Making large contented isn’t easy, but a coagulated contented little tin marque each the difference.

A bully little helps everyone—writers, editors, and strategists—stay connected the aforesaid page.

This ensures each station is useful, clear, and built to perform.

At Backlinko, we’ve seen however beardown contented briefs thrust results.

They’ve helped america pull implicit 635,000 integrated visitors each month.

In this guide, you’ll larn what to see successful a contented brief, spot 3 examples, and get step-by-step instructions to make your own.

What Is a Content Brief?

A contented little is simply a blueprint for high-quality, engaging, and SEO-friendly content.

It includes elements to assistance writers make contented that connects with the audience.

Content briefs assistance teams enactment unneurotic by reducing revisions and speeding up the penning process.

Strategists acceptable the goals. Writers travel the plan. Editors marque definite the contented meets the brief’s requirements.

When everyone is aligned, things tally smoothly, and connection improves.

The result? High-performing content.

Here’s what squad collaboration looks similar astatine Backlinko:

What to Include successful a Content Brief

Outside of keywords, it’s debatable what you should see successful your brief. But aft publishing hundreds of articles, we’ve recovered these elements enactment best:

Primary keyword: The main word oregon operation your contented indispensable absorption on.

Secondary keyword: Related words oregon phrases that enactment the superior keyword. They aren’t fashionable capable to merit their ain leafage but inactive adhd value.

Estimated connection count: Suggested magnitude for the content. It gives writers a wide thought of however elaborate the contented should be.

Competing URLs: Links to top-ranking posts for the superior keyword. Includes the strategist’s notes connected what helps these posts fertile well.

Notes astir the hunt motor results leafage (SERP): Observations astir the hunt results for the superior keyword. This includes notes connected the types of contented that are ranking, specified arsenic blog posts oregon landing pages.

Internal nexus suggestions: Links to different applicable pages connected your website. Writers tin see these to administer leafage authorization and amended idiosyncratic experience.

Reader profile: Describes the perfect reader. Includes details astir their experience, cognition level, challenges, and contented preferences. This helps tailor contented to the reader’s needs and interests.

Notes for writer: Provides circumstantial guidance to assistance them conscionable the objectives

After you maestro the above, you tin amended your contented briefs with these additions:

• Internal research: Include data, studies, oregon reports from your company.
• External research: Credible information oregon accusation from extracurricular sources to enactment your claims.
• LinkedIn posts: References to applicable posts that tin beryllium utilized arsenic examples oregon insights.
• Podcasts: Audio shows related to the topic. Use them arsenic references.
• Whitepapers: In-depth reports oregon guides connected the taxable with elaborate information.

How to Write a Content Brief

Creating an effectual contented little requires balancing operation with flexibility. These steps volition assistance you physique briefs that acceptable your contented up for occurrence from time one.

1. Research the Primary Keyword

The archetypal measurement is to probe keywords that lucifer your product, service, oregon business.

Focus connected presumption that acceptable your goals.

If a keyword is excessively competitive, commencement with lower-competition ones that are easier to fertile for.

Use a instrumentality similar Semrush’s Keyword Magic Tool to find the astir promising keywords.

This instrumentality gives you entree to implicit 25.5 cardinal keywords—updated successful existent time.

Launch the instrumentality and participate a effect keyword related to your business. (E.g., “marketing tools” for selling software).

Then, prime your state from the dropdown menu.

Next, click “Search.”

You’ll spot a database of related presumption on with metrics similar search intent, volume, and keyword trouble (KD%).

Use filters to find the champion keywords for your business.

For example, the “KD%” filter lets you find “Easy” oregon “Very Easy” keywords.

You tin besides usage the “Volume” filter to place highly searched keywords.

Use a operation of filters to find the astir promising and applicable keywords.

For example, acceptable the measurement filter to “101 – 1,000” and the KD% to “Easy.” This tin assistance you find keywords that are some casual to fertile for and person decent hunt postulation potential.

2. Identify Relevant Secondary Keywords

Add secondary keywords to assistance your blog station fertile for much than conscionable the superior keyword.

But however bash you find them?

A keyword probe tool tin beryllium utile for discovering these terms.

But determination are besides free, casual ways to get them straight from hunt engines.

For example, hunt “marketing tools” connected Google. The People Also Ask (PAA) conception shows related questions radical hunt for.

These questions tin springiness you ideas for topics and different keywords to see successful your content.

You tin besides usage Google Keyword Planner to find further related terms.

Enter your superior keyword to spot suggestions, hunt volume, and contention level.

3. Analyze the Top-Competing URLs

Start with an SEO rival analysis and reappraisal the top-ranking URLs for your superior keyword.

This process offers invaluable insights into wherefore those pages execute well. It besides reveals opportunities to make adjacent amended content.

Begin by examining the content’s length, structure, and depth.

Check the articles thoroughly. Do they screen the topic, usage wide headings, and supply actionable information?

This helps you recognize what contented operation Google whitethorn reward.

Next, look for immoderate gaps successful their content.

Are they leaving important questions unanswered, oregon is the accusation incomplete?

Identifying these gaps helps you make invaluable contented that addresses what competitors missed.

Also, wage attraction to the usage of visuals similar images, infographics, oregon videos. Visuals interruption up text, summation engagement, and amended idiosyncratic interaction.

For instance, a examination array tin amusement cardinal features and differences betwixt options.

Add each these observations, on with the apical competing URLs, to your SEO contented brief.

This volition springiness writers a wide discourse connected what the contention is doing. And however to outperform them.

4. Calculate the Estimated Word Count

Every contented little should see an estimated connection count.

This helps writers recognize however elaborate the contented should beryllium and keeps them connected track. It’s besides important for budgeting—especially if you’re paying per word.

So, however bash you cipher the estimated connection count?

Analyze top-ranking articles for your superior keyword.

Do longer posts fertile better, oregon are concise ones performing well?

Use tools similar WordCounter, Google Docs, Grammarly, oregon the Hemingway App to cheque connection count.

These insights volition assistance you acceptable a realistic extremity that aligns with what hunt engines reward.

5. Add a Reader Profile

Including a scholar illustration successful your contented little gives writers a wide knowing of who they’re penning for.

Without it, it tin beryllium harder to link with the audience, and the contented mightiness not deed the mark.

For example, if your assemblage is made up of beginners, but the contented is filled with manufacture jargon, the connection won’t land.

A bully scholar illustration includes cardinal details similar age, challenges, and contented preferences.

These insights guarantee your contented resonates with the close audience.

6. Perform Original Research

To marque your contented basal out, see archetypal research.

This could beryllium information from your ain surveys oregon lawsuit studies that item lawsuit success.

These unsocial insights springiness readers thing they can’t find anyplace else.

Surveys: Gather feedback from your people assemblage done surveys oregon polls.

Case studies: Use existent examples to amusement however your merchandise oregon work solves problems.

Industry reports: Analyze trends oregon information successful your industry.

7. Interview In-House Experts

Your in-house squad members are immoderate of your champion resources. They person heavy cognition of your merchandise oregon work that extracurricular sources can’t match.

Interview them to get invaluable insights that volition marque your contented basal out.

However, in-house experts are often busy, truthful acceptable up a process to interrogation them.

Start by scheduling clip successful beforehand to acceptable into their engaged schedules.

Prepare a database of questions beforehand to support the interrogation focused and efficient.

You could besides make a dedicated Slack transmission truthful squad members tin respond erstwhile they person time.

Another enactment is asking experts to grounds a Loom video. This provides the accusation without needing to coordinate a call.

Make definite to see these adept insights successful your contented brief. This helps writers recognize however to usage the accusation successful the last piece.

8. Create a Suggested Structure

A wide outline helps writers recognize the scope and expectations. But there’s much than 1 mode to attack operation successful your brief.

The SEO-Led Approach

Sometimes, our SEO squad provides elaborate guidance. For example:

This attack works good when:

• The taxable requires circumstantial method coverage
• Search intent investigation reveals must-have sections
• We’re updating an existing nonfiction that needs peculiar improvements

The Writer-Led Approach

Other times, we supply high-level taxable areas and fto writers make their ain structure. Like this:

Which attack should you choose? Consider your:

• Team’s acquisition level
• Topic complexity
• Content benignant (technical usher vs sentiment piece)
• Production timeline

The cardinal is maintaining flexibility.

We expect and promote improvement from little to outline to last draft.

Think of your suggested operation arsenic a starting constituent for treatment alternatively than a rigid template.

3 Effective Content Brief Examples (+ Why They Work)

Best practices are helpful, but seeing existent briefs successful enactment is adjacent better. Here are 3 chiseled approaches that consistently present results astatine scale.

Backlinko

We’ve refined our contented little done collaboration with strategists, writers, and editors.

The result?

A template that helps america support accordant prime crossed hundreds of published articles.

Why Our Content Brief Stands Out:

• Competitor analysis: Identifies what works successful top-ranking contented and wherever to marque improvements
• Helpful resources: Includes links to applicable sources, blog posts, oregon podcasts for inspiration
• SERP notes: Highlights applicable contented types and hunt results to align with hunt intent

Our contented little is much than a guide—it’s a program to make contented that gets noticed and brings existent value.

Relato

Relato is simply a task absorption level designed for contented selling teams.

Just similar Backlinko, Relato holds its blog contented to the highest standards.

That’s wherefore their B2B Content Brief Template is specified a standout.

This template is made specifically for B2B SaaS marketers. It provides a wide model to assistance contented selling teams make contented that speaks to B2B buyers and decision-makers.

Why Relato’s Content Brief Stands Out:

• Differentiation focus: Challenges writers to item unsocial selling points
• Industry-specific structure: Tailored for B2B, focusing connected roles similar decision-makers and end-users
• How we volition win: Guides writers to absorption connected strengths that volition assistance the contented bushed competitors

Beam

Beam is simply a B2B contented selling bureau that values transparency and collaboration.

They’ve openly shared their content little template for anyone to use.

Why Beam’s Content Brief Stands Out:

• Narrative frame: Sets the code and message, whether strategical oregon tactical
• Think, feel, do: Encourages writers to see the assemblage and their desired outcomes
• Client goal: Ensures each portion of contented boosts the client’s semipermanent success

Turn Your Content Briefs Into High-Converting Blog Posts

Once your little is ready, manus it implicit to your writers.

Encourage them to adhd unsocial insights, data, and examples to marque the contented adjacent much invaluable and interesting.

For much tips, cheque retired our usher connected how to constitute a blog post.

It’s afloat of actionable steps your writers tin travel to make large blog posts that fertile good and motivate readers to instrumentality action.

The station How to Create a Content Brief: <br>A Step-by-Step Guide (+ Templates) appeared archetypal connected Backlinko.