Let’s start with the following assumptions. One, you know that AI is going to quickly change how the internet works. Two, you know that AI is in the process of changing how media (i.e., text, art, and video) is created. And three, you know that your SEO can always be better. So, let’s combine these three assumptions. How can AI improve your SEO?
When reporting on AI and especially ChatGPT, it has quickly become the fashion to ask ChatGPT the question you’re trying to answer and then just reporting what it says. Well, we asked our headline question to ChatGPT, but instead of just regurgitating what it says, we’re going to evaluate it’s response. Here we go.
Keyword Research
ChatGPT: Utilize AI-powered tools for keyword research and analysis. These tools can help you identify relevant keywords, search volumes, and user intent to optimize your content accordingly. Examples of AI-powered keyword research tools include SEMrush, Ahrefs, and Moz.
This advice is basically spot on. Figuring out keywords is one of those things few of us either do enough or do well. It’s exactly the sort of thing to outsource to AI. Good job Chat GPT, so far.
Content Generation
ChatGPT: AI can assist in generating high-quality content. Use natural language generation algorithms to create content based on predefined parameters, such as topic, tone, and style. However, remember to review and edit the generated content to ensure its accuracy and coherence.
Can AI write good content? Yes. Can it write anything a person could have? No.
Let’s explain. This article we wrote last year, 5 Ways to Sabotage Your Content Marketing, could probably be written by an AI (albeit without the wit and charm of the real author). If you fed that topic to ChatGPT, it could find enough information around the internet to generate something useful and coherent. It probably wouldn’t look exactly like this article, but it would be publishable.
By contrast, ChatGPT probably couldn’t have written our post Kuration Gives Opera York A Full Digital Overhaul. It relies on a considerable amount of information ChatGPT just doesn’t have.
So, the question becomes, how original do you want your content to be? That isn’t a value judgement at all—some of your content can safely be outsourced to AI (with a human to proofread). But some—say, new information about your company, content that relies on interviewing real people, or highly specific content—is best handled by an actual person.
Content Optimization
ChatGPT: AI-powered tools can analyse your content and provide suggestions for optimization. These tools can identify keyword usage, readability, and content structure to improve your on-page SEO. Yoast SEO is an example of a WordPress plugin that uses AI to provide content optimization recommendations.
You’re probably already using a tool like Yoast. You just may not have realised it’s powered by AI. A smart idea would be to take a webinar on the specific optimisation tool your blog uses.
User Experience Optimization
ChatGPT: AI can help improve the user experience on your website. Implement chatbots or virtual assistants powered by AI to assist users and provide relevant information. This enhances engagement, reduces bounce rates, and improves overall user satisfaction.
Here’s another tool that’s been around for a while (we wrote about it for a client in 2016) but is slowly getting better thanks to AI.
But a lot of companies run into a specific problem with their chatbots. Namely, they don’t have enough real people staffing their chat lines to take over when the chatbot isn’t providing enough help to the client.
Think of chatbots a bit like phone trees. Can they help direct clients to the right person? Absolutely. If clients spend forever bouncing around on them or waiting, will they be upset and hostile? Of course. That happens so often it’s an old gag in stand up and in sitcoms. So by all means, hook up an AI powered chatbot to your website or social media page. Just be sure that you have enough humans to take over when necessary.
Voice Search Optimization
ChatGPT: Optimize your content for voice search by focusing on long-tail keywords and conversational language. Consider the natural language patterns used in voice queries and provide concise, informative answers to common questions. Also, ensure that your website is mobile-friendly and loads quickly since voice search is often performed on mobile devices.
Have you noticed that you’re getting a lot more voice memos in place of texts? More and more people are relying on voice instead of text.Voice remains a convenient tool. ChatGPT mentioned mobile users, who are surely the biggest slice of that pie, but it’s worth noting that other devices, such as game consoles, are a pain in the butt to input text with so voice search is an improvement. On top of that, there’s an accessibility component to voice search, so keep that in mind. Some examples of voice search include algolia and provoice.
Image & Video Optimization
ChatGPT: AI can analyse visual content through computer vision techniques. Optimize your images and videos by using descriptive file names, relevant captions, alt tags, and structured data markup. This helps search engines understand the content and improves your chances of appearing in image and video search results.
File names, captions, tags, and metadata for images and videos are all neglected aspects of SEO. If AI can do it, why not let it take over?
Performance Tracking & Analytics
ChatGPT: Utilize AI-powered analytics tools to monitor and track your site’s performance. These tools can provide insights into user behaviour, conversion rates, and engagement metrics. Google Analytics and Adobe Analytics are examples of popular analytics platforms that leverage AI capabilities.
Again, you’re already using these tools. They’re just getting better thanks to AI. And if, for some reason, you’re not analysing your contents performance, stop reading now and go take care of that.
Competitor Analysis
ChatGPT: AI-powered tools can assist in analysing your competitors’ SEO strategies. Identify their top-performing keywords, backlink profiles, and content strategies to gain insights and optimize your own site accordingly. Tools like SpyFu and SimilarWeb can help you analyse competitor data.
In the content space, this is what an AI arms race looks like. Your competitors will by analysing your content and SEO with these tools, so you’d better as well.
It’s worth noting that if your competitors are using some of the previously mentioned AI tools to boost their SEO, then by using these tools, you’re effectively using AI to evaluate AI. Will companies such as SEMrush program their tools to shield themselves from analysis by the tools of SpyFu? Share more information? Generate false information? When it comes to competitor analysis, expect a bit of an arms race.
Stay Updated with Algorithm Changes
ChatGPT: AI plays a significant role in search engine algorithms. Stay updated with algorithm changes and leverage AI-powered tools that provide algorithm monitoring and tracking. This helps you understand the impact of algorithm updates on your site’s SEO performance and make necessary adjustments.
As you’re no doubt aware, companies such as Facebook and Google don’t share the details of their algorithms, so there’s an entire industry devoted to figuring them out, mostly by A/B testing over and over.
Well, if there’s one thing that AI excels at, it’s A/B testing things over and over. Not only will companies who spend their time analysing Google’s algorithm get better at it thanks to AI, they’ll probably start creating tools to help you figure out exactly how your site and content interacts with the algorithm.
A Final Word
ChatGPT: Remember that while AI can provide valuable insights and automation, human expertise, and judgment are still essential for effective SEO. AI should be seen as a tool to enhance and optimize your SEO efforts rather than a substitute for strategic decision-making and quality content creation.
AI is pretty exciting. But ChatGPT makes a fair point. Remember three things. One, SEO moves rapidly and sometimes AI is a bit behind the times. For example, ChatGPT’s ingestion cuts off in 2021, so the most up to date information is outside it’s perview. Second, there’s a limit to what AI can do. If you don’t know what to ask ChatGPT for, good luck getting the right response. And third, a lot of AI content falls short of the quality you want. The laziest content farms out there will rely solely on AI for their content. Your goal is obviously to be better, so you still need smart people to make AI work for you.
