Brief Intake and Writer Assignment (Onboarding)

Brief Intake and Writer Assignment (Onboarding)

1. 01

   Confirm the client's keyword set maps to pages that already exist or are approved in the content calendar

   Reject briefs for terms with no landing page owner. A brief without a destination becomes a writer's dead end and a revision cycle the agency eats.

2. 02

   Pull the top 10 ranking URLs for the target keyphrase and record which subtopics each one covers

   Content Harmony and Dashword both build this comparison from SERP data, but a human should confirm the set reflects the client's actual market rather than a stale index.

3. 03

   Write the search intent statement in one sentence before any heading is drafted

   If the intent is commercial investigation, the brief needs comparison tables and pricing language. Informational intent needs definitions and examples. Mismatched intent is the most common cause of a rewrite.

4. 04

   Lock the heading skeleton to the client's brand voice guide, not the tool's default outline

   Frase generates recommended headings from SERP patterns. Strip any heading that reads like a competitor's boilerplate or contradicts the client's tone document.

5. 05

   Assign the brief to a named writer with a stated word range and a deadline that leaves one revision slot

   Junior writers and freelancers need the range explicit. A 1,200 to 1,600 word band with a single revision window keeps delivery predictable across a retainer.

6. 06

   Attach the client's internal link targets and any pages that must not be linked

   Yoga Write Code surfaces internal link suggestions from a site crawl, but client-side exclusions (legal pages, retired offers) only come from the account lead.

7. 07

   Get written sign-off from the client contact on the brief before the writer starts

   A 10-minute approval on the outline costs far less than a full draft rejection. Store the approval in the project record for scope disputes.