Content Brief Factory

Content Brief Factory

Most content briefs are garbage. They tell you "mention these keywords 7 times" and call it a strategy. This skill produces briefs that include competitive analysis, unique angles mined from what real customers say, SERP feature targeting, and a differentiated outline — so your writer knows exactly what to create and why it'll rank.

Core principle: A great brief doesn't just say "write about X." It says "here's what's already ranking, here's why it's winning, here's the gap they missed, here's the customer language that proves the gap matters, and here's exactly how to structure a page that beats them."

Batch mode: Process 10-50 keywords in a single run. Each brief takes ~30 seconds in enhanced mode, ~60 seconds in baseline.

When to Use

• "Create content briefs for these keywords"
• "I need briefs for our Q2 content calendar"
• "Write briefs for our pSEO templates"
• "Generate 20 briefs from this keyword list"
• "What should we write about [topic]? Give me a full brief."

Tool Enhancement (Optional)

Briefs are significantly better with real SERP data (what's actually ranking, what SERP features appear) rather than inferred analysis.

Agent Prompt to User

"I can create strong content briefs using competitive research and customer language mining. For the best results — especially accurate SERP analysis and keyword metrics — I'd recommend connecting a SERP data API."

Recommended: SerpAPI (100 free searches/month, $50/month for 5,000)

• Sign up at serpapi.com → get API key
• Set SERPAPI_KEY env var

Alternatives that also work:

• Serper.dev (2,500 free searches, then $50/month for 50K) → set SERPER_API_KEY
• DataForSEO SERP (pay-per-use, ~$0.01/search) → set DATAFORSEO_LOGIN + DATAFORSEO_PASSWORD
• ValueSERP (free tier available) → set VALUESERP_API_KEY

"Want to use one of these, or should I proceed with baseline mode? Baseline uses web search to analyze competing pages — still produces great briefs, just with less precise SERP feature and volume data."

Mode Selection

• Enhanced mode — Real SERP data per keyword: exact ranking pages, SERP features present (featured snippets, PAA, video carousels), search volume, keyword difficulty. Briefs include specific "win this SERP feature" targeting.
• Baseline mode — Uses web_search to identify top-ranking pages, seo-domain-analyzer for domain metrics. SERP feature detection is inferred. Still produces excellent briefs — the competitive analysis and customer language components don't need SERP APIs.