For Copywriter / Content Writers ·
What you'll accomplish
Instead of guessing whether your content will rank, you'll have a live score showing how long the article needs to be, which keywords to include, and exactly where you stand as you write. That's Surfer SEO's Content Editor — this guide gets it set up and working on your first piece.
What you'll need
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.
Before typing a single word, scan the right-side panel:
Spend 5 minutes reading through the "Terms" list. You'll see which subtopics the algorithm expects you to cover. These become your outline sections.
What you should see: Terms organized by importance, with green checkmarks as you hit targets while writing.
You have two options:
What you should see: As you write, terms on the right turn green when you've included them enough times. Your Content Score ticks upward.
Your target is a Content Score of 75 or higher (some SEO teams target 80+, but 75 is a solid baseline).
Look at the terms still highlighted in red or yellow, these are keywords you haven't covered enough yet. Weave them into the draft naturally:
Troubleshooting: If your score is stuck below 70 even after hitting most keyword targets, check the word count, you may be under the minimum. Adding 200-300 words to thin sections usually lifts the score significantly.
When your score is 75+:
Use these in ChatGPT alongside Surfer to write faster:
For each H2 section: "Write a 300-word section on [H2 topic] for a blog post about [main topic] targeting [audience]. Include these keywords naturally: [list 3-4 terms from Surfer's recommendations]."
For the conclusion: "Write a 150-word conclusion for a blog post about [topic]. Summarize the 3 key takeaways and end with a call to action for [goal]."
For thin sections: "Expand this section by 100 words without repeating what's already there: [paste existing section]."
For a meta description: "Write an SEO meta description (155 chars) for a blog post titled '[title].' Include the keyword '[keyword]' and end with a benefit."