Updated 30 October 2026: Rewritten around a specific planning or review task. Unsupported outcomes and attributed campaign stories were removed; examples are hypothetical. The original publication date remains.
A useful brief tells a writer what the reader needs to decide and what evidence is available. It should leave room for editorial judgement while making unsupported claims and missing inputs visible.
Which question deserves a separate article?
Choose a question with a distinct useful answer. Check existing material first: if the same reader task is already answered well, improving that page may be more useful than adding another article.
Distinguish a new perspective from a new keyword phrase. A location name alone does not create a different reader need.
What should the brief include?
State the audience, question, direct answer, source list and intended next step. Explain what the writer can verify and what requires the business owner’s input.
- What does the reader need to do?
- Which facts and dates support the answer?
- What example or sample output would help?
- Which limitations must be stated?
- When should the article be reviewed?
How should practical examples be handled?
Use measured or permission-backed evidence where it exists. Otherwise label a planning example hypothetical and avoid attaching real brand names or outcomes.
Hypothetical brief: explain how a service buyer can compare two proposals. The article lists the required scope, cost and ownership information, then shows a fictional comparison. It does not claim that one provider delivered a particular result.
What should the editor reject?
Reject unsupported figures, invented firsthand experience, vague superiority claims and sections that do not help answer the question. Google’s people-first guidance is a useful reference for that review. Length and a long heading list do not establish quality.
A practical prompt to adapt
“Build a brief for [actual customer question] using [existing pages], [dated primary sources] and [available business evidence]. State the direct answer, necessary sections, required owner inputs and review trigger. Flag overlap and unsupported claims. Label fictional examples and avoid inventing experience.”
Our content planning guide connects the brief with evidence, production and outcome review.