Technical Brief for a Copywriter: How to Write It Right

Copywriter's Checklist

To write a high-quality text that users willingly share on social media and forums, and which search engines rank highly, a copywriter must receive a detailed and clearly formulated technical brief.

Text and Requirements

The technical brief should include a complete list of requirements regarding content, length, structure, primary and recommended keywords, and key points.

Text Length

There are no universal standards for text length. Each task requires an individual approach (within reasonable limits), depending on:

• whether the text is informational, commercial, or entertaining;
• the topic;
• the page where the content will be placed;
• the size and structure of competitor texts on their websites.

Important! Informational articles allow and even require medium to large volumes, while sales-oriented texts should be concise yet fully cover the topic.

Determining Optimal Text Size for a Specific Task

You can determine the optimal length manually:

• Analyze competitor content for topic coverage and volume;
• Based on this analysis, decide on the appropriate text length.

You can also use automated tools like Serpstat to solve this task.

Text Structure

A well-structured text indicates quality, and this requirement should be clearly specified in the technical brief.

Important! Text success depends significantly on structural diversity.

Key structural requirements to include in the technical brief:

• h1 – main headline (Article Title);
• h2 – subheadings (at least 2, preferably 4-5);
• Bulleted and numbered lists;
• Graphics: tables/formulas;
• Infographics;
• Media content: images and videos;
• Inserts: comparison blocks;
• Navigation menu (table of contents) for long, complex texts.

Important! The longer the text, the more subheadings, illustrations, and infographics it should contain.

Images: Where to Find Them

Authoritative texts are supported by high-quality images. This can include unique author photos, Photoshop edits, and collages. Stock images can and should be used. There are both paid and free resources online. Images should be high quality. Recommended free image stock sites: https://pixabay.com/; https://designerspics.com/; https://gratisography.com and others.

Good sources for photos and images include Yandex, Google, and mail.ru. Always select images without watermarks or copyright restrictions, or choose images with usage licenses.

Content Uniqueness Above 90%: Why It Matters

Search engines Google and Yandex use text uniqueness as one of the key ranking criteria for textual content.

Many online resources offer services to check uniqueness. The most popular include:

• Advego,
• text.ru,
• content-watch.ru,
• etext.ru,
• textovod.ru.

They offer both free services and paid options with larger analysis volumes and faster processing.

How to Build Internal Linking

To ensure even link distribution, internal linking must be carefully planned. Search engines determine page importance based on the number of incoming links. When creating a technical brief, specify:

• Number of links: 1-2 per 1,000 characters (more for longer informational articles);
• Link text (anchor) should match the destination page;
• Main linking targets: key pages, sections, categories, related articles;
• Link distribution should be even throughout the text;
• Include the title attribute for all links.

Important! Only include links that are genuinely useful for users.

Avoid linking to:

• Homepage (may distract users);
• Service/technical pages;
• Product pages.

Prohibited practices:

• Creating circular links (linking a page to itself);
• Multiple links to the same page within one text;
• Multiple links with identical anchor text in one text;
• Starting sentences/paragraphs/texts with links.

External Links: Why They're Needed

When including expert comments or quotes from prominent figures in science, culture, or public opinion, source links are essential. This increases user trust in the article. This is particularly important for political, economic, and medical websites. Google processes such content through its special YMYL (Your Money Your Life) filter. There are methodologies to help websites meet YMYL requirements.

Keywords: The List

To ensure articles match potential users'/clients' search queries, you need to create a semantic core. Without it, you'll have good articles that won't attract new visitors to your site.

Semantic Core: Why It's Needed

Essentially, a website's semantics (semantic core) is a collection of words and phrases that most accurately describe the products, activities, and services featured on the site.

• Main keyword – the highest-frequency word;
• Keywords – important words with lower frequency that rank alongside the main keyword.

When creating a semantic core, SEO specialists first gather information about what potential users are searching for. Once data is collected, they create landing pages for these target queries. As a result, pages get more visits and promotion becomes more effective.

A semantic core can be collected manually or automatically using specialized tools. In Google, use Google Ads; in Yandex, use Yandex.Wordstat. Another useful service is Serpstat.

Serpstat: How to Collect Keywords

Take a query (word) and gather keywords for your target region. In Serpstat, enter the "keyword" and select Google as the search engine. Use filters to exclude low-frequency phrases and misspellings.

You'll receive a list of queries. Create columns for "phrase" and "frequency" to include in your technical brief. After completing the first part, export the data to a Google Sheet and clean it by removing duplicate phrases and irrelevant content.

Exclude terms based on your specific website, such as:

• Competitor names;
• Car brands not currently in your inventory;
• Parts unrelated to your main query (place in a separate cluster);
• Geographic terms that don't match your delivery region.

The result is a clean list of keywords to include in your copywriter's technical brief.

Serpstat also offers "Text Analytics" – a special tool to verify nothing has been missed in your analysis.

Google Ads Keyword Planner: How to Find Keywords

Active campaigns guarantee accurate search volume data; without campaigns, only volume ranges are provided.

Find keywords in Google Ads using this algorithm:

• "Tools & Settings";
• "Keyword Planner";
• "Find new keywords";
• Enter your keyword;
• Set your search region.

Like in Serpstat, Google Ads allows you to identify which keywords contribute to page ranking.

LSI Words: Identifying the Right Ones

To identify important LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing) words, consider contextually related search queries such as:

• Synonyms;
• Transliterations;
• Slang;
• General topic-related terms.

Thanks to the LSI system, which correlates keyword databases with user queries, you can:

• Improve behavioral metrics through engaging and high-quality content;
• Boost article rankings;
• Reduce spam indicators using synonyms;
• Naturally grow your backlink profile through viral content.

Important! Including LSI words in your text will improve rankings, as high-quality content is one of Google's main goals.

Creating a Keyword List

A keyword list should include the following types of queries:

• HF (High-Frequency);
• MF (Medium-Frequency);
• LF (Low-Frequency);
• Transactional;
• Geo-specific queries.

In addition, include your resource's unique value proposition.

Introductory or Stop Words in Text

Stop words are language elements considered "meaningless" (introductory words, prepositions, conjunctions). Their presence in text should be minimal. The optimal concentration is 30% of the total word count.

Ideas for a Text Outline

To help copywriters better understand the assigned task, provide a detailed outline of the future article. Specialized resources can assist with this: Arsenkin.ru, Serpstat, Ahrefs.

For international projects: Soovle, BuzzSumo, and AnswerThePublic.

You can also gather outline ideas from educational seminars or courses.

Finally, let's recall the key points:

1. There are no strict standards for text length. Each article is unique, depending on the topic, goals, and tasks of the resource, as well as competitor analysis.
2. Proper article structure is the foundation of a technical brief.
3. Use stock photo websites and search engines to source images.

Remember: to get high-quality text from a copywriter, provide a well-structured technical brief.