How to: From Keyword Set to Copywriter Briefing

1. Why is a copywriter's briefing an important part of content creation?
2. These statements make up a good content briefing for copywriters
3. General information that fits every briefing
4. Text-Specific Information
5. Don'ts & Common Weaknesses in a Copywriter's Briefing
6. How to create a good content briefing?: Structure, tips
7. Which tools support the creation of content briefings?
8. Are there content briefing templates? Where can they be found?

During my career in the SEO field, I have already worked with many copywriters, influencers and freelancers for the creation of texts. I realized early on that a briefing for working on content is essential.

At the latest when you write in an email: "Write me a text for the keywords: content marketing and content strategy" and you get back an article that is completely confused and just not what you imagined, you will also realize, it's time to write really good briefings.

And how that works, you'll find out in this article!

This article not only helps SEOs, but also everyone who works in content marketing, copywriting, social media or influencer marketing.

Why is a copywriter's briefing an important part of content creation?

Imagine letting the copywriters for your blog write a post just like that: No specifications, no rules or guidelines - nothing but a set of SEO keywords. This sounds like enough room for creative freedom at first, but the result you would get would not only be creative, but also incredibly chaotic and over-optimized.

For you it would mean spending hours, if not days, correcting, revising and sending countless emails and coordinating.

Depending on the experience of the writers you work with, they will need more or less guidance to shape posts to fit your brand, convince readers, and at the same time help you achieve higher visibility in search engines or more blog conversions.

Even if you work in a team full of very, very good content creators, creating a briefing saves you huge amounts of time and frustration.

Not to mention, the content briefing also helps copywriters and writers orient themselves and have a clear idea of what you expect. This way you can create great content together and greatly facilitate your collaboration.

These statements make up a good content briefing for copywriters

To make your briefing really good and clear, there are some points that belong in every text briefing. On the one hand, these are details that are valid for every piece of your content strategy. You can simply pack these details into a briefing template, which you can then adapt to the respective topic for the following texts.

And with that we come to the second type of elements that belong in a content briefing: text-specific details that vary depending on the topic and type of article or text.

But let's delve a little more into detail. You can use the following list as a checklist for your own content briefings.

General information that fits every briefing

• Details about the company or client & the outlet: Especially when you're working with freelancers and external copywriters, this information is important for understanding your project and your company. So explain in simple sentences what you do and where the text should be published.
• Salutation: How should writers address your audience? In the first or second person or in the passive voice?
• Tone of Voice: Describe how the text should sound. Should it be written formally or informally? Also use adjectives such as casual, informative, funny, etc. This way the writers get an idea of what focus they should set when writing.
• Indication of gendering: Nowadays indispensable - Do you use gendering in your texts or do you still use generic masculine? And if yes, how do you gender? With asterisks, colons or slashes? Or should writers rather use the neutral form, such as readers, participants? If you don't give any information about this, the recipients of the text briefing will use the version they usually use.
• Language Level: If you know your target group, you should also specify what the language level of the text should be. This depends on the knowledge level of your target group. Should your content be complex or simple?
• "Forbidden" Terms & Topics: Especially when it comes to an SEO text, there are no-go terms and topics that can result in a Google penalty. For example, anything to do with gambling, adult content, or glorifying drugs. But your community or corporate guidelines can also specify topics and words that writers should not use. Record these in your briefing template.
• Requirements for a successful text: What is required from the writer to successfully complete the job, apart from the text itself? For example, should they insert internal links, determine an SEO title and the meta description as well as keywords, insert images or make other on-page SEO optimizations? If this is not recorded, misunderstandings may arise.
• Information on quoting & referencing: You should also put in writing what your policy is regarding external sources, links and quotations. Are these desired? When yes, when no and how should they be marked?
• Tools to be used: You and your team probably have tried and tested software that you use to write your texts, e.g. Keyword Research Tools or writing assistants. You should list these in your briefing.
• Helpful Resources: If you're dealing with beginners in SEO and writing, your briefing should also contain links to tutorials or other resources they can use to help, for example, work smoothly with your tools or perform good keyword research.

Text-Specific Information

• Topic: Obviously, writers should know the topic of the text. You've probably talked about it in advance, but it's always a good idea to write it down again. The topic can either be the H1 itself or you can give your writers more freedom here. So also make clear, whether the heading(s) are set or whether they can and should be creative themselves.
• Type & Purpose of Text: Where will the text be published & what kind of text is it? You should also write down more detailed information about the user intent and purpose of the text. These can be your SEO goals or information about whether the text will also be published on social media or in the newsletter.
• Target Group: Who are the readers of the article? What information about their experience level, their characteristics and interests is important for copywriters?
• Length: How long should the text be? Make an approximate statement here. You can either take this from the SEO text tool you are using or determine it based on the texts that rank best for the relevant keywords.
• Relevant Keywords: Speaking of – You should also record, for which keywords you are trying to rank with the text. I personally like to list both 1-3 main keywords and context keywords and subtopics that should ideally be incorporated into my text.
• Structure: What points should be highlighted in the text? What does the text need to provide a red thread for the readers and introduce them sufficiently to the core message? You can set topics or subheadings here yourself, which the writers should adhere to.
• Structure or layout specifications: To make the text as readable as possible (for readers and Google), you need more than just running text. Bullet points, subheadings and lists make your text richer and simply "nicer". If you break up the text visually, even people who don't feel like reading a long text will find their way around and be able to get answers to their questions quickly. Make this clear to your writers.
• Inspiring articles: Everyone who writes SEO texts or other content will know it - Sometimes you just can't get inspired and find it hard to start. That's why I can only recommend you to incorporate links to already well-ranking articles on the subject of the text into the briefing. This way, content writers and copywriters get an impression of what works well with search engines and readers and also of what can make their own contribution better.
• Link Information: Include links in the briefing that should be incorporated into the text. You can also suggest anchor texts that writers should use. So they don't have to search your blog or website for relevant pages themselves for hours.
• Deadline: Opinions differ here, but sometimes it makes sense to put the deadline for the article in writing. In any case, this should be coordinated with the writers beforehand.

Don'ts & Common Weaknesses in a Copywriter's Briefing

Let's move from the things that definitely belong in a copywriter's briefing to the things you shouldn't do or the things you should avoid.

Too general information

Avoid too general information. An example: If you specify "men and women over 40" as the target group, this gives relatively little information about how writers should design the text. The more specific you are in formulating the briefing, the better the content will be that you get back.

Too long briefing

Although you should be detailed in your information and requirements for writers, a 10-page long briefing is likely to be read by very few people. And even if they do, by the time they start creating the content, writers will have forgotten the information from the beginning of the briefing. The briefing should be short & snappy.

Too unstructured

For better navigation and orientation for your copywriters, you should build the content briefing logically and structured. This means avoiding long paragraphs, many dense sentences and running text.

Use italic and bold words, bullet points and a logical structure to make looking at the briefing fun.

Fee details & Personal data

Information about fees, salaries or private data of the copywriters do not belong in the briefing, but should be agreed separately and personally. If you use a briefing template, the risk is much too high that you will pass on information to third parties that they have no business having.

How to create a good content briefing?: Structure, tips

1. Make notes in advance: Write down what absolutely needs to be in your content briefing. This also includes that you may need to do keyword research and competitor analysis to have enough input for the briefing. This way the copywriters will get a more precise idea of what will make brilliant content.

2. A good introduction: First of all, the briefing should start with a clear heading that names the type of text and the topic.

⁠As both a copywriter and a client, I believe that a good content briefing should include a short greeting. There you can sweet-talk your copywriters a bit and write something like "Hello superstar writer" or "Let's rock this post!".

In my experience, this lightens the atmosphere between the client and the writer and motivates the writing of the article or post. If you work with freelancers or people outside the company, 1-2 sentences about your company and its mission are also appropriate here.

3. General information on texts on the desired platform: Next, I would start with guidelines that concern all texts on your blog, the website etc. So tips on writing style, gendering, spelling rules and so on.

4. Text-specific guidelines: Then get more specific, start with the topic for the text. This can of course already be found in the heading, but for the flow of reading, it is advisable to write down the topic once again. Maybe you only mention the general topic or main keyword in the heading and at this point the potential title of the finished text.

Then there should be 1-2 sentences or bullet points about the type & purpose of the text, the target group and the main keyword for which the text should rank. Next, you can suggest a structure and mention in one sentence whether subheadings and subtopics are free to choose or set.

5. Clear, flyover structure: You should use less running text and more bullet points in your briefing, so the copywriters can find their way around. The more structured the briefing, the more closely they will look at it. They will also find their way around better if they want to read something again.

6. Information on the further process & contact for questions: Once you have dealt with everything content-related in your content briefing, you should tell the copywriters at the end of the document how to proceed if this does not only happen via e-mail.

Write down here whether writers should submit images, if you have a specific format in mind and which e-mail address they should turn to if they have questions.

What needs to be considered in an SEO text briefing?

There are a few things that are particularly important when you are creating a briefing for SEO content .

• Assess the SEO knowledge of your writers: Depending on where they stand, you may need to teach them about SEO best practices.
• Accurate coordination & good communication in advance & during the writing process: This is always important, but even more so when you're dealing with writers who otherwise don't have much to do with SEO.
• Tips for structuring the text: To make the text readable for Google and your audience and increase your chance of appearing in People also ask or Featured Snippets, you should insist on a sensible layout of your texts. That is, point out in the briefing that lists, bullet points and short, concise sections should be chosen.
• Keyword information: Indicate in an SEO text briefing which keywords you want to rank for and also which context-related keywords should appear in a good article.
• Page Title & Meta Description: Indicate whether writers should choose these themselves and if so, make specifications as to length (about 60 characters for the title & 150 characters for the description)
• Videos & Pictures: Do primarily videos or infographics rank for your chosen keyword? You should take this into account when planning your content. A video can do wonders for your rankings and is, depending on the search query, more helpful for the users than text alone.
• Information on internal links: You know your website content best. So you probably also know better than your writers which related posts you already have online that should be linked in the new text. List these links in the briefing. If the new text is subject to a pillar post or a category, then this should definitely be linked to.
• Check & revise your briefing template regularly: Thanks to Google updates and changing ranking factors, the requirements for your SEO texts will also change. Therefore, you should regularly check your briefings and make changes to get the best results.

Which tools support the creation of content briefings?

Especially if you want to implement SEO measures with your briefing, there are tools that can help and make the process of briefing creation easier.

Here are the most popular providers for SEO analysis, keyword research and content creation:

• Ryte Suite: For keyword research, content ideas, A/B tests, target audience analysis
• SE Ranking: Performs an SERP analysis, helps with content briefing creation, content optimization & competitor comparisons, quality checks, content creation with AI content writing
• Sistrix: offers a Content Assistant AI & a Content Editor, supports briefing creation
• SurferSEO: For keyword research, content writing and optimization, competitor analysis, including AI writing assistant
• ChatGPT: Can help with briefing creation or keyword research. Try prompts like "Create a content briefing for topic X" or "Suggest main and context keywords for a blog post on topic X"
• Semrush: For SEO Content Template creation, Keyword Research, Competitor Analysis
• ahrefs: For keyword research, content research, ranking analysis

Are there content briefing templates? Where can they be found?

Content briefing templates can be found in a number of ways:

• via a simple Google search
• with tools like Semrush, Sistrix or SE-Ranking

Most of the time, with the SEO tools you just have to type in a keyword and a briefing will be created for you. In any case, you should evaluate whether the template you have in front of you is applicable to your company and your goals.

However, keep in mind that each briefing template also requires additional information from you.

We at OMR Reviews certainly won't leave you high and dry and have created our own, customizable copywriter briefing template for you. You can download it for free here.

No more chaos: perfect your copywriter briefings for unbeatable SEO results!

The art of a good copywriting brief is crucial to the quality of your content and the success of your SEO strategy. From the introduction to text-specific details and no-gos - this post should guide you through all the important steps and give you valuable tips for an effective brief.

My final tip is to create briefings that inspire your copywriters and facilitate your collaboration. This will not only maximize your visibility in the SERPs, but also generate readable content quickly and efficiently!