Brief Intake and Writer Assignment (Onboarding)

Brief Intake and Writer Assignment (Onboarding)

1. 01

   Collect the client's keyword set and confirm the primary target per brief before any research begins

   Cap each brief at one primary keyphrase and a named cluster of supporting terms. Briefs that carry three competing primaries produce drafts that rank for none of them.

2. 02

   Pull the live SERP for the primary keyphrase and record the top ten results with page type and word count

   Note whether the ranking set is dominated by listicles, product pages, or long-form guides. The dominant format sets the structural expectation the writer must meet or deliberately break.

3. 03

   Extract recurring entities, questions, and subtopics across the ranking pages into a single candidate list

   Tools such as Dashword and Content Harmony automate this extraction, but a human editor should delete terms that appear only because one competitor padded its page.

4. 04

   Map each candidate term to a search intent label (informational, comparison, transactional) and drop mismatches

   A brief for a comparison query that carries informational subtopics will produce a draft that answers the wrong question. Intent labels are the cheapest filter available.

5. 05

   Write the client brand voice constraints into the brief as explicit rules, not adjectives

   Replace 'friendly tone' with concrete instructions such as banned phrases, required product naming, and approved proof points. Vague voice notes are the top cause of second-round rewrites.

6. 06

   Assign the brief to a writer with a stated word range, deadline, and revision allowance

   Junior writers and freelancers need the range and the allowance in writing. Frase and similar platforms can draft an outline, but the assignment terms belong in the brief header where the writer sees them first.

7. 07

   Route the completed brief to the client SEO lead for a single approval pass before drafting starts

   One approval gate at the brief stage costs a day. Skipping it costs a full draft cycle when the client's target keyword turns out to be a term they cannot rank for yet.