An SEO brief is a necessary document when outsourcing editorial content. Learn how to create an effective document in 5 key points.
An SEO brief is a document that guides the writing of content intended to rank on search engines. It summarizes essential information: objectives, keywords, tone, expected structure, and internal links. This document facilitates collaboration between SEO and editorial teams, whether they are internal or external writers. Before writing it, an analysis phase is required: studying search results, competing content, user intentions, and the formats favored by Google.
The brief is therefore not a simple list of instructions, but the result of strategic thinking aimed at aligning the expectations of search engines with those of readers. In this article, we review five essential elements to include in your SEO brief.
1. Define the target audience and search intent
An effective brief begins with a clear understanding of your target audience. To do this, you can create a persona representing your typical reader (age, individual or professional, level of expertise, attitude toward the subject, etc.).
Knowing the reader’s profile will allow the writer to adjust the level of technicality, the language register, and even the angle to adopt. This step is linked to the analysis of search intent, which reflects what the user is actually looking to accomplish. There are several: informational (understand a topic), navigational (access a specific page), commercial (compare options), or transactional (purchase, reserve, register).
To identify the dominant intent, you can look at the results already offered by Google for the targeted query: blog articles, product pages, comparison lists, etc. It is also possible to use SEO tools, which are able to indicate, for each keyword, the most widespread search intents.
2. Choose a main keyword, its variants and map the semantic field
The main keyword is the anchor point of the content. It must reflect the identified search intent, while taking into account the volume of requests and competition. Once this keyword is chosen, it is relevant to associate it with variants, synonyms and similar expressions, to avoid repetition and enrich the text. This approach opens the way to broader semantic work, often supported by specialized tools. It allows to cover a subject in a more complete and natural way, aligning with the expectations of search engines. The objective is not to saturate the text with keywords, but to propose a coherent and relevant lexical field around the main subject.
Again, SEO tools will help you identify the most relevant keywords based on their search volume, competition level, and relevance to your target intent. They also offer a broader view of the semantic field to explore, suggesting related expressions, frequently asked questions, or alternative formulations.
3. Indicate editorial guidelines, tone and style
This recommendation follows directly from the first: once the target and search intent are defined, it becomes possible to adopt an appropriate tone and a consistent style. The brief must specify the register to use: formal or familiar, technical or popular, neutral or involved. These choices depend on the profile of the readers, the objective of the content, but also the editorial line of the media or company. The tone used contributes to the brand identity: informal or formal, use of the first person, balance between objectivity and engagement. The more these elements are framed, the more the editor can produce aligned, readable, and consistent content, and the less you will have to make edits to bring the provided text closer to the DNA of your organization.
Using writing platforms requires, in particular, providing a particularly clear brief. The writers who work on them require knowledge of the company in order to produce content consistent with its tone and editorial line. When used properly, these platforms are an effective lever for quickly producing quality content, drawing on diverse profiles and complementary expertise.
4. Provide a clear and appropriate editorial structure
Providing a clear editorial structure helps to precisely frame the writing and avoid deviations from expectations. In many companies or media outlets, formats are already defined: product sheet, opinion article, practical guide, case study, etc. Each follows a specific construction logic, with an expected sequence of ideas, a specific tone, and sometimes formatting constraints. Integrating this structure into the brief saves time, reduces returns, and ensures perfect consistency with other published content.
Beyond the overall format, a well-designed brief specifies the expected outline: main headings (H1), subheadings (H2, H3), and elements to be addressed in each section. It can also recommend a target length per block, include an FAQ, or indicate areas where visuals or tables can be added. Finally, relying on the analysis of already well-ranked articles can help structure the content according to search engine expectations, while respecting the company’s own editorial logic.
5. Plan internal/external links
Internal linking helps guide navigation, promote other content, and strengthen the authority of certain strategic pages, while external links add credibility to the article when they point to reliable sources. Therefore, it’s important to include certain guidelines for the links to be inserted into your brief. This could involve indicating the pages to link to, based on their importance in the editorial or commercial strategy, or suggesting specific anchors to facilitate integration. On the external side, offering a few reliable sources to cite allows the writer to strengthen the argument while respecting the expected quality standards.
Finally, to conclude your brief, don’t hesitate to also include an SEO checklist. This comprehensive summary will allow you to ensure that the basic elements have been respected: tags, keyword density, text length, linking, readability, etc.
