add it as a required field in the brief template; the briefs improve immediately.
What a clean brief-review process looks like
Run this on every brief before assigning to a writer. The check takes 5 minutes; saves a week of writing on doomed articles.
- Verify the SERP-mirror diagnostic was done. Brief should reference specific top-10 results, with format / word-count / H2 patterns extracted.
- Verify the H2 outline covers SERP-universal topics. Read the brief's H2 outline and the brief's "top 3 SERP H2s" notes side-by-side. Outline should cover everything the SERP top 3 universally cover.
- Verify the editorial moat is articulated. One sentence stating what THIS article does that the SERP top 10 don't. Vague answers ("better written" / "more comprehensive") are not moats.
- Run the cannibalization check. site:yoursite.com [target query] - if any existing URL shows up, the brief should explain how this one differs OR the brief should be replaced with an "update existing article" task.
- Verify the internal-link plan is specific. 3-5 actual URLs the article will link to, plus 2-3 actual URLs that will link to this article on publish.
- Verify the word count target is SERP-derived. Should reference the SERP-median calculation. "Around 2,000" is not derived; "2,400 to match SERP median" is.
- Approve or reject. Don't half-approve briefs - send them back if any of these checks fail.
Quick quiz: are you ready to brief content that ranks?
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Content briefs - quick check
5 randomized questions drawn from a pool of 12. Different every time you take it. Takes about two minutes.
Next up in Keyword Research & Content
Briefs that encode SEO discipline produce articles that rank. The final move is making sure you can actually MEASURE those rankings - because if you can't see the data, you can't iterate. From here:
- Tracking and analytics setup - the verification checklist that closes the SEO measurement loop.
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