A subject matter expert (SME) interview is how content teams capture knowledge from people who do the work: engineers, customer success managers, product managers, customers or outside practitioners. Writers rarely have deep first-hand experience of every topic they cover. Interviewing experts lets them include specific examples, real trade-offs and informed opinions that generic research cannot provide.
Running a good interview
Experts are busy, so preparation matters. Send a short brief, research the basics yourself and use the time for what only they know.
- Share the topic, audience and goal in advance
- Ask for stories: "Tell me about a time when..."
- Ask what most people get wrong
- Ask for specifics: numbers, tools, steps, examples
- Record and transcribe, with permission
- Agree how the expert will be credited and what they review
Using the material
The interview should shape the piece, not just provide a quote. Use the expert's examples and reasoning as the backbone, and credit them with a byline, co-byline or attributed quotes. Send the draft back for accuracy review, but keep editorial control over structure and style.
Experience and expertise are central to Google's guidance on helpful content, and to the E-E-A-T concept in its quality rater guidelines. Interviews are one practical way to put real experience into content.
Example
Turning a support lead's knowledge into a guide
A writer at hypothetical company Gorsemoor, which sells an email deliverability tool, interviews the support lead about the most common reasons customers' emails land in spam. The support lead describes specific misconfigurations and how to spot them. The resulting guide is co-bylined and includes troubleshooting steps nobody else has published in that detail.
Common mistakes
Asking questions you could look up
Spending the expert's time on basics wastes the interview. Do the research first.
Letting the expert rewrite everything
Accuracy review is essential; full rewrites by non-writers often make content harder to read.
Questions
Often 20 to 45 minutes is enough for one piece if the writer has prepared well.
