SEO Content Brief
A brief is a contract with the writer. If it doesn't constrain them, it isn't a brief — it's a suggestion. Every section here is specific enough that two writers would produce structurally similar articles.
Why This Exists
Most briefs are a keyword and a word count. The writer fills the gap with judgment they were never given, and the result fights the SERP.
If every result for a term is a listicle, a narrative essay will not rank regardless of how good it is. Intent has to be read from the actual SERP, not assumed from the keyword.
The most valuable thing this skill does is occasionally talk you out of the page. A brief that says "update the existing URL" or "you cannot win this term, here's the longer-tail entry point" is worth more than one that dutifully specs a page nobody will find.
How It Works
Read the SERP, don't assume it
Top 8 results: page type, title format, depth, freshness, domain profile. Classify intent, name the dominant format, and check whether there's an AI Overview and what it cites — that's your extractable-answer target.
Decide whether the page should exist
Does a page already target this? Can this domain realistically compete? Does it serve the business goal or just traffic? The answer becomes a Recommendation block at the top of the brief.
Write the outline as instructions
H1, then every H2 and H3 with a note on what belongs under it. Mark the section that answers the query directly and put it above the fold — that's what gets extracted into snippets and AI answers.
Constrain the specs honestly
Word count derived from the ranking set with the observed range stated. Internal links as verified real URLs, at least one to a money page. Plus two or three sentences on what would make this page fail.
Two Minutes To First Output
# 1. Clone the bundle git clone https://github.com/seosdm/seo-skills.git # 2. Copy skills/seo-content-brief/SKILL.md into a Claude Project, then prompt: Run seo-content-brief. Keyword: [target]. Domain: [site]. Goal: rank / convert / support. # 3. Hand the output straight to the writer. That's the point.
No API keys, no setup. The skill is a SKILL.md file plus a worked example — it runs anywhere Claude does.
Sample Output
Verdict: commercial-investigation intent, and every ranking result is a comparison listicle — a narrative guide would not place here. Recommendation is to update the existing URL rather than publish new, because it already earns impressions for four of the secondary terms.
See the full worked example in /examples.
I'll Teach You The Rest
Free skill, real judgment behind it. Want it run on your business, or your team taught to run it themselves?
Train My Team To Run This north_eastWhere you already rank, and the cheapest wins.
AI Visibility AuditWhere you're cited, and where you're not.
CRO Page TeardownRanking is worthless if the page doesn't convert.