ontent: Does it help or is it spam? //

Many in the SEO industry anticipated that AI-generated content would be a big hit when Google released the helpful Content Update.

I expected that AI-generated content would be wiped out by this supposed sweeping update. It was similar to the Panda algorithm update in 2011. However, had no significant impact .

Soon after, Google released the Oct 2022 spam update. This was when websites with AI content were affected, but not as severely.

What has happened? Let me take a look back.

Another vicious Panda attack?

Content farms were a problem back in 2011. Many companies, such as Demand Media, made a fortune mass-producing low quality articles.

They created thin content that was stuffed with keyword variations from keyword research tools, and produced similar articles for each variation of a popular search question.

Outsourced workers often underpaid wrote about topics that they didn’t know about. This often led to gibberish.

Panda was an important algorithm update that affected legitimate blogs. How can I find out? My popular SEO blog was also penalized. My top 10 ranking for terms like [url seo],[image seo] and [advanced SEO] went down overnight. I have not been able to get them back since.

Google felt pressured to address content farms as , the then-contender to Google, was promoting itself as an alternative to Google.

Welcome to the future of search

Even though we live in 2023, there is no actual flying car or jetpack. We do have automation breakthroughs, especially in the manufacturing and service sectors.

It’s even easier to see on the internet. Automation is a tool that helps us with repetitive tasks every day and more.

In recent years, the work we do has seen a significant shift in our lives. The creative industries are replacing boring and repetitive tasks. Many people make a living as professional skateboarders and gamers. They also earn money as content creators or influencers.

Many tasks in SEO can be automated but the results will vary. Modern SEO focuses on human-to-human interaction – think audience building and outreach.

My content creator bias

The rise of AI has made me a more anxious writer in recent years. My fear was not based on a Terminator-like apocalypse, although that could still happen, but rather from AI’s potential impact upon my work.

Is AI content going to replace me as a writer? We don’t yet know. As of right now, it hasn’t. We do know that some bloggers use AI content creation tools to create their content.

Artificial intelligence (AI) might replace writers in the same way that computers or typewriters will replace writers. Is a tool capable of replacing the user? Perhaps for menial tasks. Is writing a menial job?

This article is an example of AI that I already use. Google Docs provides suggestions for correcting my grammar, but not as many as Grammarly (which I found too intrusive), but more than Microsoft Word.

An overview of automation in SEO

There are many ways in SEO to automate repetitive tasks, streamline workflows and use various tools.

Keyword research

A single person cannot compile and evaluate the data necessary for keyword research. Even if you don’t use AI or other keyword research tools, Google can be used to verify the keywords “manually”. Google, however, uses advanced algorithms, AI, and automation to access keyword databases.

It is possible to do unethical or questionable keyword search automation. This involves crawling large amounts of Google results without authorisation and placing heavy load on their servers.

This is not applicable to large-scale technical SEOs. Most mere mortals will use common keyword research tools, which might already include AI input.

Auditing websites

Many SEO tools can provide a complete website audit. Although they don’t have the same expertise as an SEO consultant, many tools are extremely helpful and sometimes free.

Website auditing tools like Semrush and WooRank can help you to plan your SEO strategy. Use them when they are useful.

One drawback to this approach is the fact that it can cause excessive load to a website because they crawl it from all pages at once. Although I don’t know of any AI tools that can be used to audit website issues, they might make sense in this case.

Verify links both internal and extern

The classic method of using SEO tools to check internal and external links to sites linking to you or sites you link to, is still in use. This was long before AI became sophisticated enough to assist with SEO tasks. Website authority can be broken or diverted to pages that are not important orphaned by internal links.

An optimized website allows authority to flow freely and has a structure that is well-designed. AI tools can easily track and find links in ways beyond the “push button” or “cronjob” types of checks. It’s important to not place too much load on other websites.

Rankings

Rankings can be compared to linking, but it has a twist. Google search results cannot be crawled with automated tools. This is against their terms. Google might block your IP if you use ranking checks from your local computer.

This is a risky option that can be very dangerous and should not be considered unless you have something to lose, or if you have advanced technology that balances Google’s resources or hides where the load came from.

Some SEO tool providers have access large server farms that fool Google into thinking that legitimate human users are using their services. AI could be used to help alleviate this issue by making it easier or hiding the activity better.

What about automated content?

It is not a good use case to automate content creation. AI tools don’t have the experience that Google expects from readers. They simply rewrite existing knowledge with their “own” words.

Many spammers tried to trick Google into thinking they had content-rich websites in the past by spinning articles and rewriting them using synonyms. This has been removed from Google’s SERPs for a long time.

AI powers the new generation of content automation tools

There are many AI content tools on the market. They are well-designed and often include SEO experts’ recommendations.

I searched the internet for AI content to find many services. These tools include.

Evidence Content

Proof Content advertises itself as “Data-driven content to brands with something meaningful to say” and claims that their AI content can be “automated,” “tailored” and “speedy.”

They employ “human editors” to ensure content is not completely automated. Their results highlight success with a “increased 127% SEO traffic growth YoY.”

Frase

Frase is even faster, but still promises better quality. “Better content, quicker.”

They clearly speak to SEO-driven marketers by stating that they can “create SEO text fast with AI,” and “going from keyword-optimized article to SEO-optimized articles has never been simpler.”

GrowthBar

GrowthBar AI content generator even has the domain name growthbarseo.com. This is to indicate that it’s designed to create SEO content. It states this in its value proposition: “Make Google love SEO content with AI.” It also includes a keyword search tool and a Chrome extension.

It is clear that the most important use of these tools is content creation for SEO purposes.

What are the opinions of the experts?

Frase page quotes Brandan Hufford as saying:

• Frase feels like you are using content marketing cheat codes. I’ve spent a lot of time comparing tools in order to get the best out of my writing.

Kevin Indig is also cited on this page:

• “Frase feels exciting not only for SEOs but also for writers. This is what I believe is more important in order to create content that works.

Thomas Melching recommends GrowthBar to include the following:

• You can create SEO-perfect content with just one click. GrowthBar is revolutionary and offers a free trial.

Mark Sandusky lauds GrowthBar and says:

• “GrowthBar helped us get into new categories of SEO and create content more quickly. The Content Generator is something I use almost every day.”

They could all be wrong. They also don’t hide the fact that they use AI content tools. This shows they don’t fear being labeled as spammers or having their projects removed.

Is AI content useful or spam?

Can we say with certainty whether AI content is useful or spamming? We can’t. It depends.

AI content can, in my opinion be both useful and spammy.

There are two things to take into consideration: the motivation and the effort put in. You run the risk of creating low-level content farm drivel if you put zero effort in and let the AI do all the work.

It all comes down to quality and not quantity.

It is a fact that churning low-quality, mass-produced content will make your content less stellar. It doesn’t really matter if you use AI , or inexperienced authors to boost your website in adisproportionate way. The result is the same.

When it comes to content production, less is more. Regular publishing is acceptable as long as it doesn’t flood.

WordLift offers an in-depth overview on how “generative AI” can be used for SEO content purposes.

It works great for simple content-related tasks (green), as of right now

• FAQ generation.
• Product descriptions.
• Summarization.
• Introduction text.

Human intervention

Double down on quality to make AI work in content creation

Quality control is essential to ensure that editorial content is written by actual editors. Don’t let AI decide for you. The people must remain in control.

This is the same feedback I received from SEOs who use AI to create content. Their content is not completely automated, and they have to pass quality checks to make sure it conforms with Google’s standards.

John Mueller, Google Search Advocate, has been very clear that AI content is “still” against Google’s webmaster guidelines for April 2022.

Use AI ethically in SEO

It all boils down to ethics. What purpose does the automation serve?

Are you willing to spam Google with useless content in order to make money through affiliate or ad revenue? You are most likely to spam.

You want to be able to do the simple work of translating the basic information that AI can grab from the internet automatically. This will allow you to create poetry-like contributions that AI cannot duplicate. Bingo!

Is creativity possible to be fully automated?

Only a truly intelligent AI can create the same kind of things as a human being. It’s just combining “facts from elsewhere.”

Many science fiction stories have explored the possibility that artificial intelligence could become fully human. Many of these are frightening dystopian visions. Others aren’t.

Will Smith stars in ” I Robot“, a movie that lies somewhere between these extremes. The film is based on Isaac Asimov’s science fiction novel. It captures both humanity and true artificial intelligence very well. Asimov is close to answering that question. ( You can Read the novel at Archive.org for a free .

Search Engine Land first published the post AI Content: Is it helpful, or spam?