A two-part series from Dashboard Interactive Marketing
Welcome back to our two-part series on AI in content marketing. In Part 1, we shared the results of a study published in Search Engine Land that tested Google’s ranking of AI-generated content across multiple industries. In Part 2, we’ll explore what makes a good content-driven SEO strategy, and the place that AI content can have in that strategy for success.
Does Google Rank AI Content? The Study
We won’t recap the whole study. Be sure to read Part 1 of this series. You can read the original article on Search Engine Land, too.
The Findings
The key findings:
- Google did index the AI-generated content
- Most of the content was indexed quickly
- 80% of the articles ranked well for one month
- Rankings dropped significantly over time
- SERP ranking did not recover with time but plateaued
Why Didn’t the AI-Generated Content Continue to Rank Well?
The study’s authors pointed out that many, many factors affect web page rankings. Google states that E-E-A-T—experience, expertise, authority, trustworthiness—are important to SEO. The fresh websites created for the study had none of these factors, nor did they include internal links, external links, or promotional activities that, together, can help web pages rank better.
We also believe the content produced for the study lacked the essential ingredient of good content marketing: strategy.
A content strategy is vital for the success of a content marketing program as part of SEO. Strategy takes into account the four P’s of marketing (product, price, place, promotion) with competitive intelligence, brand elements, and customer demographics to match content creation and promotion with audience needs.
Without a solid content strategy to guide content creation, you’re throwing the verbal equivalent of darts at a dartboard and hoping to hit the bullseye.
A good content strategy helps you hit the bullseye, aligning content such as articles, blog posts, ebooks, videos, and more, with audience interests and needs. It focuses not just on what you’ll say, but why and to whom.
The content generated for the study lacked strategy. It also lacked many elements of a solid SEO plan. As a result, while it was indexed by Google and ranked fairly quickly, it did not maintain its rankings.
AI Content Generation: Speed Without Strategy Is Just Speed
AI content generation without a strategy is like hitting the gas without knowing where you’re going. You’re moving fast, but there’s no map, no route, and no guarantee you’ll end up anywhere that matters.
With strategy, you can generate content more quickly using AI. It will be better aligned with the audience, but will it be meaningful? Will it be new, fresh, and original?
It’s the latter that AI cannot produce. AI can only say what’s been said before—albeit in fresh ways. But the thinking behind the content is missing because machines can’t think.
AI writing tends to be mediocre. Yes, it reads well. However, there is nothing inherently interesting about it. The simplest explanation is that while it has been trained on some of the best writing in the world, it has been taught to aim for the middle of the road. In other words, it cannot come up with metaphors, similes, and real-life experiences to add color, flavor, and unique branding to a piece. The writing remains pleasant, factual, and ultimately, forgettable.
Let’s aim for something memorable. Let’s infuse your brand, your voice, and your thought leadership into your content marketing. Search engine optimization is more than producing well-written, keyword-rich articles and publishing them as quickly as possible. It’s about leveraging your unique experience and customer knowledge, along with our digital marketing expertise, to encourage Google to rank your web pages well on search engines results pages.
While AI platforms can speed up content creation, they only accelerate the production of mediocre content. AI content lands squarely in the middle, neither good nor bad. And it’s the outliers that we remember, not the mediocre ones. The blog posts that spoke about a significant day in our lives, an event that changed us. The web page that speaks from the heart about our service or a true customer story. This is what drives clicks and reactions, not plain-vanilla, mass-produced content.
AI has its place in digital marketing. It can help with research, come up with a headline when we’re stuck trying to be clever, or provide feedback.
However, it’s not going to replace a strategy and experience when it comes to building traffic for a website or writing the content that drives clicks, leads, and sales.
We’d be happy to review your content strategy and provide honest feedback. And, if you don’t have one, we’re happy to help. Call Dashboard Interactive Marketing at 763-242-2454 for a consultation.