The document discusses how to create an effective content brief that aligns teams and beats competition. It outlines the three pillars of high-performing organic content: addressing search user needs through keyword research, creating quality content, and optimizing the content to communicate effectively to search engines. An effective brief requires user needs research, competitive research, and an SEO-optimized outline. AI-assisted tools like ALPS can automate the research process and create optimized briefs in minutes to improve content performance and team alignment.

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How We Create The Perfect
SEO Brief That Aligns Teams
& Beats Competition
ALPS™ Webinar
Ajay Rama
SVP, Products

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About Me
Ajay Rama, SVP, Products, iQuanti
Notable Work: Built ALPS – Patented, Award winning
enterprise SEO platform that makes SEO predictable
Experience: 20+ years of experience in Marketing
Analytics, Data Science and Data warehousing.
Companies: Currently with iQuanti, earlier had
developed products for iFlex, Oracle, and AOL

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What will you learn today
What this session is about
3 Pillars of high-performing organic content
Role of the content brief
How to write a great content brief
• User Needs Research
• Competitive Research
• SEO Optimized outline
AI-assisted content brief using ALPS
… and what it is not
We will not discuss the standard
inputs that do not change with
each brief. Ex. Brand Voice, Target
Audience etc.
Challenges in creating high-performing content
Why is search different and important

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Why Search is different and its important
Why is search important
• Improve brand recognition and visibility
• Grow traffic for website and other channels (like social, referrals etc.)
• Positively influence sales and revenue without high spends like push channels
• Engage with customers even before they need your product/service at awareness stage
• Maintain influence in a specific niche or industry
• Ensure long-term business growth with minimal spends
Search is a pull channel and needs to be treated differently than push channels
• Pull works on naturally drawing consumer interest in your brand/products
• What gets served by search engines is only what is asked so capturing the search demand is critical
• Make your Relevant, interesting, and timely (on top of targeting the search demand)

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3 Pillars for high-performing organic content - I
Addressing search user needs
If people are not asking for something, your article won’t have search visibility
• Great content addresses what people are asking for
• Keywords and their search volumes give an insight into the demand for a topic

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3 Pillars for high-performing organic content - II
Quality of Content
Quality sets it apart from competition signaling expertise and authenticity
• Content comprehensiveness for broad search queries that are informational or transactional in intent
• Depth for to signal expertise
• Uniqueness to provide a new Point of View

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3 Pillars for high-performing organic content - III
Communicates to Search Engine
Ensures that search engines know what the content is about
• Using keywords and keyword-adjacent terms to optimize meta elements
• Page structure that clearly conveys topic and sub-topic coverage
• Schema to make your page look more engaging, and informative in SERPs with snippets and images
• Meta elements (Title/Description) that explicitly mentions the keywords
• Internal links to relevant adjacent topics

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Challenges with producing high performing content at scale
• Quality of content is highly subjective and
hard to scale as it is dependent on the
capability of content writer which varies from
person to person.
• Research on the topic takes too much time
and quality of research is not consistent
• Multiple Stakeholders like SMEs, Marketers,
Writers make it difficult to align and execute
on a vision
Challenge
• Governance to ensure quality of content that
remains constant across writer
• Consistent, comprehensive, and structured
research to ensure quality irrespective of
writer
• Document to reach common ground for
multiple teams like SMEs, Marketers, Writers
What is Needed

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Challenge with producing high performing content
Challenge What is Needed
• Quality of content is highly subjective and
hard to scale as it is dependent on the
capability of content writer
• Research on the topic takes too much time
and quality of research is not consistent
• Multiple Stakeholders like SMEs, Marketers,
Writers make it difficult to align and execute
on a vision
• Governance to ensure quality of content that
remains constant across writer
• Consistent, comprehensive, and structured
research to ensure quality irrespective of
writer
• Document to reach common ground for
multiple teams like SMEs, Marketers, Writers
Content Brief

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Audience Poll
Do you use content brief for creating content?
A. Do not use it
B. Use it sometimes
C. Use it regularly, but not defined research process
D. Use it regularly, with defined research process

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What does an effective content brief cover?
User Needs Research SEO Optimized Outline
Competitive Research
These steps are relevant to search and require
systematic research
Brand Tone
Narrative
Target
Audience
Persona
…
Outside of Scope

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How to write a great content brief : User Needs Research
Understanding the keyword landscape for your topic
Before we start writing on a topic, we need to understand what queries are people asking on search engines
• Identifying the primary topic of the page and the related secondary topics
• Iterative process to find and shortlist the right keyword set
• Different content types need different approach - Thought-leadership articles are different vs structured content
Finalizing keywords that you should optimize your content for
Create a list of keywords that you would like this page to rank for
• Primary keywords should be high volume search queries closely associated with the topic.
• Supporting keywords should be adjacent topics that interest users and relevant long tail keywords.
User Needs Research SEO Optimized Outline
Competitive Research

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User Needs Research: Example
User Needs Research SEO Optimized Outline
Competitive Research
Use Google Keyword Planner Iteratively

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User Needs Research: Example
User Needs Research SEO Optimized Outline
Competitive Research
Research Google Suggestions

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User Needs Research: Example
User Needs Research SEO Optimized Outline
Competitive Research
Research Related Searches

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User Needs Research: Example
User Needs Research SEO Optimized Outline
Competitive Research
People Also Ask

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User Needs Research: Sample Research Output
User Needs Research SEO Optimized Outline
Competitive Research
Keywords Search Volume
Content Brief content brief 320
what is content brief 70
article brief 20
content brief example 70
content creation brief 10
content writing brief 10
seo content brief template 30
content writing brief template 10
blog post brief template 10
website content brief template 20
content strategy brief template 10
website content brief template 20
article brief template 10
Questions
What does a content brief look like?
How do I create a content brief for SEO?
What are content briefs?
What are the main points of content writing?
How do you write a content brief?
What is SEO content writing examples?
How do you write a brief content?
What is the purpose of a content brief?
What belongs in a content brief?
What is a good content brief?
What are AI content writing tools?
What should be included in a content brief?

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How to write a great content brief : Competitive Research
User Needs Research SEO Optimized Outline
Competitive Research
What are competitors covering?
Identify list of topics/sub-topics covered by competitor websites
• Titles and Headers used on competitor pages
• Popular Questions that the content addresses
• Subtopics covered in competitor content
How are competitors optimizing their content?
Leverage Competitor Pages to take cues while writing content for your pages
• Words and Phrases used by some of the high-ranking pages can guide
usage of words and phrases while writing
• Each element should be optimized iteratively so that it addresses the
primary user query as good as/better than the other competitor pages

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How to write a great content brief : Competitive Research
User Needs Research SEO Optimized Outline
Competitive Research
Competitive Research
Look at the SERP Layout
Identify what the search engine is already showing to understand what
works for the topic
• Videos explaining the concept
• How to Steps on how to do a particular thing
• Widgets that might be helpful. Like calculator etc.
Identify Primary and Supporting Topics:
Research competitor pages to identify primary topic and list all the
supporting topics that cover topic comprehensively
• Structure the content by breaking this topic into smaller pieces
if suitable.
• Comprehensive content should adequately cover supporting
topics. Cover them briefly and have internal links to detailed
relevant pages.
Figure your uniqueness
and quality
Decide what is your differentiating
factor based on how competitors are
covering the topic
• Decide on your own unique
angle to the content that is
not used by competition
• Zero down on how to make
your content comprehensive

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Competitive Research : “What are competitors covering?”
User Needs Research SEO Optimized Outline
Competitive Research
Competitive Research
Topics covered by
competition

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Competitive Research : “Competitor Pages”
User Needs Research SEO Optimized Outline
Competitive Research
Competitive Research
Sub-Topics
Source: https://blog.marketmuse.com/what-is-a-content-brief/
Title
Internal Links

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Competitive Research : “Competitor Pages”
User Needs Research SEO Optimized Outline
Competitive Research
Competitive Research
Infographics
Source: https://blog.marketmuse.com/what-is-a-content-brief/

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Competitive Research : “How competitors are optimizing?”
User Needs Research SEO Optimized Outline
Competitive Research
Competitive Research
Targeted
Words and Phrases
Source: https://blog.marketmuse.com/what-is-a-content-brief/

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SEO Optimized Outline : “Primary and Supporting Topics”
Content Brief
what is content
brief
content brief
example
how to write a
content brief
content brief
generator
seo content brief
template
create a content
brief
Primary Topic
Supporting
Topics
User Needs Research SEO Optimized Outline
Competitive Research

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Competitive Research : “SERP Layout”
User Needs Research SEO Optimized Outline
Competitive Research
Competitive Research
SERP Layout and Packs Videos
How To?

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Competitive Research : “SERP Layout”
User Needs Research SEO Optimized Outline
Competitive Research
Competitive Research
SERP Layout and Packs Widgets
Lists

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Competitive Research : Sample Research Output
User Needs Research SEO Optimized Outline
Competitive Research
Competitive Research
What to Cover Competitive Intelligence Your Unique Angle
Title
What is content brief
Step by step guide with examples to create a perfect
content brief
How to Create a Content Brief
What Is A Content Brief, And Why Is It Important?
How to Write an Effective Content Brief for Writers
The Ultimate Guide to Creating an Effective Content Brief
Subtopic 1
Content Brief Template
Generate Content Brief Templates
AI-assisted content brief template to create performing
SEO optimized content
SEO content brief template
Information in a content brief template
Subtopic 2
Content Brief Importance
How Content Briefs Improve Content Marketing Efforts
Alignment of teams using brief and getting it first time
right
Prevent rewrites and reduce revisions
Don’t miss any critical information
…Other Subtopics
…competitive intelligence…
Your unique idea
…competitive intelligence…

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How to write a great content brief : SEO Optimized Outline
User Needs Research SEO Optimized Outline
Competitive Research
Address User Queries
Ensure addressing all the user queries identified during research phase
Identify and target the SERP packs
Target the SERP packs identified in the research phase that you want to be a part of
Keyword Targeting
Cover Primary Keywords in Title
Cover related Keywords on H1s and H2s

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Competitive Research : Research Output
What to Cover Competitive Intelligence Your Unique Angle SEO Optimized Ideas
Title
What is content brief
What is a perfect content brief for SEO with
example
Target Hero Keyword
“Perfect Content Brief”
How to Create the Perfect Content Brief
What Is A Content Brief, And Why Is It Important?
How to Write an Effective Content Brief for Writers
The Ultimate Guide to Creating an Effective Content
Brief
Subtopic 1
Content Brief
Template
Manual vs. AI-Generated Content Brief Templates
AI-assisted content brief template to create
performing SEO optimized content
Target secondary Keyword
“Content Brief Template”
SEO content brief template
Use infographic to show Content Brief Image
Information in a content brief template
Subtopic 2
Content Brief
Importance
How Content Briefs Improve Content Marketing
Efforts Alignment of teams using brief and getting it
first time right
Target secondary Keyword
“Content Brief for Team alignment”
Prevent rewrites and reduce revisions Use video to showcase alignment.
Optimize for “Video” SERP Pack
Don’t miss any critical information
…Other
Subtopics
…competitive intelligence…
Your unique idea Optimization guidance
…competitive intelligence…
User Needs Research SEO Optimized Outline
Competitive Research

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ALPS delivers superior SEO results by using AI to make
SEO simple, predictable, and efficient
Our Patented Technology uses AI/ML to mirror Google’s algorithm to accurately predict SEO outcomes
ALPS helps users with
ALPS Users
SEO
Experts
Digital
Marketers
Content
Creators
Identifying
Opportunity
and Gaps
Prioritizing
Opportunities
Optimizing
Content
Forecasting
Impact
ALPS creates unique data and metrics that eliminates guesswork and reduces 60% of manual effort
required in current SEO roles.

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ALPS AI-assisted content brief : Keywords

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ALPS AI-assisted content brief : Competitor Pages

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ALPS AI-assisted content brief: Questions to address

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ALPS AI-assisted content brief : Topic outline

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ALPS AI-assisted content brief : Phrases to use

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ALPS AI-assisted content brief : H1s Optimization

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ALPS AI-assisted content brief : Title Optimization

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ALPS AI-assisted content brief : Meta Optimization

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Summary of what we learnt today
Importance of search and what is needed to perform organically
3 Pillars of high performing content and how to work through them
• Search User Needs
• Quality of Content
• Communicating to Search Engine
How structured Brief solves the problems of creating high performing
content
How AI assisted brief can bring efficiency and agility.
• Automate all the research to create an effective content brief in minutes
To explore AI-enabled
enterprise SEO
platform visit :
www.alps.ai

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CTA+
Questions and Answers