How to Use Surfer SEO: Core Setup & First Optimization Steps

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Surfer SEO is an AI-powered platform built to help marketers, copywriters, and businesses climb Google rankings faster.
In today’s SEO world, Google prioritizes content quality, topical authority, and relevance — and Surfer SEO brings all of these under one clean, data-driven dashboard.

In this quick guide, you’ll learn three essential steps to get started:
Create a content brief → Analyze competitors → Optimize your content.

Surfer SEO organic traffic growth performance chart
Surfer SEO organic traffic growth performance chart

Step 1: Surfer SEO – Create a New Content Brief

The Content Editor is the heart of Surfer SEO — it helps you build optimized, rank-ready content from the start.
Your first step is to tell Surfer what keyword you’re targeting and where your audience is located.

Here’s how to do it:

  • Click Content Editor from the left-hand menu.

  • Hit the “New Content” button in the top-right corner.

  • Enter your target keyword (e.g., best productivity tools 2025).

  • Choose your target country and language (e.g., United States – English).

  • Click Create — Surfer will instantly generate a data-backed content brief for your topic.

💡 Pro Tip: Focus on long-tail keywords. They have lower competition and often bring in visitors with stronger purchase intent.

Surfer SEO Content Editor new content creation button
Surfer SEO Content Editor new content creation button

Step 2: Surfer SEO – Analyze Competitors & Build Your Content Guidelines

Surfer SEO lets you see why your competitors are ranking — and how you can outrank them.
In this step, you’ll choose the right competitors to base your optimization score on.

Steps:

  • Inside your newly created content brief, go to the “Competitors” tab.

  • You’ll see the top-ranking pages for your keyword on Google.

  • Select the 3–5 most relevant competitors (avoid irrelevant domains).

  • These will define your content’s Content Score baseline — your performance benchmark.

💡 Why it matters:
Choosing the wrong competitors can completely throw off your SEO structure.
For example, if you pick eCommerce sites while writing a blog post, your optimization guide will be misleading.

Surfer SEO organic competitors list and filter view
Surfer SEO organic competitors list and filter view

Step 3: Surfer SEO – Optimize Content and Boost Your Score

Now it’s time to put it all together.
Paste your draft directly into the Content Editor, and use the real-time recommendations on the right panel to raise your Content Score.

To optimize effectively:

  • Incorporate Surfer’s suggested keywords naturally throughout your text.

  • Balance your H1–H3 headings according to Surfer’s recommendations.

  • Keep your keyword density within the optimal range shown in “Terms.”

  • Use Auto-Optimize for AI-driven corrections and fine-tuning.

💡 Golden Rule:
Aim for a Content Score of 80+. Reaching this benchmark can significantly increase your chances of ranking on Google’s first page.

Surfer SEO Content Score 89/100 result display

🚀 Conclusion: Get to the Top of Google — Fast

By now, you’ve mastered the three core steps to get the most out of Surfer SEO:

  1. Build data-driven content briefs.

  2. Analyze your real competitors — not just random ones.

  3. Optimize strategically to boost your Content Score.

Follow these consistently, and you’ll start seeing visible ranking improvements in 2–4 weeks — no guesswork, just data and precision.

👉 Your next move:

Internal Tip:
If you liked this tutorial, check out 👉 Ahrefs vs Semrush: Which SEO Tool Deserves Your Budget in 2025?

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