A content brief is a short document that tells a writer who the article is for, what it must answer and how it will be judged. Done well it removes guesswork. Done badly it becomes a rigid template that produces dull articles.
The one-page brief
- Working title and primary topic. A clear promise to the reader.
- Audience and problem. Who is searching, and what are they trying to get done?
- Search intent. Informational, comparison, transactional or navigational.
- Angle. What will this article offer that others do not?
- Outline. H2s and H3s as a starting point.
- Questions to answer. Pulled from real customer questions and search suggestions.
- Sources and experience. Data to cite and first-hand examples to add.
- Internal links. Two or three relevant pages to link to.
- Editorial checks. Facts verified, claims sourced, tone and length.
Common mistakes
- Over-specifying keyword counts, which makes copy awkward.
- Skipping the audience, so every article sounds the same.
- Asking writers to summarise the top results instead of adding something new.
Short on time? Our free Content Brief Generator builds this structure from a keyword and audience in seconds.
Review the brief with the writer
A five-minute conversation about the angle beats a long document. Invite objections: writers often spot a better structure than the brief suggested.
