SEO Content Brief Template
Four documents and three sheets that tell a writer what page one is missing, plus the register that kills a topic when nothing is missing.
Free download · No account needed
Brief Format
One brief, one piece, one page
First half: what already exists
- The commission. Query, intent, reader, word target, dates, and the coverage decision between a new page, a refresh and a merge.
- What the reader is trying to do. What happened immediately before they typed the query, and what they need to do after reading.
- What currently ranks, and what it collectively establishes. Every competing result, then the consensus paragraph. This is the exclusion list.
- What our own site already says. Every URL of yours touching the query, with performance. Two of your own in one result set means merge.
Second half: what only this piece carries
5. The additive angle · this section is a gate
Name the material, not the intention. The dataset you hold, the practitioner on the record, the primary source everybody else summarises, the real column names, the distinction the whole set collapses.
Empty here, the brief is not assigned. The topic is recorded as killed at brief stage with the reason, and that is a good outcome.
- Sources the writer must use. Named individually, with who holds each one.
- Structure. H2s in order, with the additive-angle section marked for the reviewer.
- Publication metadata. Byline, author page, title, description, slug, and the internal links in both directions.
- What this piece is not. The adjacent topics to leave alone, and where each is covered instead.
Hollowell has two blog posts about technician no-shows. One is 1,100 words at position 14, the other is 900 words at position 18, and they rank for the same query. Between them they earned 230 clicks in ninety days against 41,000 impressions. Both were briefed the same way: read the nine articles ranking for the term, list what they cover, cover all of it. Both writers did exactly that. Both briefs were complete.
A brief derived from the results already ranking is a specification to write the next version of them. Google's guidance on helpful content asks whether a piece avoids simply copying or rewriting those sources and instead provides substantial additional value, and whether it provides substantial value compared to other pages in search results. A coverage checklist built from those pages answers no to both before a word exists. The writer cannot fix it; the brief already decided.
So the current results go into the brief as the exclusion list. Section 3 records what the whole set already establishes, and the writer is told not to re-establish any of it. Section 5 names the material only this piece will carry, and a brief with an empty section 5 is not assigned. It installs into the marketing workspace, beside the Search Console keyword map and the rest of the template library. Send River a query, or take the files blank.
What's in the pack
Brief Format
Nine sections split into what already exists and what only this piece carries, with section 5 written as a gate rather than a field.
Worked Brief
One brief filled end to end, including the weak section 5 that produced a position-14 page shown next to the strong one that replaced it.
Brief Register
One row per topic with its coverage decision, its angle and its state, including the topics correctly declined before anybody was paid.
Assignment Tracker
Who has what, when it is due, and the cause of every extra round recorded as either the writer or the brief.
Performance by Brief
Published pieces read back against their briefs, with the angle-free ones kept in as the control group that makes the comparison mean something.
Writer Guidance
Sendable with a first brief, and pairs with a voice guide so a freelancer's first draft matches the house voice.
Review Standard
Six checks in an order that stops you line editing a draft that has no reason to be published, each finding tied to a brief section.
Publication metadata at brief time
Byline, author page and dates filled before assignment, using the properties Google's Article documentation recommends.
How to use it
- 1
Open in River, or take it blank
Open the pack in River and give it a query, or download the Word documents and CSV sheets and fill them in yourself.
- 2
Let it read both sides
The results currently ranking, and what your own domain already says about the same query. Sections 3 and 4 come back filled, and they decide what section 5 can be.
- 3
Take the coverage decision
New page, refresh, or merge. Two of your own URLs in one result set means neither wins, and that finding usually arrives before you asked for it.
- 4
Assign it, or decline it
A named angle with secured sources gets a writer and a date. An empty section 5 gets a register row and a reason, and nobody writes it.
Frequently asked questions
Is this template free?
Yes, and there is no account, no card and no email gate on the download. The optional half is Edit with AI: River reads the live results for your query, reads your own domain, and hands back sections 3, 4 and 5 filled. Other packs are in the template library.
How is this different from a brief out of an SEO tool?
Those tools derive their requirements from the pages already ranking, so a term list describes the competition rather than the piece. It is a useful late check for something obviously absent. It cannot tell you what to add, because every input came from what already exists.
What counts as an additive angle?
Named material. Data you hold and nobody else does. A practitioner on the record. A primary source everyone else cites through each other. The real column names in a real export. A distinction the whole result set collapses. One worked example carried end to end. A recording you already made holds most of these, and an article from a transcript indexes them.
What if a topic genuinely has nothing to add?
It gets a register row marked killed at brief stage, with what was checked and the finding that would change the answer. That is the register working. A topic declined costs one paragraph, and the alternative is paying for a piece that lands on page three. Where the topic already exists and is decaying, the content refresh pack decides whether a rewrite recovers it.
Do I have to fill all nine sections?
Yes, and it takes less time than it sounds because River fills the reading-heavy ones. An empty section is a decision nobody has made rather than a section that does not apply. The one that stops everything is section 5, and it stops the commission on purpose.
Will this work for writers who are not in-house?
It was built for them. Writer Guidance exists to be sent with a first brief, and it explains why the ranking results are an exclusion list rather than a checklist. Freelancers return generic drafts when nobody has told them which section is the deliverable. When the draft comes back, check it against this brief rather than a generic rubric.
What does Edit with AI actually do?
It signs you up, installs this pack as a private workspace, and starts on your first query. Send a keyword export, a calendar, an old brief or a single line somebody senior asked for, and the first brief comes back filled. For a whole cluster at once, the pillar and cluster build pack plans how the briefs link to each other first.
Find out what page one is actually missing
Take the Word documents and CSV sheets blank, or open this exact pack in River and give it one query and your domain.
Edit with AI