Agency ChatGPT Guide: Benefits and Pitfalls!

If you’re in the business of optimizing client’s websites for search engines, then you’re always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve their ranking.

Now unless you’ve been away on a deserted island for the last year (lucky you), you probably know that Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as one of the hottest SEO tools going; ChatGPT and Google’s Bard being two of the most popular free AI writing tools.

Some of the many time-consuming tasks, and least-loved SEO tasks, such as keyword research, content generation, and link building, can now be sped up using AI, freeing us up for other things.

AI’s ability to process large amounts of text and generate content makes it an attractive option for many SEO professionals. And why not? Time is the only commodity we can’t buy. Life is short, so bring on the robots!

ChatGPT for SEO: A Promising Tool with Disclaimers

While saving time is important, it’s even more important to understand – that for SEO – AI tools such as ChatGPT and Bard are no substitute for your expertise.

AI models are still learning how to fully understand our prompts and our language. Prompting itself is an art, and what we prompt doesn’t always give us the correct result. We’re also still learning.

The most important aspect of optimizing websites for search is intent and context. While AI is constantly improving, ChatGPT simply can’t always produce content that is both relevant and engaging to users if it doesn’t understand why someone is searching or in what context.

So what are the potential benefits and limitations of using AI tools like ChatGPT for SEO, and is it worth even talking about?

At the risk of creating duplicate content, we’re going to repeat what we wrote in our top SEO predictions: it’s clear that AI is going to play a role in every aspect of our marketing. You don’t have to like it, but everyone is investing time and money in artificial intelligence. So you can bet that AI and machine learning are going to play a growing role in Search, too.

“When used correctly, (AI) can make your SEO work a lot easier. You can use it to help with the brainstorming part of keyword research, rephrasing your content, generating Schema markup, and more.”

backlinkinfo.com

The Promise of ChatGPT for SEO

Do you like taking pictures? Think of AI for SEO as best being used like Photoshop. You take the pictures, but the software assists your editing to make it perfect. You don’t ask Photoshop to take the picture.

ChatGPT’s potential for automating SEO tasks is big. Huge. ChatGPT and its counterpart, Google Bard, are instructive, captivating, and compelling, BUT they can’t replace an SEO professional. AI is, however, an incredibly good assistant; it can’t bring us coffee or snacks yet, but the future looks promising!

So how can we use ChatGPT as an assistive tool that supports our SEO work but remains in control? Here are three important ways AI can support us:

Identifying (with enough information in the prompt) relevant keywords

ChatGPT can quickly analyze a large amount of text to identify keywords that are relevant to a particular topic. For you and I, this is a time-consuming task, but ChatGPT can do it quickly and (more or less) accurately.

Generating (more or less) SEO-friendly content 

ChatGPT can generate content that we can then optimize for search. This includes articles, blog posts, and other website copy for whatever topic and use case we choose.

The very best use of AI tools for content generation is kickstarting us with a structure. This saves time and often gives us a different perspective and inspiration. 

(Help us) identify and build backlinks

As Bard is connected to Google Search, and ChatGPT with the Bing search engine, both can identify websites that may be interesting for our backlink strategy. Long-term, and supported with social media et al., this can help to improve a website’s domain authority and search engine rankings.

The Limitations of ChatGPT for SEO

Search machines want great content – E-E-A-T content. They want unique and relevant content, too. According to Matt Cutts, 25% to 30% of the web consists of duplicate content (source: searchengineland.com). Neither search engine wants to sift through any additional duplicates, so don’t be part of the problem.

Duplicate content can happen. You know it, I know it. With the use of AI tools for content creation, the chance of duplicate content is simply going to increase — and that then becomes a problem for our SEO.

Fun Fact: Both ChatGPT and Bard can generate duplicate content. However, Bard is slightly better at avoiding duplicate content because it has been trained on a larger dataset. According to a test of 1000 articles, ChatGPT delivered 18% duplicate content, and Bard 15%. 

Despite its potential benefits, ChatGPT has limitations beyond possible duplicate content. Among other things it:

• May not fully understand our language (prompt) and intent. ChatGPT is still learning how to understand nuance. Our prompt might confuse the tool causing it to deliver a feeble response (hallucination). This means that it may not always generate content that is relevant or engaging – which is bad for our SEO work.
• Can create generic or low-quality content. ChatGPT can generate a lot of content extremely fast, which doesn’t mean that it’s high quality. You can have it fast, good, or cheap, right? Without our checking, AI tools can produce content that’s unoriginal, poorly written, or even irrelevant to our target audience’s intent.
• Cannot replace human expertise. Nothing can. We’ve been there. We shop there. We know the context. Robots don’t. AI is a powerful tool, but it’s still just a tool. It can help us save time and automate tasks, but it can’t replace our expertise. Yet.

“Important to obtain the best answer to any question is intent. With a content generator, it is which word you focus on — and how much information is available to answer the question. Understanding exactly what people are looking for is extremely important for good SEO.”

rocket.net

How to Use ChatGPT Effectively for SEO

Talk is cheap, as they say. Let’s talk less about the theory of using AI and instead look at a small example of how you can use it for your WordPress clients.

Imagine that your client owns a local bakery. Let’s call her Sarah. She has a WordPress website and uses Woocommerce for her online shop. That’s something we can all relate to, right?

Your client wants to improve her website’s search engine ranking (SERP) to attract more in-store customers and online orders. She knows how important keyword research, content creation, and backlink building are for SEO.

However, Sarah is in the kitchen or at the cash register most of the time; she’s limited on time and resources. How can ChatGPT help you, help your client?

Case Study: “Swee-Tarts by Sarah” SEO Solution Using ChatGPT

Together, you decide to incorporate ChatGPT into the SEO strategy. It will save time and money – and get Sarah the quick wins she needs to stay open.

Keyword Research with ChatGPT

You use ChatGPT to generate a list of relevant keywords related to the bakery business. Sarah provides ChatGPT with prompts like “What are some long-tail keywords related to pastries, cakes,

and desserts (in my area and for my target audience)?”

Sarah cross-checks the keywords generated by ChatGPT with Google Search Console to assess those relevant to her website. You both check Google Ads to see if there are paid search opportunities for related PPC keywords too.

Content Creation with ChatGPT

Sarah uses ChatGPT to brainstorm ideas for blog posts, product descriptions, and social media content. “What are common questions people have about baking?” and “What are some unique recipes that could attract new customers?” give her a few new ideas! 

Your team utilizes ChatGPT to write a first draft outline of Sarah’s notes, focusing on incorporating the keywords you discovered. Sarah ensures the content is something people and search engines will “E-E-A-T up”! 

Using online editors like Hemmingway or Grammarly you write the content together. Sarah also ensures the content maintains her tone, as well as aligns with her bakery’s brand. ChatGPT isn’t going to know why she has a favorite butter or that she makes her own vanilla extract from vanilla beans she sources from organic farmers in Hawaii.

Backlink Building with ChatGPT

Together you and Sarah use Google Bard and Bing ChatGPT to identify potential website links for the bakery. Sarah and your social media team also find interesting connections on social media. Why? Not everybody has a website, but Off-Page SEO is worth a ton! 

Result: By incorporating ChatGPT into her SEO strategy, Sarah improves her website’s SEO performance. She attracts organic traffic, increases sales, and boosts her bakery’s online visibility. That’s a sweet deal!

“I think it’s quite clear that content that’s helpful and follows E-E-A-T principles will be prioritized no matter how content is produced. The biggest ongoing question is what future search algorithm changes Google will make and whether or not it will penalise AI-generated content. Is it worth the risk?”

rocket.net

How to Avoid Pitfalls When Using ChatGPT for SEO

Integrating AI tools can go a long way to enhance your WordPress agency’s SEO strategy. However, it’s crucial to approach ChatGPT as just another tool rather than a replacement for human expertise. ChatGPT is not a replacement for employees!

Avoid producing generic or poorly written content. Period. It doesn’t help anyone. Instead, leverage AI’s capabilities to generate ideas, brainstorm content, and connect the dots in your content creation and keyword research.

Always (with a large A) validate the content produced by ChatGPT to ensure it aligns with your target audience’s interests and search intent. You probably already do this when outsourcing to any writer or artist, right? 

Remember, AI is a great assistant, but ultimately you and your clients are behind effective SEO.

“AI algorithms are designed to prioritize user experience and valuable content. While they are getting increasingly sophisticated, it’s unlikely that they will “outsmart” human SEO strategies. Instead, they compel SEO professionals to adopt more user-focused, high-quality content strategies.”

Vested Marketing

What SEO Websites are Saying About AI and SEO

Interested in knowing more about AI and SEO? We put together a list of some great articles for you. Check out what the SEO boys and girls themselves are saying:

1. “How AI is Revolutionizing SEO: The Future of Search Optimization” by Semrush 
2. “Why SEOs Need to Embrace AI” by Moz 
3. “AI for SEO content creation: 5 real-world examples” by Search Engine Land 
4. “Artificial Intelligence in SEO: A Practical Guide” by Ahrefs 

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