In today’s competitive digital landscape, creating content that ranks well on search engines requires more than intuition—it demands data-driven insights and strategic optimization. Two tools that have become indispensable for content marketers are Surfer SEO and Frase. While each tool excels individually, using them together can dramatically improve your content workflow, from research to brief creation to optimization.
This guide will walk you through a practical step-by-step workflow, showing how to leverage Surfer SEO and Frase to create high-quality, search-optimized content efficiently.
Step 1: Research
The first step in creating high-ranking content is understanding your topic, target keywords, and search intent. Both Surfer SEO and Frase provide powerful research capabilities that complement each other.
1.1 Keyword Discovery with Surfer SEO
Surfer SEO’s keyword research module helps you uncover high-value keywords and topics to target. Here’s how to start:
- Enter a seed keyword relevant to your content. For example, if you’re writing about “remote team productivity tools,” input that phrase.
- Surfer SEO will generate a keyword suggestions list, including variations, long-tail keywords, and related terms.
- Review the search volume, difficulty, and intent metrics to select primary and secondary keywords that are both achievable and impactful.
By the end of this step, you should have a clear target keyword and supporting keyword list, which will serve as the foundation for your content.
1.2 Analyze Top-Ranking Pages
Next, Surfer SEO’s SERP analyzer allows you to examine the top-ranking pages for your target keyword:
- Look at content length, headings, word count, and keyword density.
- Identify common topics and subtopics that appear across multiple top pages.
- Note gaps or opportunities—areas competitors haven’t fully addressed.
This analysis gives you a benchmark to aim for and helps you identify content opportunities where your article can stand out.
1.3 Research Search Intent with Frase
Once you’ve collected keyword data, move into Frase to dig deeper into search intent and content gaps:
- Enter your primary keyword in Frase’s research tool.
- Frase will scan the top results and generate a summary of key topics, questions, and headers commonly found in those pages.
- This provides a structured overview of what readers are seeking, including related queries that may not appear in Surfer SEO’s keyword list.
Frase is particularly useful for understanding audience needs and the context behind search queries, which is crucial for creating content that satisfies both users and search engines.
Step 2: Build the Content Brief
After research, the next step is to convert your findings into a structured content brief. A well-crafted brief ensures your team—or AI writing tool—produces focused, high-quality content that aligns with SEO goals.
2.1 Outline Using Frase
Frase excels at automatically generating outlines based on competitive research. Here’s how to do it:
- Use the topics and questions Frase gathered in Step 1 to create section headings.
- Organize content into logical subsections, such as Introduction, Problem, Solution, Benefits, and Conclusion.
- Add notes for each section, including:
- Keywords to target
- Word count guidance
- Examples or data points to include
This structured approach ensures that every section of your article addresses relevant subtopics, boosting topical authority.
2.2 Integrate Surfer SEO Guidelines
While Frase provides the outline, Surfer SEO gives quantitative SEO metrics to inform your brief:
- Include primary and secondary keywords in the brief.
- Note recommended word counts for each section based on top-performing pages.
- Add keyword density targets, suggested headings, and internal/external link ideas.
For example, your brief for a “Remote Team Productivity Tools” article might include:
| Section | Word Count | Keywords | Notes |
| Introduction | 150-200 | remote productivity, teamwork tools | Hook readers with a statistic on remote work growth |
| Tool 1 | 200 | time tracking software | Include pros, cons, pricing |
| Tool 2 | 200 | collaboration platform | Highlight ease of use, integrations |
| Conclusion | 100 | productivity tools for teams | Provide actionable next steps |
By combining Frase’s topical analysis with Surfer SEO’s data-driven recommendations, your brief becomes both audience-centric and optimized for search engines.
2.3 Include User Intent and Questions
Frase generates commonly asked questions that can be incorporated as subheadings or FAQ sections. These often appear in Google’s “People Also Ask” boxes and can increase your chances of featured snippets. Include them in your brief with notes on which keywords should appear naturally in the answers.
Step 3: Draft Content
With your brief ready, the next step is drafting your article. You can use Frase’s content editor, a preferred AI writing tool like Jasper, or a hybrid human-AI approach.
3.1 Use Frase Content Editor
Frase’s editor integrates AI-generated suggestions with SEO scoring, making it easy to stay on track:
- Start with the outline from your brief.
- Draft each section, either manually or using AI-assisted generation.
- Frase highlights missing keywords, readability issues, and opportunities to include questions from your research.
This ensures that the draft is aligned with both user intent and SEO best practices from the beginning.
3.2 Optimize as You Draft with Surfer SEO
Surfer SEO’s content editor provides real-time feedback as you write:
- Check keyword usage, including primary and secondary keywords.
- Monitor text length and structure for each heading.
- Receive LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing) keyword suggestions to improve topical relevance.
By alternating between Frase for content planning and Surfer SEO for optimization, you create a dynamic drafting environment that produces search-ready, audience-focused content.
Step 4: Editing and Optimization Loop
Drafting is just the beginning. A high-ranking article requires an iterative editing and optimization process.
4.1 Evaluate Readability and Engagement
Before publishing, review the draft for:
- Clarity and flow
- Paragraph length
- Sentence variety
- Tone and voice alignment
Both Frase and Surfer SEO provide guidance here:
- Frase can highlight overly complex sentences or weak transitions.
- Surfer SEO helps ensure keyword distribution does not compromise readability.
4.2 Refine SEO Metrics
Use Surfer SEO to perform a final review:
- Check keyword density for primary and secondary keywords.
- Ensure headings include relevant terms and match search intent.
- Optimize meta descriptions, title tags, and URL structure.
This dual approach guarantees that the content is optimized technically and contextually, boosting its chances of ranking well.
4.3 Incorporate Visuals and Data
Both Surfer SEO and Frase can guide you on content enrichment:
- Include charts, images, or infographics for user engagement.
- Add internal links to other relevant pages on your website to improve SEO authority.
- Reference statistics or case studies identified during research to enhance credibility.
Step 5: Publish and Monitor
Even after optimization, your workflow doesn’t stop at publishing. Both tools help you track performance and iterate:
5.1 Track Rankings and Performance
Surfer SEO provides post-publication SERP tracking:
- Monitor rankings for your primary and secondary keywords.
- Track changes in traffic, impressions, and click-through rates.
- Identify opportunities for further optimization if performance lags.
5.2 Update Content Based on Insights
Frase can be used to:
- Analyze content performance metrics
- Suggest updates or expansions based on emerging trends
- Identify gaps in coverage relative to competitors
This ensures your content remains relevant, competitive, and continuously optimized over time.
Step 6: Best Practices for Using Surfer SEO + Frase Together
- Start with research, end with optimization: Always use Surfer SEO to define quantitative targets and Frase to understand qualitative intent.
- Combine AI and human insight: Use AI for drafting and optimization, but always include human review for accuracy, tone, and creativity.
- Iterate continuously: Content optimization is ongoing; update articles regularly to maintain rankings.
- Leverage FAQs and structured data: Frase helps identify user questions that can be used in schema markup for better SERP visibility.
- Maintain a content brief library: Save templates and briefs for similar topics to streamline future workflows.
Conclusion
By integrating Surfer SEO and Frase into a cohesive workflow—research, brief, draft, edit, optimize, and monitor—you can produce long-form content that satisfies both search engines and readers.
Key takeaways:
- Research: Use Surfer SEO for keyword and competitive analysis, Frase to understand search intent and questions.
- Brief: Build structured outlines with keyword placement, section guidance, and FAQ integration.
- Draft & Optimize: Use Frase and Surfer SEO to create content aligned with your brief, ensuring readability and SEO best practices.
- Iterate & Monitor: Refine content based on performance metrics and maintain content relevance.
When used together strategically, Surfer SEO and Frase complement each other—Surfer provides the quantitative edge, while Frase delivers qualitative depth—allowing marketers to produce authoritative, high-ranking content efficiently.
Whether you’re a solo content creator or part of a larger team, following this workflow ensures better outputs, faster production, and measurable results, giving your content a competitive edge in the crowded digital space.
