What you'll accomplish
By the end of this guide, you'll have Surfer SEO's Content Editor open and working — showing you exactly how long your article needs to be, which keywords to include, and how your content scores in real time as you write. Instead of guessing whether your content will rank, you'll have a data-driven target to hit.
What you'll need
- A Surfer SEO account (Essential plan at $89/month; 14-day free trial available)
- A target keyword for the piece you're writing
- Your usual drafting tool (you'll write inside Surfer or paste back and forth)
- Time needed: 30 minutes first setup; 10 minutes per article after that
- Cost: $89/month (Essential) — typically shared across a team
How-To Guide: SEO Content Optimization with Surfer SEO
Step 1: Create a Content Editor for your target keyword
- Log into Surfer SEO at app.surferseo.com
- Click "Content Editor" in the left sidebar
- Click "Create Content Editor"
- Type your target keyword (e.g., "B2B content strategy") in the search field
- Select the target country (e.g., United States)
- Click "Create" — Surfer analyzes the top-ranking pages for that keyword
What you should see: A new Content Editor opens with a word count target (e.g., "Target: 1,500–2,200 words"), a list of recommended terms, and a score gauge (0–100).
Troubleshooting: If the keyword is very niche and Surfer doesn't have enough data, it may show a low-confidence score. Try a slightly broader keyword or include 2–3 related keyword variants.