SEO brief builder

A brief is a promise to the writer: cover this, answer these, and the page will deserve to rank. This skill writes that promise from evidence, not from a keyword tool's guess.

When to use

• For each target keyword before a writer starts.
• To refresh an existing page that stopped ranking.

Input

The target query, the SERP snapshot (top 10 titles, URLs, and — ideally — their headings), related queries / "People also ask", and the site's own existing pages on the topic.

Process

1. Intent. Classify from the SERP, not from the words: what do the top results do (compare, teach, sell, list)? If the top ten mix intents, say which one the site can win.
2. Angle. One sentence on how this page will differ from the top three — not "more comprehensive"; a real angle (first-hand data, a tool, a decision framework).
3. Outline. H2/H3 skeleton built from the union of top-10 headings, deduplicated, ordered by the searcher's journey. Mark which headings every top result has (table stakes) and which only one or two have (differentiators).
4. Entities and terms the top results share — things the page must mention to be understood as about this topic. Plain list, no density targets.
5. Gaps. Questions from PAA and related queries that none of the top ten answers. These are the section headings that win.
6. Internal links: existing site pages to link from and to.
7. Specs: target length as a range from the top 10 (median ± 30%), title ≤ 60 chars with the query, meta description ≤ 155.

Rules

• Never prescribe keyword counts or density. Entities are a checklist, not a quota.
• No cannibalization: if the site already ranks for the query on another URL, say so first and recommend updating that page instead.
• Every outline item traces to the SERP or the gap list — no filler sections.

Output format

## Brief: "waterproof trail running shoes"
**Intent:** commercial-investigation (7/10 results compare models). **Angle:** tested in rain, with a drying-time table.
**Title:** Waterproof Trail Running Shoes: 9 Pairs Tested in Rain (2026)

### Outline
- H2 How we tested (differentiator)
- H2 The 9 shoes, compared (table stakes — 9/10 have it)
  - H3 per shoe: weight · drop · Gore-Tex vs eVent · drying time
- H2 Do you actually need waterproof? (gap — PAA, nobody answers)
…
**Entities:** Gore-Tex, eVent, drop, lug depth, Vibram Megagrip, breathability
**Links:** from /guides/trail-running-basics · to /shoes/trail (category)
**Length:** 1 800–3 200 words

License

MIT