Write in WordPress

Your site must already be connected to Surfer, and your plan must include the WordPress integration. See Availability. Attach the post to a Content Editor, the document Surfer builds around your target keywords, holding the guidelines and the Content Score. The guidelines follow your text, and the score rates it against the pages that rank for those keywords.

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Where the Surfer panel appears

The Surfer panel sits in the post editor for every public post type except attachments, revisions, and menu items. Where it sits and what it looks like depend on the editor: Gutenberg (the block editor), the Classic Editor, or Elementor. In Elementor, the panel re-reads the page on a timer, so the score trails your typing. Where your text lives gives the delay for each editor. A plugin setting hides the panel in Elementor. The setup page explains this setting and the setting that chooses your editor.

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Optimize a post with Surfer

Optimize with Surfer attaches the post to a new Content Editor or to one you already have. Creating a Content Editor spends one Content Editor credit. See Credits.

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Create a new Content Editor

The form has three fields. Above them, Monthly Content Editor limit: shows the credits you have left. With no credits left, Create CE for 1 credit can stay enabled, and the request then fails after you submit the form. Create the Content Editor in Surfer instead, and attach the post with Overwrite existing Content Editor. Troubleshooting quotes the message.

1. In Keyword(s), enter the keywords the Content Editor is built around. Separate several with commas, up to 20.
2. In Location / Languages, select the country whose search results Surfer analyzes.
3. In Workspace, choose the brand or site in Surfer that the Content Editor belongs to. With one workspace, the field fills itself.
4. Select Create CE for 1 credit. Surfer creates the Content Editor from the post’s current text and its meta title and description.

While Surfer analyzes the search results:

• The panel shows Just a few seconds. The guidelines replace it once the analysis is done.
• In the dialog, Continue in Surfer reads Scrape in progress… until then.
• Back to work closes the dialog.

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Overwrite an existing Content Editor

Overwriting replaces the text of a Content Editor you already have with the post’s text. A WordPress icon next to a Content Editor in the list means it is linked to a WordPress post. If that post is on this site, unlink it there first. The plugin refuses to overwrite a Content Editor that another post on the site is linked to. Troubleshooting quotes the message.

1. Pick the Workspace the Content Editor lives in.
2. Type in Search by keyword.
3. Select the Content Editor from the list.
4. Select Next.
5. Check the confirmation: the Content Editor’s keywords, location, title, tags, and its last edit dates in Surfer and in WordPress. Folder appears when the Content Editor is in one.
6. Check for the warning There is the newer version of the article in Surfer. It means the Content Editor changed after the post did, and overwriting discards those edits in Surfer.
7. Select Overwrite the CE.

Both paths end on Synced with Surfer. Continue in Surfer opens the Content Editor. Back to work returns you to writing. The tour below shows the same steps.

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Verify it is working

The post is attached when the Surfer panel shows a score and the post list links the post to Surfer.

1. In the editor, check that the panel shows the Content Editor’s Content Score. The Export button appears below the guidelines.
2. In the post list, the links under the post’s title include Check in Surfer. With Search Console connected and data gathered, the button in the Surfer column reads Edit in Surfer.

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Write with the guidelines

The Surfer panel shows the Content Editor’s guidelines, and the score follows what you type. In every editor, the Surfer panel embeds the same guidelines panel as Google Docs and Contentful. It uses the narrow layout. That page covers what the panel shows and what stays in the Surfer app. Two buttons sit below the panel, Export and Disconnect.

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Send the post to Surfer

Export sends the post’s current text to its Content Editor and replaces what the Content Editor held.

1. Select Export, the button with the tooltip Export to Surfer. The Export to Surfer dialog shows the Content Editor’s keywords and title, its last edit dates in Surfer and in WordPress, and the last export date.
2. Check for the warning There is the newer version of the article in Surfer. It means the Content Editor changed after the post did, and exporting discards those edits.
3. Select Overwrite the CE.

The plugin sends the post’s headings, paragraphs, lists, and images, plus its meta title and description. The dialog then reads Your Content Editor has been updated and synced with WordPress!. Continue in Surfer opens the Content Editor, and Back to work lets you keep writing. Exporting overwrites the Content Editor, so it spends no credit (Credits). To send text the other way, from Surfer into the post, follow Export from Surfer.

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Unlink a post

Disconnect removes the link between the post and its Content Editor. Both keep their text.

1. Select Disconnect, below Export.
2. In Disconnect from Surfer, check the Content Editor’s Keyword(s) and Location. Open in a new tab opens the Content Editor.
3. Select Disconnect, or Cancel to keep the link.

The panel offers Optimize with Surfer again, so you can attach the post to another Content Editor. Disconnect also appears when the panel reports Content Editor Failed or Your post needs attention. Troubleshooting explains both states and what to do next.

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The Surfer column in the post list

The post list includes a Surfer column. Linked posts and pages also have a Check in Surfer row action. This action opens their Content Editor. Before Search Console is connected, the column holds an Add GSC link to the plugin’s settings page. Once it is, each cell shows one of three states:

• A published post with data: its position, clicks, and impressions, and a button. Edit in Surfer opens the Content Editor of a linked post. Optimize with Surfer opens the same dialog as the panel for an unlinked one.
• An unpublished post: Publish a post to see data from GSC.
• A published post without data yet: Relax while we're gathering your data.

What the numbers mean and how often they refresh is on the performance report page.

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Keyword research without an account

The Keyword Research panel works as soon as the plugin is installed, before the site is connected to Surfer.

1. Enter a keyword in Keyword(s).
2. Select the country in Location / Languages. The picker shows United States first.
3. Select Generate Keywords.

Results appear under Keyword Ideas, one row per keyword with its Overlapping Pages, Search Volume, and Cost per Click. Each row has Copy and a search button that runs the same research for that keyword. The figures come from the same data as the Keyword Surfer Chrome extension. When the panel has no results for a keyword, see Troubleshooting.

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Troubleshooting

Every symptom and its fix is on the troubleshooting page. These are the ones that start in the editor.

• The dialog reports that you have no credits.
• The dialog says there are too many keywords.
• Overwriting or exporting says the Content Editor is already connected with another post.
• The panel reports that the Content Editor failed or that the post needs attention.
• The Keyword Research panel has no results for a keyword.
• The Surfer panel does not appear in Elementor.
• The Content Score does not update as you type.