Within smaller teams, one writer may handle the entire content creation process. In larger teams, however, multiple writers, developers, and designers often collaborate.
In these scenarios, a spec becomes crucial for content designers to ensure the creation of excellent content. Additionally, multiple stakeholders might need to give their approval, and a thorough spec provides a clear method for feedback.
Some of this article might seem unrelated to traditional link building. This is intentional. Many link builders and SEO teams treat content as an afterthought, rushing into outreach with any available blog post or sales page. This oversight can lead to wasted time, effort, and missed link opportunities.
NOTE: Pay attention to the conclusion of this post—we’ve included a “prize inside” to showcase the final product of a content designer’s work.
Four Questions To Answer Before Creating The Spec
A content designer must engage with multiple audiences. Answering these four questions will help initiate important conversations about the people the project aims to satisfy.
Question 1: Who Are Our Audiences?
Audiences include:
- Resource page curators (linking audience).
- Editors: bloggers/reporters/online publishers (linking audience).
- Existing customers.
- Potential customers (the company’s market-as-audience).
- Internal stakeholders (PR team, Legal, SEO team, Content team, Branding, IT team).
The first challenge for the content designer is to connect these diverse audiences with a single spec. Clearly define these audiences to simplify the process.
Question 2: Where Will Content Live?
This is one of the most overlooked aspects of link building. We prefer publishing evergreen content in resource or education sections of websites as resource curators often link to these sections. Meanwhile, editorial linkers are more flexible and don’t mind if content resides on a blog.
The answer to this question will influence some of the content specifications:
- Where will the content be placed within the site architecture to benefit both users and search engines?
- Who is the company stakeholder responsible for this part of the site?
- Do they have a brand handbook to follow or CMS-specific limitations we should be aware of?
- Given our target audiences and demographics, which site section will fit their expectations for this type of content?
- What counts as an on-site conversion, and how can the on-site content contribute to these goals?
Note: For any off-site guest placements, identify the criteria that qualify a particular site for either branded or unbranded engagement.
Question 3: How “On-Brand” And “In-Funnel” Does The Content Need To Be?
It’s essential for the content designer to discuss with the link strategist and company stakeholders the extent to which the content can deviate from the “in-funnel” path.
The less in-funnel and on-brand, the more attractive the content can be to resource page curators (linking editors). In-funnel and on-brand content, if informative, is often better supported by guest placement efforts.
While there needs to be a topical tie-in, “out-of-funnel” content can be highly non-commercial and align with linkers’ informational needs, thereby appealing directly to their valued audiences.
For example, a garden supply company might be limited to discussing gardening tools and tactics or could venture into topics like “The impact of gardening on kids with autism” or “The environmental impact of chemical fertilizers.”
Question 4: What Will Make This Document Promotable?
The designer’s role involves thoroughly understanding the needs of the audiences served by the document. Linkers are a crucial audience here, which highlights the importance of content differentiation.
Key elements for differentiating content include:
- New content formats that better serve a specific audience.
- Filling key knowledge gaps.
- Thoroughness in providing comprehensive solutions to problems.
- A strong title that demonstrates differentiation.
- Genuine concern for the linker’s valued audience.
The Prospector and Qualifier can also help determine if the content will produce desired results. By this stage in the campaign, the prospector should have identified numerous promising outreach partners. The content designer must communicate with him and his leads to ensure the content aligns with the selected audiences and market gaps.
The Content Designer’s Research Role
Content projects involve about 95 percent research and 5 percent writing on a good day. The content designer must do enough research to write a solid spec.
1. Speccing Research
Research workflow is critical. While researching, remain aware of the audiences’ informational needs and provide quality resources to minimize the writer’s research efforts. Communicate with the Link Strategist to clarify strategy and review existing documents to understand current content, to build on it.
One of our content managers uses various tools to get an overview of a topic area before assigning it to a writer. She spends around one to two hours researching to identify gaps in online coverage.
Warning: Don’t Boil The Ocean.
It’s tempting to create a comprehensive guide, but that can be too broad and difficult to promote. Instead, focus on a specific aspect, such as “How to get dinner near a Broadway show without falling into a tourist trap.”
The content designer can narrow the scope, but the writer should make final adjustments during research.
Along with researcher feedback, a well-developed Content Calendar can help keep the scope manageable.
2. First-Hand (“Custom”) Research
Writers should be empowered to be experimenters, exploring new ways of gathering information, such as phone surveys, interviews, site visits, and contracting journalists. Unique research makes content more promotable.
Examples of custom research at Citation Labs include phone interviews with police departments about drug enforcement laws, working with freelance journalists for client stories, and interviewing funeral home directors about veterans’ rights.
3. Web-Based Research
While a content designer cannot predict where online research will lead, policies can be set to determine quality resources. Focus on quality sources to guide research effectively.
Questions to assess source quality:
- Is it a .gov or .edu website?
- Is the website a generalist or specialist topic website?
- If it’s a .com, what are they selling, and is the content part of their sales strategy?
The Prospector may also provide identified authority websites during co-citation analysis.
The Content Designer’s Handoff: When Specs Move On To Writers
Advice in this section comes from our content manager and operations manager, who lead the team of writers.
1. Over-Share Client Requirements & Research
The first query from many writers or key stakeholders is often, “How long should the content be?”
<rant>
Forget word count! The content should be as long as necessary to solve the identified problem. Utility should define the scope, not word count. When the problem is solved and concluded, then check the document’s word count.
</rant>
Share as much information as possible about the client, especially in the beginning. Don’t hold back.
We share every project and research detail with our writers, including target market demographics, potential research runways, and style suggestions.
Each company has its own tone and content expectations. Providing detailed guidance to writers reduces the need for revisions.
2. Keep Communications Open
Managing content requests and writer schedules requires ongoing communication. A content calendar must be dynamic, constantly revisited with questions like:
- What’s a priority?
- Where are we this month for a particular client?
- What can be pushed back by a day or so?
- What can be delegated, and what tasks will the content designer handle personally?
- Which writer has available time, and what are they capable of doing?
Communicate with the client/stakeholder side as well. Without writer representation in stakeholder calls, turnaround time promises may be unrealistic.
3. Remember: It’s The Client’s “Baby”
Revision requests happen even with well-informed writers. Hire writers who understand that client copywriting requires flexibility and minimal ego. A great content developer can modify the content based on client feedback.
Content Speaks For Itself (And Your Entire Campaign)
The content designer bears significant responsibility. Their work determines the success and sets the tone for the next phase: prospect qualifying and outreach.
You’ve learned the role—now, let’s review a real example. As a “prize inside” for this article, we’ve shared a Citation Labs article spec. All research and design in this sample spec were developed into a Spanish-language document.
Stay tuned for the next post in our series outlining key team functions: The Qualifier. Check out previous installments:
- The Link Strategist: The Missing Role For Enterprise-Level Link Building
- The Opportunity Prospector: Link Development’s Most Undervalued Role
