How to Write a Content Brief Like A Pro

Over the last 150 days, RankUp’s users have created more than 200 content briefs.

By collaborating with them to review performance data and test different structures, we’ve identified what kind of briefs set the right foundation for creating content that drives more pipeline.

In this guide, I’ll walk you through the step-by-step process of creating an effective brief, so you can start producing high-performing briefs today.

What Is a Content Brief?

A content brief is a document that outlines everything needed to create a high-performing piece of SEO content. It’s essentially a blueprint that defines what the content should achieve, how it should be structured, and which topics it should cover so that it:

1. Ranks on Google and gets cited in AI tools

2. Gets the reader to take the next step in your sales funnel

What is Included in a Good Content Brief?

From our analysis of 200+ content briefs, we found that every brief that led to an article ranking on page one of Google and being cited in ChatGPT (yes, 100%) included these five elements:

• Primary and secondary keywords – the words and phrases people use when searching on Google that your content should target.

• Target audience and search intent – who you’re writing for and what they’re hoping to find.

• Detailed content outline – the structure and flow of the piece.

• Competitor analysis and unique angle – what others are saying and how to stand out.

• Internal and external links – references to pages that strengthen both SEO and reader experience.

Here’s how each element contributes to a great brief:

1. Primary and Secondary Keywords

Here’s a quick refreshener of what exactly are primary and secondary keywords:

• A primary keyword is the main term you want to rank for, and it defines the core focus of your piece.

• Secondary keywords are related subtopics or variants of the primary keyword (for example, if the primary keyword is “what is SEO,” a potential variant could be “what is search engine optimization”). When targeted properly, secondary keywords help your content show up for more related searches.

We found that properly targeting both helps search engines understand what your content is about and determine exactly where to rank it if it’s worthy.

2. Competitor Analysis and Unique Angle

In our research, we found that every high-performing brief included competitor analysis to identify what already works in search and what’s missing.

This step helps you see the patterns behind top-ranking pages:

• which questions they answer,

• which sections perform well,

• and which angles they haven’t explored yet.

Your brief should then convert those insights into one or more unique angles — fresh perspectives that fill content gaps and add something new through:

• original research,

• fresh perspectives,

• or personal experiences.

Briefs with clearly defined, data-backed angles consistently led to content that outperformed competitors and attracted both readers and citations from search engines and LLMs.

3. Target Audience and Search Intent

We found that the strongest briefs always defined who the content was for and what those readers were hoping to find.

Target audience details (like role, familiarity with the topic, or main challenges) help you match your tone and depth. Search intent clarifies what the reader expects, whether that’s learning something, comparing options, or finding a solution.

If both are clear, it becomes much easier to align your content naturally with what searchers are looking for, improving both engagement and rankings.

4. Detailed Content Outline

Our analysis showed that briefs with a clear structure consistently led to smoother, more comprehensive articles.

A structured outline organizes your main points, headings, and subtopics so your content flows logically and covers everything it needs to.

It also helps you identify missing subtopics or weak transitions between sections early, before the writing even begins, and ensures the final piece feels cohesive rather than disjointed or repetitive.

5. Internal and External Links

Finally, every effective brief in our dataset included clear linking recommendations.

• Internal links guide readers to other relevant pages on your site, improving navigation and helping search engines understand how your pages connect.

• External links to reputable sources, on the other hand, add credibility and context — showing both readers and search engines that your content is well-supported and trustworthy.

Now that you know the five key elements of a strong content brief, let’s talk about how to put them together and create one from scratch.

P.S. If you’d like a deeper understanding of each of these six elements before moving on to how to create one, check out our Beginner’s Guide to SEO Content Briefs.

A Step-by-Step Guide On How to Write a Pro-Level Content Brief

A SEO brief is created by first conducting keyword research, then analyzing competitor and SERP results, defining search intent, building your content outline, adding internal and external links.

Below is a detailed step-by-step breakdown of how to create a high-quality brief from scratch:

Setup

If you’re creating a content brief manually, any of the following note-taking or document management tools work perfectly for writing and organizing your information:

• Google Docs

• Notion

• ClickUp Docs

• Microsoft OneNote

If you prefer using another software, go ahead.

My only recommendation is that if you have writers or others working on the content, the software should allow easy sharing, as well as real-time editing and commenting for a more productive content creation process.

FYI: For this walkthrough, I’ll be using RankUp’s agentic SEO content system, but I’ll explain what’s happening at each step so you can follow along and learn how to do it manually yourself.

Phase 1: Keyword Research

Before you write anything in the content brief, you first need to find a content topic (otherwise known as a keyword) that people are actually searching for and that fits within your SEO content strategy.

If you don’t base your article on a keyword that people are searching for, then it doesn’t matter how good your content is, most likely no one will ever find it because no one is searching for it.

It’s that simple.

Now RankUp already did all the foundational keyword research for me, so I just have to choose the next topic from the keyword clusters and generate a content brief for it.

For this guide, I’ll be creating a content brief on the topic: "seo content outline".

How to do this manually:

If you’ve already completed your foundational keyword research, pull up your google sheet, excel file or wherever you have created the keyword clusters and choose the next topic you plan to target based on your current content strategy.

• If you’re starting to target a new cluster, I’d recommend you start from the most central piece in that cluster (the “pillar” keyword) if it’s your first article in that group.

• If you’re continuing within a cluster, pick the next keyword that naturally expands on what you’ve already covered.

However, if you haven’t yet completed the foundational keyword research, you’ll first need to do that before even thinking about writing a brief.

1. Open a spreadsheet in Google Sheets or Excel. You’ll need it to organize your data.

2. Brainstorm potential search terms your target audience might use. You can even use ChatGPT or another AI tool to get ideas.

3. Enter those terms into your preferred keyword research tool to discover related keywords and their search volume.

4. Collect all relevant keywords in your spreadsheet, paying attention to metrics like search volume and keyword difficulty, but always prioritize relevance.

5. Group related keywords together into clusters (think of them as folders of related topics).

   

6. Once you’ve mapped out the main topic clusters for your niche, decide which group to target first and pick one keyword from that cluster to start your brief. Preferably you should start from the pillar keyword a.k.a the broad, high-level keyword that covers the core idea of your niche.

   

NB! Even if some relevant keywords show “zero” search volume, don’t ignore them. Many low-volume terms are still valuable, especially if they reflect real intent and fit within your cluster.

Common mistake: Starting to write content without a clear content strategy.

Typically businesses just end up picking random keywords in random order. And that’s exactly what ends up confusing Google and LLM-based search systems about what your company is actually an expert in.

SEO today is all about topical authority — showing that you consistently provide valuable insights and demonstrate expertise within a specific field so that search engines (and AI tools) know what to trust you for.

If you’re jumping between unrelated topics, these systems can’t really figure out where your expertise lies.

And when they’re unsure, they simply won’t recommend or cite you at all.

Okay, now that you’ve locked in a keyword, let’s move into phase 2.

Phase 2: Competitor and SERP Analysis

Next we have to analyze what’s already ranking on Google for your target keyword.

The goal here is to understand what the current winners are doing right, what they’re missing, and most importantly, what search intent they’re trying to satisfy.

Your job is to find a way to meet it better than any of your competitors, so you can create an article that outranks them and earns mentions in LLMs.

RankUp already took care of this entire process while generating the SEO content brief.

Here’s how you can do it manually:

1. Search your target keyword in Google.

2. Look at the top 3–5 ranking pages that are relevant.

3. Go through those pages one by one and analyze:

   • How they structure their content (what headings do they use and how the headings flow).

   • What subtopics or secondary keywords they include.

   • What internal and external links they use.

   • Whether they add any special elements like tools, PDFs, templates, etc.

   • What unique angles or perspectives they use to stand out.

   Pro tip: Compare outlines side by side if needed to identify missing sections or weak spots in competitor content.

4. Then, examine the SERP layout itself:

   • Are there “People Also Ask” questions you could target within your content?

     

   • Is there an AI overview you can reverse-engineer and get mentioned in?

     

   • Are there videos, featured snippets, or other search features that suggest additional content opportunities?

NB! As you gather insights, take notes directly in your brief.

Common mistakes:

1. Blatantly copying competitors instead of focusing on outthinking them.

   Many people look at what’s already ranking and just replicate it section by section. That approach guarantees you’ll blend in, not stand out.

   The goal isn’t to repeat what’s there, it’s to find gaps, improve on them, and add something uniquely valuable or insightful.

2. The second mistake is misunderstanding search intent.

   Even if you borrow competitor headings, it’s easy to miss why those sections exist.

   Most times, pages that are ranking the highest are there because they have understood what the searcher actually wants better than anyone else.

   If you don’t figure out that intent and create something that serves it even better you won’t outrank them, no matter how well you copy their structure or keywords.

   If all you do is copy the best, you’ll never be better than second.

Once you understand the competitive landscape and what opportunities there are for outcompeting others, let’s move into phase 3.

Phase 3: Content Outline

Now that we’ve finished the research phases, it’s time to build the foundation for your article — in other words, create the outline.

If you don’t know what a content outline is, here is a quick definition for you: An SEO content outline is the layout of headings for a website’s content page.

Creating the outline will help us define exactly what topics should the article cover and in what order, so the writer (or you) knows the structure is correct before any writing begins.

Since RankUp already handled the competitor and SERP analysis during the content brief generation, it also automatically created the outline for me based on that data.

How to create an outline manually:

1. Identify your unique angle (original data, experience, product-led path, contrarian take).

2. Use your competitor and SERP analysis from the previous phase to decide which of the commonly covered sections also make sense for your article.

3. Identify where you can add unique value: new subtopics, experience-based insights, original data, or perspectives competitors didn’t cover.

4. Arrange your sections in the order that best helps the reader achieve their goal. The structure should make sense for the topic type — whether it’s a guide, comparison, or informational piece.

5. (Optional) Under every heading (whether it’s a question or not) write a short 1–3 sentence summary that directly addresses the main idea of that section.

   This gives search engines and LLMs confidence that your content is directly addressing the main point of each section, making them more comfortable citing or recommending it as a trustworthy source.

   Prewriting the direct answers also helps prevent copywriters (if you are not the one writing) from making the common mistake of trying to sound overly engaging while failing to address the main point right away.

   • If the heading is a question, the direct answer should answer it immediately.

     • Template for question-based headings: “What is [X]? → [X] is …”

   • If it’s not a question, the direct answer should state the most important takeaway or fact about that topic.

     • Template for non-question headings: “[Main point] → [Core statement that defines or explains it.]”

6. (Optional) Under each direct answer or heading (if you didn’t decide to write direct answers), write short bullet points of what needs to be explained or demonstrated. These points will later be expanded into the actual paragraphs of the article when it’s being written.

   

7. Review the full structure and ensure each section contributes directly to satisfying the main intent. If something doesn’t, remove or rework it.

Common mistakes:

1. Adding unrelated topics. Trying to make your article “unique” by including irrelevant sections only confuses the reader and weakens topical focus.

2. Rushing the structure. A weak outline leads to rewriting and reordering later. Taking time here saves hours during the actual writing phase.

Once you have your structure finalized, let’s move into phase 4.

Phase 4: Internal and External Links

Before moving to the last step, you need to identify which internal and external links should be added in the article to strengthen SEO, help readers navigate related topics, and improve your site’s overall authority.

During the SEO brief generation, RankUp has already identified all the most relevant linking opportunities and added them directly into my brief.

Here’s how you can find these opportunities yourself:

Internal links

Review your content outline and look for sections where you mention or briefly touch on topics that are covered in more depth on another page within your site.

• If that section mentions a concept that’s already explained elsewhere, add a note to link to it in the brief.

• Example: If you reference “content clusters” while writing about keyword research, link to your main “Content Cluster Guide.”

NB! Internal links don’t need to point only to other articles — they can also connect to product pages, feature pages, or any other relevant resource that supports the reader’s next step.

Now if your site doesn’t have much content yet, revisit the article in about a month or review it again once new content has been published.

External links

1. Go through your outline again and mark every place where you cite data, research, or statistics.

2. For each claim or percentage, find a credible, authoritative source to back it up.

3. You can also link to relevant research, expert opinions, or resources that add extra value or context to your article.

4. Always prioritize quality and relevance over quantity — external links should support your content, not distract from it.

Common mistakes:

1. Adding links just for the sake of it doesn’t help readers or SEO. If it doesn’t fit naturally, don’t try to fit it.

2. More links don’t mean better SEO. A few well-placed, relevant links are far more effective than a dozen random ones.

Once you’ve added your internal and external linking recommendations, your content brief is now complete and ready to be used for writing!

Automate Content Briefs with RankUp’s SEO Agents

Creating one good brief can easily take one to three hours of focused work and honestly, it’s not the most high-leverage task you could be spending that time on.

That’s exactly why we built RankUp.

With RankUp, you don’t have to create briefs manually. Our content manager agent, Lyra, does it for you.

All you have to do is:

1. open the app,

2. click “Generate Brief,”

and that’s it! Lyra then creates a complete, expert-level SEO content brief for you.

If you don’t want to waste hours creating briefs from scratch or risk missing key SEO elements, let trained AI SEO agents handle it for you.

Book a demo to see RankUp’s agents in action and start producing high-performing briefs without the headache.

Big Idea: Turning Clarity Into a Competitive Edge

A well-written piece can get clicks, but a well-briefed one drives results. Creating a strong content brief is one of the most reliable ways to close the gap between strategy and execution.

When your briefs define the why, who, and how behind every piece, you can focus on creating content that performs, not just fills space. Over time, refining your brief-building process makes your entire workflow more predictable, efficient, and scalable.