Why a brief comes before the writing
Content fails for reasons that are decided before the first sentence: two pages chasing the same search, a page that answers three intents and satisfies none, no plan for who links to it, and no idea what the reader should do next. A brief takes twenty minutes and settles all four. It is also the only reliable way to hand writing to someone else and get back something you can publish.
One brief covers one page. If you cannot fill in a single primary search intent, you have two pages, not one.
The template
1. Page identity
- Working title: what this page is, in a few words.
- URL: short, lowercase, hyphenated, stable. Decide it now, not after publishing.
- Page type: service, industry, location, guide, comparison, case study, tool, conversion page.
- Parent page: where it sits in the structure.
- Status: new page, rewrite, merge of two existing pages, or an update.
- If it replaces something: the old URL and the redirect decision.
2. Search target
- Primary keyword: one term, the one the H1 and title will carry.
- Secondary keywords: three to eight variants and closely related terms that belong on the same page.
- Search intent: informational, commercial, transactional or navigational. One only.
- Evidence for the intent: what currently ranks for the primary term. If the top results are guides, a sales page will not win.
- Cannibalisation check: which existing page currently targets this term, and what happens to it.
- Volume and difficulty: from your own research. Where you have no data, write “not researched” rather than a guess.
3. Reader
- Who this is for: role, situation, market, and what they already know.
- Where they are: just realising they have a problem, comparing options, or ready to buy.
- What they are worried about: price, risk, time, trust, whether it applies to them.
- What would make them leave: the objection the page must answer before they scroll past it.
4. Goal
- Business goal: the enquiry, booking, download or next page this should produce.
- Primary call to action: the exact wording and the destination.
- Secondary call to action: for readers who are not ready.
- How success will be measured: which metric, checked when.
5. Structure
- H1: contains the primary term naturally, one per page.
- Opening paragraph: what the page answers, in the first two sentences. No throat-clearing.
- H2 list: the sections, in order, each one a question or a claim rather than a label.
- H3s under each H2 where the section needs them.
- Questions the page must answer: the actual questions people ask, taken from sales calls, the search results, People Also Ask and your own inbox.
- Format requirements: table, ordered list, comparison, worked example, screenshot, diagram.
- Length: as long as the topic needs. Note what the ranking pages do, then decide.
6. Evidence and specifics
- Facts, prices and figures the page will state, each with its source.
- Examples or cases you are allowed to use, with permission where needed.
- What must not be claimed: results you cannot prove, guarantees, regulated wording.
- Anything unknown marked in the draft as a review item rather than filled with a plausible guess.
- Author and reviewer: who is named on the page, and who checks it if the topic touches health, money or safety.
7. Links
- Links in: which existing pages will link to this one, with the anchor text each will use.
- Links out: which internal pages this page must link to, and why each link helps the reader.
- External references: sources worth citing, if any.
- Anchor text rules: descriptive, never “click here” or “read more”.
8. Metadata
- SEO title: around 60 characters, primary term near the front, unique across the site.
- Meta description: 120 to 155 characters, says what the page offers and for whom.
- Image plan: what images, what they show, file names and alt text.
- Schema: the markup type this page needs.
- Publish and update dates, and who owns the next review.
A filled-in example
A worked brief for a page I would write for a Kathmandu dental clinic, shortened to show the shape rather than the full document.
| Field | Entry |
|---|---|
| Working title | Root canal treatment in Kathmandu |
| URL | /treatments/root-canal-treatment/ |
| Page type | Treatment page (commercial) |
| Primary keyword | root canal treatment kathmandu |
| Secondary keywords | root canal cost nepal, rct treatment kathmandu, is root canal painful |
| Intent | Commercial, with a strong cost question attached |
| Cannibalisation | The existing “Services” page lists it in one line; that line becomes a link to this page |
| Reader | Adult in pain, comparing two or three clinics on price, pain and how soon they can be seen |
| Main objection | Fear of pain, and no published price anywhere |
| Goal | Appointment request or phone call |
| H1 | Root Canal Treatment in Kathmandu |
| H2s | When a root canal is needed; What happens, step by step; Does it hurt; How many visits; What it costs; Aftercare; Who will treat you; Book an appointment |
| Evidence | Clinic’s own price range, the dentist’s qualifications and registration number, photographs of the surgery |
| Reviewer | The treating dentist, named on the page |
| Links in | Services page, homepage treatments block, the “toothache” symptom article |
| Links out | Dentist profile, dental crown page, appointment page |
| SEO title | Root Canal Treatment in Kathmandu | Cost and Process |
Notice what the brief has already decided: that cost gets its own H2 because it is the second search, that the dentist is named because the topic is medical, and that the old services page becomes an internal link rather than a competitor.
Before you publish
- The page answers one intent, and no other page on the site answers the same one.
- The first paragraph answers the query rather than introducing the company.
- Every question in the brief is answered somewhere on the page.
- The H1 contains the primary term and reads like something a person would say.
- Headings describe sections; none of them exist purely for styling.
- Nothing is claimed that cannot be sourced, and anything unverified is flagged rather than invented.
- Prices, timelines and inclusions are specific, or the page explains honestly what they depend on.
- Every internal link in the brief is present, with descriptive anchor text.
- The pages that were supposed to link in actually do, and the links have been added.
- Title and meta description are written, unique and the right length.
- Images have real file names and alt text, and are compressed.
- Schema markup matches what is on the page.
- The call to action appears at least twice and says what happens next.
- Somebody who did not write it has read it out loud.
- Author, publish date and reviewer are set, and none of them are invented.
Using this at scale
One brief per page becomes a content plan when you sort the briefs by the value of the search and the effort to win it. That ordering, plus the keyword mapping behind it, is keyword research and content SEO and strategy. Grouping a raw keyword list into one-intent pages is quicker with the keyword grouping tool. If you want the pages written to these briefs, that is SEO content writing, and the on-page execution is on-page SEO.
The rest of the working documents are on the resources page, and the checks in the last section overlap with the SEO audit checklist if you are reviewing pages that already exist.
Last updated 2026-09-03.
Updated