Frase excels at building content briefs that actually work — no fluff, just actionable intel from real SERP data. You'll get competitor analysis, question research, and content structure recommendations that turn keyword research into publishing roadmaps.
This process transforms a target keyword into a comprehensive brief that guides writers, sets content expectations, and identifies gaps your competitors missed. Frase pulls data from Google's top 20 results, analyzes user questions, and builds topic clusters automatically.
What You'll Need
A Frase account with content brief access (available on all paid plans). You'll also want your target keyword researched beforehand — Frase works best when you feed it specific, intent-matched keywords rather than broad topics. Basic familiarity with search intent helps but isn't required.
Step 1: Create Your Content Brief Project
Time: 5 minutes | Tool: Frase Navigate to your Frase dashboard and click "New Document" in the top-right corner. Select "Research + Outline" from the dropdown menu. Enter your target keyword in the search field — avoid keyword stuffing multiple phrases here. Frase performs better with single, focused queries. Set your location and device preferences in the SERP settings panel. The location setting matters more than you'd think — Frase pulls different results for "best pizza" when set to New York versus rural Montana. Most content briefs benefit from desktop results unless you're specifically targeting mobile-first queries. Click "Create Brief" to start the analysis process, which typically takes 2-3 minutes to complete.
Step 2: Review Competitor Content Analysis
Time: 10 minutes | Tool: Frase Frase automatically pulls the top 20 Google results for your keyword and displays them in the "Competitors" tab. Each result shows word count, heading structure, and content outline. Pay attention to the average word count across competitors — it's usually more accurate than arbitrary "long-form content" recommendations you'll find elsewhere. Click through 3-4 top-ranking articles to understand their content approach. Look for patterns in how they structure introductions, what subtopics they cover, and which questions they answer. Frase highlights common themes across competitors, but you need to spot the gaps they all miss. These gaps become your content differentiation opportunities.
Step 3: Analyze Questions and Subtopics
Time: 15 minutes | Tool: Frase Switch to the "Statistics" tab to see Frase's topic modeling results. The platform identifies key themes from competitor content and groups related concepts together. This isn't just keyword density analysis — Frase uses semantic understanding to connect related topics. The "Questions" section shows queries pulled from People Also Ask, answer boxes, and competitor content. Don't just copy these questions into your brief. Instead, group related questions into content sections and identify which questions your target audience asks that competitors ignore. The best content briefs answer questions your competitors don't know exist yet.
Step 4: Build Your Content Outline Structure
Time: 10 minutes | Tool: Frase Use Frase's "Outline" tab to structure your content hierarchy. The platform suggests heading organization based on competitor analysis, but you shouldn't follow it blindly. Successful content briefs reorganize competitor insights into logical user journeys. Start with user intent — what does someone searching your keyword actually want to accomplish? Then arrange subtopics in order of user priority, not competitor frequency. Frase shows you what topics to cover; your job is determining the best sequence and depth for each section. Add specific instructions for writers about tone, examples, and required sources for each heading.
Step 5: Extract Key Statistics and Data Points
Time: 10 minutes | Tool: Frase Frase's "Statistics" panel identifies numbers, dates, and data points mentioned across competitor content. This feature saves hours of manual research. Look for statistics that appear across multiple top-ranking articles — these become "must-include" facts for your content. But here's the thing most people miss: outdated statistics kill content performance. Cross-reference Frase's extracted data points with original sources to verify accuracy. If competitors all cite the same 2019 study, finding fresh 2024 data gives your content an immediate authority boost. Note these updated statistics directly in your content brief.
Step 6: Generate Writer Guidelines and Success Metrics
Time: 5 minutes | Tool: Frase Create specific guidelines for your content team based on Frase's analysis. Include target word count range (not just a minimum), required subtopics, and content depth expectations for each section. Frase shows you what length and structure typically ranks — use this data to set realistic content specifications. Define success metrics beyond rankings. If Frase shows competitors getting heavy featured snippet traffic for specific questions, mark those as priority optimization targets. If the SERP includes video carousels or image packs, note these as content format opportunities. Your brief should tell writers not just what to write, but how to structure content for SERP feature capture.
Pro Tips
Frase's question research becomes exponentially more valuable when you cross-reference it with your existing content. Import your current articles to identify content gaps and refresh opportunities. Also, save successful content briefs as templates — Frase lets you duplicate project structures for similar topics, cutting future brief creation time by 60%.
Common Pitfalls
Don't mistake Frase's competitor analysis for a copying roadmap. The platform shows you what currently ranks, not necessarily what ranks best. Competitors might all miss crucial subtopics or target outdated search intent. Also, Frase occasionally pulls irrelevant results for ambiguous keywords — manually verify that analyzed competitors actually match your content goals.
Expected Results
You'll have a comprehensive content brief that includes competitor gap analysis, priority question targeting, and specific content structure recommendations. Writers using your Frase brief should produce content that covers all essential subtopics while addressing user questions competitors miss.
Quick Facts
About Frase
AI content brief generator and optimizer for search-first content
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