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The content brief: what to hand a writer

An answer page is only as good as the brief behind it. This one fits on a page: the buyer's question in their words, the facts the answer rests on and who confirms them, the first sentence drafted in advance, the proof to include, the page it belongs on, and the checks before it goes live. Fill it in with whoever knows the facts, then hand it to whoever writes.

Most weak pages come from a writer guessing at facts nobody gave them. The brief moves the facts to the start, where the person who knows them can supply and check them, so the writer's job is the writing. The finished page it produces is the one the answer page template shows filled in.

  • One page per answer
  • Facts confirmed before writing
  • Checks before publishing
Templates & downloadsgaash.ai

The brief, field by field

The fields of a content brief for one answer page, what goes in each, and who fills it in.
FieldWhat goes in itWho fills it in
The questionThe buyer's question, word for word as it was asked, and where it was heardWhoever hears it: the desk, the owner
The page it belongs onThe service, location or answer page, and its addressThe owner
The answer in one sentenceThe first sentence, drafted: the business named, the answer, the condition that matters mostThe owner, then the writer tightens it
The factsEach fact the answer rests on (price or range, area, time, what is included), with who confirmed it and whenThe owner or the person who does the work
The conditionsWhat changes the answer: size, season, location, customer typeThe person who does the work
The proofA real review, a project, or your own figure with its method, and permission where neededThe owner
What not to sayClaims the business cannot back, and words its rules excludeThe owner
Related questionsThe two or three that come next, and where each is answeredThe desk, the writer
Review dateWhen the facts will be checked again, and by whomThe owner

A filled brief, with brackets

Question:        "how much does [the job] cost in [town]"  (heard at the desk, [month])
Page:            [service page address], new section under a question heading
First sentence:  [Business name] charges [low] to [high] for [the job] in [town],
                 depending on [the main factor].
Facts:           range [low]-[high], confirmed by [name] on [date];
                 includes [what]; excludes [what]; area [towns]
Conditions:      [size], [access], [season]
Proof:           review from [first name], [month], on [platform], quoted with permission
Do not say:      "cheapest", "guaranteed", any figure we cannot show
Related:         how long it takes -> [page]; how to book -> [page]
Review date:     [date], [name]

Everything in brackets comes from the business, not the writer. A brief that reaches the writer with brackets still empty goes back.

Checks before the page goes live

  1. The first sentence under the heading answers the question on its own, with the business named in it.
  2. Every fact on the page matches the brief, and the brief's facts were confirmed within the last month.
  3. Each fact appears once on the site and is linked from elsewhere, not restated in different words.
  4. The page's text is in the HTML: view the source with scripts off and find the price and the area in it.
  5. The markup repeats only what the page shows.
  6. The page is dated, and the review date is in the calendar.

Writing to be cited explains why the first sentence carries so much, and developing a GEO content strategy covers which briefs to write first.

Why the facts come first

The gap on most sites is not words but answers. In our audit of 9,483 small business websites, the median homepage ran to 880 words, yet 61.5% of the sites had no question-and-answer content of any kind, and 50.7% had a heading phrased as a question with no answer beneath it that a machine could isolate. A brief that starts from the question and the confirmed facts is how a page ends up with the answer in it.

Questions about the brief

Who should fill in the brief?

The person who knows the facts, usually the owner or whoever does the work, fills in the question, the facts, the conditions and the proof. The writer adds the related questions and tightens the first sentence. A brief filled in by the writer alone is a guess with a template around it.

One brief per page, or one per question?

One per question. A service page may answer three questions, each under its own heading, and each needs its own confirmed facts. Keep the briefs with the page, so the next review starts from them.

Can we hand the brief to an AI writing tool?

You can, and the facts still have to be yours and checked before anything goes live. A tool given a brief with the facts filled in has less room to invent them. Read every sentence against the brief before publishing.

Sources: our audit of 9,483 small-business sites, with its method · writing to be cited · the answer page template

Want the brief as a file?

Leave your email and a person sends the blank brief and the filled example from hello@gaash.ai within one working day, as one message. No sequence, no newsletter.