Dec 23, 2025·7 min read
Content brief template writers follow: intent, outline, CTA
Use this content brief template to align intent, outline, SERP features, internal link targets, and a clear CTA goal so writers deliver the right draft faster.
Use this content brief template to align intent, outline, SERP features, internal link targets, and a clear CTA goal so writers deliver the right draft faster.
A brief is meant to prevent three painful outcomes: a draft that misses the goal, a pile of rewrites, and content that ranks or converts worse than it should. When those things happen, it’s rarely because the writer “didn’t listen.” It’s usually because the brief didn’t make the key decisions.
Most briefs get ignored for predictable reasons:
A followable content brief fits on one page because it’s mostly choices, not essays. It answers the questions a writer can’t safely guess, then gets out of the way.
A brief tends to get followed when it clearly states the page goal, explains the search intent and the reader in plain words, provides a draft-ready outline (headings plus what to cover), calls out any must-hit SERP formats to aim for, and pre-decides internal links and one CTA direction.
You don’t always need a full brief. A short announcement or a low-stakes post can work with a tight message and a few constraints. But if the content needs to rank, match a funnel stage, or support a product goal, a real brief is worth the time.
If you want a writer to follow your brief, name the single job of the page. Not the topic, not the word count. The job.
Pick one primary outcome: help the reader learn, compare options, make a decision, or take a clear action like signing up. When you mix jobs (for example, “teach everything” and “push a trial”), the writer has to guess what matters most, and the draft turns into a compromise.
A simple way to lock in the goal is one sentence that starts with: “After reading, the person should…” Then add boundaries: what the article must not do. Those boundaries protect the draft from scope creep.
Goal examples that work well:
Next, give the writer what they need to hit the goal without guessing. “Use your judgment” is fine for style, but not for facts. If you have product notes, preferred terms, example scenarios, pricing rules, or “we never say X” language, include it upfront.
Finally, define success in behavior, not just traffic. For example: “Readers reach the CTA section and click the button,” or “Readers request a demo after scanning the comparison table.” That one definition guides what to emphasize, what to cut, and how you judge the first draft.
A brief gets easier to follow when it starts with what the reader came to get, and what “done” looks like.
Begin with the primary query: the exact phrase you want to win. Not a topic, not a category. A single, copy-paste-able query helps the writer choose wording, examples, and headings without guessing.
Next, add a quick reader snapshot. Keep it practical: who they are, what they already know, and what they don’t have time for. Example: “Busy marketing manager who knows basic SEO, has written a few briefs, and needs a repeatable template. They don’t want theory or long history lessons.”
Then label the intent type in plain words: learn, compare, troubleshoot, or buy. This matters because each intent needs a different kind of writing:
Add an angle that explains why this piece will be more useful than the top results. For a content brief template, a strong angle could be: “Only include fields that change what the writer produces, not admin details.”
Finally, list the must-answer questions readers expect. Treat these as guardrails. If the draft answers them clearly, it’s usually close to correct:
When you capture those items well, most writers can produce a clean first version with fewer clarifying messages and fewer edit rounds.
A usable outline isn’t a table of contents. It’s a draft plan.
If you want fewer rewrites, give the writer a clear H2/H3 structure plus one line on what goes into each part, and roughly how long it should be. Word counts matter because they control depth. A 300-word section won’t wander. A 900-word section signals you want details, edge cases, and a fuller walkthrough.
Here’s a simple structure you can paste into a content brief template and fill in:
Be specific about examples. Instead of “add an example,” say what kind: “Use a realistic scenario with a marketer handing a brief to a freelance writer, then show the final outline they can follow.” If comparisons help, call out what to compare and what to ignore.
Add one short guardrails note so the writer doesn’t have to guess your editing preferences. Keep it simple: plain tone, avoid jargon, don’t repeat the same point in multiple sections, and don’t go off on tangents (tools, history, or opinions) unless the outline asks for them.
SERP features aren’t a lottery ticket. You can plan for them by shaping parts of the draft into formats Google often pulls: short answers, clean lists, simple tables, and direct FAQs.
In a content brief template, pick 2 to 4 formats to aim for, not everything. For most how-to topics, a practical set is:
Then map each format to a specific section so the writer knows what to build where. For example: the first 150 words support the snippet, a middle section is a 6-step list, and a later section contains a table.
If you want a snippet-style answer, write the draft you want the writer to place near the top:
A content brief is a one-page plan that tells a writer the goal, the reader intent, the key points to cover, and what to avoid. It includes a clear outline, a few sources of truth like internal links, and one CTA. A good brief removes guesswork and reduces rewrites.
Tables work best when they help the reader decide something quickly: option A vs B, a checklist of must-haves, or a simple timeline of what happens first, next, last. If you want a table, specify the columns and what decision it should support.
For FAQs, don’t leave it open-ended. Add 3 to 5 questions the draft must answer plainly:
A good internal link plan shouldn’t feel like SEO homework. It should feel like help.
Only add a link when it answers the reader’s next question, provides proof, or helps them take the next step. In your brief, list 3 to 6 internal pages by page name (no URLs), explain why each one matters, and note where it belongs so the writer doesn’t have to guess.
Example format:
Add one sentence that gives the writer permission to keep the article smooth: “If the paragraph reads well without the link, don’t force it.”
Also note any pages that must not be linked (outdated pricing, half-finished docs, older posts with different definitions). That prevents confusion and saves edits later.
Many rewrites happen because the brief says “add a CTA” but never says what the reader should do next.
Treat the CTA like a promise: one clear action that fits the article, the reader’s mood, and the moment they reach it.
Start by naming the primary CTA as a single verb plus an object. “Start a trial,” “request a demo,” “subscribe to updates,” and “download the template” are specific and measurable. Avoid vague goals like “learn more” unless you define what “more” means.
Make the CTA feel like the next obvious step. A reader looking for a template is usually trying to save time or avoid mistakes, so the CTA should match that: get the fillable template, start a trial, or request a review of their current brief.
Decide where the CTA is allowed to appear so the writer doesn’t guess. One mid-article CTA can work right after you solve a key problem, but too many CTAs makes the piece feel pushy.
Include these details in the brief:
Then define success with one primary conversion metric. If the CTA is “Start a trial,” measure trial starts. If it’s “Subscribe,” measure signups. Keep it simple and write it into the brief.
Writers follow briefs that remove guesswork and still leave room for good writing. Copy this content brief template into your doc tool and fill it in before you assign the draft.
# CONTENT BRIEF
## 1) Basics
- Working title:
- Primary keyword:
- Secondary topics to include (3-6):
- Audience (who is this for, and what do they already know?):
- Search intent (choose one + describe): informational / commercial / transactional / navigational
- Reader takeaway (1-2 sentences):
## 2) Structure (outline a writer can draft from)
- Target length (words):
- H2/H3 outline with notes:
- H2:
- What it must cover:
- Example to include (small scenario, numbers, or comparison):
- Notes on tone/point of view:
- H2:
- H2:
- Must-answer questions (3-5):
## 3) SERP features to aim for
- Primary target (pick 1): featured snippet / PAA / list snippet / table snippet
- Snippet draft (40-60 words) or list/table draft:
- Any comparison table needed? (yes/no, rows/columns):
## 4) Internal links (plan, not guess)
- Pages to reference (2-5):
- Suggested anchors (1-2 per page, keep natural):
- Notes (where it should appear and why it helps the reader):
## 5) CTA goal
- One action we want:
- CTA placement (end, mid-article, both):
- How we will judge it (metric + timeframe):
## 6) Optional guardrails
- Sources to use (if any):
- Banned claims (what we cannot say):
- Required terminology (must use / must avoid):
If you can review the filled brief in 3 minutes and the writer can start without sending five clarification messages, you’re close.
Most rewrites aren’t about writing quality. They happen because the brief leaves room for three different articles, and the writer picks the one you didn’t mean.
The fastest way to create confusion is a prompt that’s only a topic. “Write about X” doesn’t tell the angle, the reader, or what the page needs to achieve. A good brief makes those choices upfront so the writer can focus on drafting.
Another trap is the brief that tries to be the final article. When you prewrite every paragraph, you remove ownership and still miss key decisions like what to compare, what to include, or what to skip. Give the writer a usable outline and constraints, not a full script.
Contradictions also create endless back-and-forth. If you ask for “short and punchy” but require every subtopic under the sun, the writer either misses things or produces a long piece you then cut down.
Common rewrite triggers:
A simple example: you ask for an FAQ section to target SERP features, but the outline has no questions, only headings. The writer either invents questions (which may not match your intent) or skips the FAQ, and you revise.
A low-effort fix is a short handoff moment before writing starts:
Before you hit send, do a fast quality pass. A good brief isn’t longer. It’s clearer, and it removes the need for the writer to guess.
Check five things:
If you can read the brief and picture the first 30 seconds of the draft, it’s ready. If not, tighten the notes before someone spends hours writing the wrong thing.
A SaaS marketing team wants a blog post that turns readers into free trial users. They send the writer a short, filled brief, not a pile of notes.
Intent (filled): “Help people who are comparing content tools choose a simple workflow for planning, writing, and publishing SEO pages. They should finish the post feeling confident enough to start a free trial today.”
Audience (filled): “Small marketing teams and founders who publish 2 to 8 posts/month, have limited time, and want clear steps more than theory.”
Outline summary (7 sections): the real problem (briefs get ignored), set one goal and one reader action, define search intent and who the post is for, a practical outline with H2s and what each must cover, SERP formats to target (steps + FAQ), internal links that feel natural, one CTA and how to measure it.
They also pre-decide the page features to aim for:
If you’re publishing at scale, it helps to standardize both the brief and the measurement. GENERATED (generated.app) is one example of a platform that can generate SEO-focused content and track CTA performance, which makes it easier to see which brief decisions actually move conversions.
Next steps: reuse the same template for your next five posts, compare results by intent type (how-to vs comparison), and update the brief fields that caused the most edits (usually outline detail, SERP targets, or the CTA definition).
A content brief is a one-page plan that tells the writer the page goal, who it’s for, what intent it should match, what to cover, and what to avoid. The point is to remove guesswork so the first draft is closer to what you actually want.
Most writers ignore briefs because the brief doesn’t make the key decisions. If the goal, audience, intent, outline details, and CTA are unclear or buried, the writer has to guess, and their “best guess” won’t match what you had in mind.
Start with one sentence: “After reading, the person should…” and pick one job for the page, like learn, compare, decide, or take an action. If you mix jobs (teach everything and sell hard), the draft usually turns into a messy compromise.
At minimum, specify the primary query you want to win, the audience snapshot (what they already know and what they don’t have time for), and the intent type (learn, compare, troubleshoot, or buy). Those three inputs shape the structure, examples, and tone more than word count does.
Give an H2/H3 structure plus one line on what each section must include, and add rough word ranges so depth is controlled. If you only provide headers, you’ll get a table of contents, not a draft plan.
A practical brief is mostly choices, not essays, and it usually fits on one page. If it’s long, make sure the non-negotiables are easy to spot: goal, intent, must-cover points, must-not-cover items, internal links, and one CTA direction.
Pick 2–4 formats you actually want to target, like a short snippet-style definition near the top, a step-by-step section, a simple table, and a small FAQ. Then tell the writer exactly where each format should appear so they don’t have to guess.
List 3–6 internal pages by name and say why each one helps the reader, plus where it should be placed in the article. Also give permission not to force links if the paragraph reads better without them, and call out any pages you don’t want linked.
Choose one primary action, written as a verb plus an object, like “Start a trial” or “Download the template,” and decide where it can appear. Then define success with one metric (for example, trial starts or signups) so everyone judges the draft the same way.
If the post is low-stakes (like a quick announcement), a tight message and a few constraints may be enough. If the content needs to rank, match a funnel stage, or support a product goal, a real brief pays off because it prevents scope creep and reduces edit rounds.