For SEO Specialist / Content Marketing Managers ·
What you'll accomplish
By the end of this guide, you'll have Claude Pro set up as your personal content brief generator — producing structured, agency-quality briefs in under 5 minutes per keyword instead of the 60-90 minutes it currently takes manually. You'll also have a reusable template that produces consistent briefs across all your clients.
What you'll need
Claude Projects let you save instructions and context so you don't have to re-explain your brief format every time.
What you should see: A project workspace with a "Project instructions" section.
Click in the Project instructions box and paste the following (customize for your standard):
You are an expert SEO content strategist. Your job is to write structured content briefs for articles and blog posts.
When I give you a target keyword + competitor data, produce a brief in exactly this format:
CONTENT BRIEF: [keyword]
Date: [today's date]
Target word count: [based on competitors]
SEARCH INTENT:
[1 sentence: what the searcher is trying to accomplish]
PRIMARY KEYWORD: [exact match]
SEMANTIC KEYWORDS (include naturally):
[8-10 keywords from the research]
RECOMMENDED TITLE:
[Click-worthy title under 60 characters including target keyword]
PROPOSED OUTLINE:
H1: [title]
H2: [section 1]
H3: [sub-section if needed]
H2: [section 2]
[etc — 5-8 H2s total]
COMPETITOR GAPS (topics in top 3 results that this article must also cover):
1. [gap]
2. [gap]
3. [gap]
DIFFERENTIATOR (how this article should be better than what already ranks):
[1-2 sentences]
INTERNAL LINKS TO INCLUDE:
[I'll fill this in manually]
CALLS TO ACTION:
[relevant CTAs for this client's goals]
---
Keep briefs tight and actionable. The writer needs to be able to pick this up and start writing immediately.
Still in Project Instructions, below the format template, add your client-specific context:
CLIENT CONTEXT:
- Brand: [brand name]
- Target audience: [who they're writing for]
- Tone: [e.g., "Professional but approachable. Not academic. Avoid jargon."]
- Competitors: [list 3-5 main competitors]
- Core topics: [main content pillars]
- What to avoid: [e.g., "Don't compare to CompetitorX favorably", "No affiliate-style listicles"]
What you should see: The instructions saved automatically. Every new conversation in this Project will know your format and client context.
For each new brief you need:
Alternatively in SEMrush: Keyword Overview → grab the same data → Topic Research for semantic ideas.
Target keyword: [keyword]
Volume: [X] | Difficulty: [X]
Top ranking pages:
1. [URL] — Title: [title] — Key H2s: [list]
2. [URL] — Title: [title] — Key H2s: [list]
3. [URL] — Title: [title] — Key H2s: [list]
Also-rank-for keywords: [paste list from Ahrefs]
Our client's angle: [any specific direction or differentiator you already know]
Please generate a content brief.
What you should see: A fully formatted brief matching your template — ready to review, lightly edit, and send to your writer.
Troubleshooting: If Claude deviates from your format, add "Follow the brief format exactly as specified in the project instructions" at the end of your message.
Claude's briefs are typically 80-90% ready to use. Quickly review:
Standard brief with SERP data:
Target keyword: [kw]. Volume: [X], Difficulty: [X]. Top 3 URLs + their H2s: [paste]. Semantic keywords: [list]. Angle: [any specific direction]. Generate brief.
Brief from scratch (minimal data):
Target keyword: [kw]. Industry: [industry]. Target audience: [who]. Our differentiated angle: [angle]. I don't have competitor data. Generate a best-effort brief based on your knowledge of this topic.
Brief update (existing article):
This article needs updating: [paste article]. Target keyword: [kw]. It currently ranks #[X]. What's missing from the content compared to what should rank? Rewrite the brief to reflect what needs adding.