70: How to Use AI to Create Helpful Content

Summary: In this episode, Meredith's husband discusses the evolving role of AI in content creation and SEO. He highlights Google's focus on "helpful content" and advises how to effectively use AI as a tool, rather than relying on it to fully generate content. Through personal anecdotes, he stresses that website owners should ensure AI-generated content serves users and supports SEO goals without cutting corners.

Blog Post: How to Effectively Use AI for SEO and Content Creation

Artificial intelligence (AI) has quickly become a game-changer in content creation and SEO, but it’s essential to know how to use it effectively. While AI can be a powerful tool to support your content strategy, simply relying on it to churn out articles may do more harm than good. The key takeaway from this discussion is to use AI wisely by focusing on creating helpful content, as Google has emphasized. Here’s a breakdown of how to leverage AI to improve your content while keeping search engines and users happy.

The Importance of “Helpful Content”

Google’s "Helpful Content Update" is a reminder of what search engines value most—content that benefits users. Whether your content is generated by humans or AI, it must serve a genuine purpose, provide value, and help users solve their problems. Google has clearly stated that helpful content will be rewarded, so ensuring your content meets this standard is crucial.

When using AI, it’s easy to fall into the trap of generating quick, repetitive articles that add no real value. This approach may temporarily boost your SEO but ultimately risks long-term penalties. Instead, focus on blending AI-generated content with your expertise and unique voice to create something truly beneficial for your audience.

How to Use AI Effectively in Content Creation

There are several ways you can use AI to enhance, not replace, your content creation process:

• Supplement Existing Content: Instead of letting AI write full articles, use it to supplement content you’ve already created. For example, you could use AI to generate summaries, introductions, or explanations that complement the main points of your blog posts.

• Improve Content Readability: If you have a long transcript or complex topic, AI can be a great tool to summarize and break down the content into more digestible sections. This is particularly useful for repurposing podcasts, interviews, or webinars into blog posts.

• Outline Generation: AI can help you draft outlines for articles based on your input. You can provide key ideas or keywords, and the AI will produce a structured outline, saving you time and giving you a clear roadmap for your writing.

• Content Optimization: AI can analyze content for SEO best practices, suggesting improvements to enhance readability, keyword placement, or overall structure.

How Not to Use AI

While AI is useful, there are several pitfalls to avoid:

• Don’t Rely Solely on AI for Content: Generating complete blog posts with AI may seem efficient, but often the content lacks depth, originality, and context. Use AI to support your writing, not replace it.

• Avoid “Spinning” Content: AI can generate multiple variations of the same content, but this isn’t necessarily helpful. Readers and search engines quickly notice when content is repeated or reworded without adding value.

• Be Cautious of Shortcuts: AI can produce quick results, but these shortcuts can lead to lower-quality content that won’t rank well in the long term. Invest time in editing and improving AI-generated content to ensure it truly helps users.

Key Points:

• Use AI to supplement, not replace, your content creation.

• Ensure all content—whether AI-generated or not—provides genuine value to readers.

• Avoid relying on AI to generate multiple versions of the same article.

• Leverage AI to enhance content’s readability, structure, and SEO effectiveness.

By using AI as a supportive tool rather than a content generator, you can save time and improve your website’s SEO without compromising on quality. As Google continues to prioritize helpful content, blending AI with your expertise will lead to a stronger online presence.

Resources: If you'd like to see a detailed guide on how to effectively use AI for content creation, visit Meredith’s husband's blog, where he provides insights on leveraging AI to create high-quality, SEO-friendly content.