How we create the perfect SEO brief that aligns teams

Does aligning SEO goals with multiple teams and departments sound like a herd of cats?

To add fuel to the ever-growing timeline, you may have uninformed stakeholders who also need to contribute.

Marketing, SEO, and content teams share many of the same goals, but how aligned are you in creating timely and consistently effective content?

It’s time to try out the perfect SEO brief.

On June 22, I hosted a webinar with Ajay Rama, CEO of Alps.ai. He demonstrated how to create a well-coordinated brief that seamlessly connects your teams, improves your content program, and outshines your competitors.

Here is a summary of the webinar.

To access the full presentation, fill out the form.

Challenges in producing high-performing content

As you scale, these content creations can become more difficult.

Many companies struggle to stay on track, leading to deteriorating content quality.

• Content quality is very subjective and difficult to assess, as it depends on the ability of the content author, which varies from person to person.
• Researching the topic takes too long and the quality of research is inconsistent.
• Multiple stakeholders make alignment and execution of a vision a challenge.

What then?

A brief of content is a solution to address scaling challenges.

[Create the perfect content brief] Access the webinar instantly →

In reality, very few companies use content briefs.

Even when they use it, it isn’t comprehensive enough, high enough, or doesn’t provide the benefits an organization needs.

What an effective content brief covers and the stages of execution

A well-structured brief can improve the overall performance of your content.

Three steps address every aspect of the basic pillars that make up solid content.

[Discover the 3 core pillars of content creation] Access the webinar instantly →

Step 1: Research user needs

Research the keyword landscape for your topic before you start writing. You will need to understand what queries people are typing into search engines.

Once you know this, you can finalize the keywords you need to optimize your content with.

First, create a list of keywords you want this page to rank for.

• Main keywords.
• Supporting keywords.

[See examples of each] Access the webinar instantly →

Step 2: Conduct competitive research

The next step is to create quality content.

Competitive research can help you create quality content. You can do this by knowing:

• What Competitors Cover.
  • Titles and headings.
  • Popular questions.
  • Subtopics.
• How competitors optimize their content.
  • Words and sentences.
  • Optimized elements.

Aim for at least seven full search pages.

Step 3: Optimize your SEO plan

Know the elements of how you plan to communicate your content to search engines.

This can be achieved by:

• Targeting by keywords.
• Respond to user queries.
• Identification and targeting of SERP packs.

[Dive deeper into each step] Access the webinar instantly →

This is what your content brief should look like.

Structured research will allow your team to focus on the creative aspects of content creation without wasting time on operational details.

[Slides] How we create the perfect SEO brief that aligns teams and beats the competition

Here is the presentation:

Join us for our next webinar!

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Image credits

Featured Image: Paulo Bobita/Search Engine Journal