Best Practices for Using AI for SEO Content - Do's and Don'ts

Artificial intelligence has changed the game for content creators. AI tools offer countless ways to speed up workflows, aid in ideation and research, improve SEO, and much more. However, as with any type of tool, content creators need to take a nuanced approach to the way they use AI. This ensures the quality of their content does not suffer.

In this article, we’ll explore some of the most important practices for content creators. Especially when using AI to help them create or optimize SEO content. We’ll cover the do’s and don’ts of AI in content creation and provide some practical tips along the way. Let’s get started.

The Do’s of Using AI in SEO Content Creation

First, here are seven things you definitely should do when using AI to optimize your content (or nearly any kind of content):

1. Do Use AI to Speed Up Your Workflow

One of the most significant advantages of using AI for content creation is helping streamline content creation workflows. Tools like ChatGPT, generate high-quality first drafts in real time, saving writers time and effort. Allowing them to get straight to work on polishing and refining the final draft.

2. Do Use AI to Facilitate Ideation

Writer’s block is one of the most common problem’s content creators face. AI-powered tools are perfect for overcoming the initial hurdle of staring at a blank page.

AI tools not only generate first drafts based on ideas or outlines, but they can also help generate those ideas in the first place. With just a few simple guidelines, you can generate an endless flow of fresh content ideas.

3. Do Use AI for Keyword Research Tools

Of course, it’s almost always a good idea to base your content ideas on a well-researched list of keywords. SEO AI tools determine the best target keywords to use when determining the type of information and search volume. This is important to reach your target audience effectively with long tail keywords. Long tail keywords consist of phrases as opposed to more commonly used words.

Manual keyword research is one of the most time consuming parts of the content creation process. AI generates lists of relevant keywords in seconds, reducing the time significantly. Some tools even provide recommendations on optimal keyword density and other ways to incorporate the suggested keywords into your text.

4. Do Use AI to Enhance Your Content Strategy

AI isn’t just a valuable for content planning, but helps develop your content marketing strategy. SEO tools like SEMrush use AI-driven algorithms to analyze market trends, identify content gaps, and suggest topics and keywords with the highest possible relevance and search potential. For digital marketers, this is one way to gain an edge over your competitors.

5. Do Provide AI with High-Quality Instructions

While AI is capable of impressive feats, it’s also only as effective as the human input that guides it. To capitalize on the full capabilities of ChatGPT, the details matter. Provide clear and detailed instructions outlining your objectives, audience, desired tone, and any other relevant information. Providing the AI tools with high-quality inputs ensures the content meets your expectations and aligns with your tone of voice.

6. Do Check AI Content for Originality

Maintaining originality is one of the greatest challenges in AI content creation. Since generative AI algorithms are trained on the vast amounts of existing content on the internet, they tend to generate preexisting content formats and styles. It’s important to verify the content’s authenticity to ensure its value to readers and make changes if necessary.

Fortunately, there are AI tools that make it easier to verify the originality of your AI-generated content. Originality.ai automatically checks your AI content for accuracy and plagiarism with just the click of a button.

7. Do Adhere to Google's Guidelines on AI Usage

Google provides a set of AI best practices for SEO marketers and content creators to consider when using AI. These guidelines are still evolving, and many of them are still somewhat vague or even contradictory. For this work, keep yourself up to date on Google’s AI guidelines as they continue to take shape and do your best to follow them. Especially to achieve strong performance and rankings in Google Search.

The Do's and Don'ts of Using AI in SEO Content Creation

While there are many benefits of using AI, there are just many ways to sabotage your content’s success. Here are five things you definitely should not do when you’re using AI for SEO content creation:

1. Don’t Rely Exclusively on AI

AI is a tool, not a magic spell that can create ready-to-publish content with no human input. Relying too much often results in not just a lack of quality, but also a lack of authenticity. When this happens, your relationship with your audience suffers.

People can usually tell when content is 100% AI generated. It doesn’t invite engagement or encourage action the same way human-written words do. Strike a balance by using AI to enhance your content creation process while still including a human touch.

2. Don’t Settle for Derivative Content

AI is a powerful helper, but it can’t replace the creativity and intuition of a human brain. The best way to use AI for content creation is to augment the creative abilities of human content creators. Then, streamline their workflows to maximize efficiency.

3. Update Your AI Tools Regularly

AI is evolving fast — faster than almost any technology we’ve ever seen. Content creators using AI need to stay up to date on the latest developments and new tools. Successfully leveraging AI to gain a competitive edge, depends on staying on the forefront of innovation.

The Verdict on AI in SEO Content Creation

Introducing AI into your SEO content creation process comes with both new opportunities and new challenges. Remembering these do’s and don’ts should help you harness the power of AI to streamline your content workflows, enhance your SEO content strategy, and boost your creative output. All while avoiding the pitfalls of over-relying on AI and maintaining the quality your customers have some to expect.

Don’t forget to keep yourself up to date on the latest AI tools and AI trends in content creation and stay informed about the newest developments in Google’s AI guidelines for SEO.