3 Ways to use AI tools for SEO and not get in trouble with Google

AI tools are all the rage right now. But Google’s latest update penalized sites that relied heavily upon AI-generated content. Maybe that’s why you are wondering about using AI tools for SEO. The good news is that you can use AI tools in your SEO program. There are ways they can help you speed up your content development or optimization process without getting into trouble with Google.

How to use AI tools for SEO without getting in trouble with Google

Google doesn’t want you to have AI tools like Chat GPT or others create your content for you because it’s not unique, different, or even really helpful. AI-generated content is created by crawling what’s already available on the web and putting it into a new blog post or website page. It does not really provide much value to the reader or offer a new perspective or anything like that. 

But there are ways you can use AI tools to speed up the process for sure.

Use AI Tools for SEO Keyword Research

Did you know you can start your SEO keyword research with an AI tool? You sure can. Log into your favorite tool and ask it to help you generate possible SEO keyword ideas for your niche. You can ask it to suggest keywords that are lower competition. You can ask the tools to provide a chart with the keywords, search volume, and competition information so you can easily review the data.

Don’t simply trust the AI tool’s recommendations. Go to Google and verify the search volume and competition to see if your website could rank for this particular keyword before you consider using it for your website or blog. AI tools are just that; they’re tools, and while they’re getting better, they’re still relatively new. Sometimes, they’re good, and sometimes, the information is incorrect. It’s important that you know what to look for to determine if a keyword is a good one for your website or blog. 

Listen to the podcast episode here. 

You can also use AI Tools to write your Title Tags and Meta Descriptions

You’ll need to tell the tool what standards to follow, how long each element should be, who your target audience is, and what your SEO keyword is, but you can have tools help you create your SEO elements. This is especially helpful if you’re not used to writing them yet, and it takes you a long time to come up with one for each page.

Remember, you want to make sure you’re choosing a different SEO keyword for each page or blog post and following Google’s best practices for your Title Tags and Meta Descriptions. Give that information to the tool because I’ve seen them return improperly formatted SEO elements in my testing.

Using AI tools to create your SEO content

Don’t do this. AI content will not help you win with Google SEO. This is where many sites got themselves into trouble recently. However, you can use your tools as tools and have them help you brainstorm titles or topics for your blog posts.

You can also use a tool to help you outline your post. It can produce a first draft of one for you. I wouldn’t publish anything from an AI tool without a lot of editing from you because, again, what you get from the tool is content that’s already on the web somewhere. So it’s not new, it’s not unique, it’s not really providing much value or your own perspective or anything like that. So don’t have it write the posts for you and publish them. People tried to cheat the system, but Google is pretty smart, and they removed those sites quickly.

Use AI tools to speed up your process

Have an AI tool help you with your SEO content development. Use them to kick off your SEO keyword research, brainstorm topics for your niche, create an outline for your next blog post, and maybe even have them write a rough draft for you (I personally don’t do this because I find it’s faster to write the post myself but some of my students find it very helpful). When it’s time to do SEO on your content piece, have the tool write your Title Tag and Meta Description for you. You can also add your blog post to the editor and ask if there’s anything else you should consider adding – ask for other semantically related topics that could expand your post.

AI tools can speed up the SEO and content development process. Use them as tools, not rely on them to create your content, and you shouldn’t get in trouble with Google. If you want to learn how to do SEO on your website or blog, join me in Simple SEO Content, and I’ll teach you how to do search engine optimization on your website and blog step-by-step.  

Podcast Episode Transcript

Hi, welcome to the Simple SEO Podcast. I am Rachel Lindteigen, and I'm so glad you're here with me today. Today, I want to talk about AI tools and how we can use them without getting in trouble with Google.

If you've listened before, you've probably heard me or others talk about the big changes with Google in the March 2024 core update. Part of that was really cracking down on sites that were relying heavily on AI tools to create content. But I also know we want to be able to use those tools to speed up the process. We want to make it faster and easier because creating content can sometimes feel like it takes a long time. So, if there are tools you can use to make the process faster and avoid getting into trouble with Google, then by all means, that's what we want to do.

Let's talk about three different ways you can use these tools to help you. I'm going to use ChatGPT as an example, but the reality is you can use whichever AI tools you prefer since most of them do similar things. So, we'll talk about ChatGPT because it's the one I'm most familiar with, but honestly, you can use whichever one you want for these tasks.

We need to be careful because there are some things Google really does not want you to do with these tools. We'll talk about that, but let's jump into how you can use them. I hear from my students that writing blog posts feels like it takes a long time. They understand the importance because if they create and optimize blog posts, it's another chance to rank on Google, for people to find their business, and ultimately become customers and raving fans. So, they're excited to do it, but the reality is most of us are solopreneurs. We're doing this on our own, or maybe we have a VA, but for the most part, we're the ones doing it. I feel you because I'm the one writing the blog posts you read and the one doing the podcast you listen to. I completely understand.

We want to be as efficient as possible with our time because we don't have a lot of time to waste. We've got to spend time in our business, on our business, and also live our lives and take care of other things. So, how are we going to use these tools to speed up our content development process? Honestly, you can do some of your SEO work with these tools as well.

The first thing I want to talk about, and this is something new that I'm teaching in Simple SEO Content in our very first module, is how to use different tools to help us with keyword research. Finding the right keyword can feel very daunting, hard, and a little overwhelming, especially when you're in a competitive niche. My students often tell me they go through module one, which is all about keyword research, and they realize they've been doing it wrong. Keyword research is one of those things that can feel hard and confusing, but you can use your AI tool like ChatGPT to help you.

Now, it's not going to be able to tell you for sure which keyword is the right one, but it can give you a starting point. If you're not sure what you want to write about, or you know what you want to write about but don't know what keywords to target, go to ChatGPT. Ask it to be an SEO strategist, give it some information on your niche, your competition, and what you're thinking about writing, and ask it to give you a set of keywords you could potentially use.

Ask for low-competition keywords and request the keywords, search volume, and competition in a table format. However, don't just take what ChatGPT gives you and run with it. The suggested keywords may not be right for your website based on your site's authority, niche, competitiveness, etc. If you're a student, go to module one of the updated Simple SEO Content course and watch the lessons, which include a ChatGPT walkthrough and the full process for verification and choosing keywords.

If you're not in Simple SEO Content yet, why not? Take the free SEO 101 class right on my homepage at EtchedMarketing.com. It will give you an invitation to the course, making this process so much easier.

Next, let's talk about using ChatGPT for topic ideas. Let it know your niche, topic area, or content pillar, and ask it to suggest ten blog post ideas. If you already know what you want to write about but need a better title or headline, ask ChatGPT to give you ten different versions. You can refine further by asking for more options similar to the ones you like.

For outlines, ask ChatGPT what information you should include in your blog post. If writing is hard for you, these tools can help speed up the process. I write my blog posts in under an hour, including keyword research and optimization, and I want that for you, too. Use these tools to help brainstorm, but do not rely on them to write your content entirely.

Google does not want AI-generated content that's simply a regurgitation of other blog posts. You need to create helpful, unique content that demonstrates your experience, expertise, authority, and trust (E-E-A-T). Google's March 2024 update targeted AI-generated spam, penalizing sites using AI to create content without adding value.

Use AI tools to help with title tags and meta descriptions. Title tags are about 60 characters, and meta descriptions are around 160 characters. Both are crucial for SEO and enticing potential readers to click through to your website. Ask ChatGPT to suggest these, but make sure to include your keyword and follow the character limits.

If you're concerned about putting your blog post into AI engines, remember that once your blog is on your website, it's accessible anyway. However, do not feed any confidential information into AI tools.

In summary, you can use AI tools for keyword brainstorming, content topic ideas, titles, meta descriptions, and outlines. Just avoid having them write your entire blog post. For more detailed guidance, join Simple SEO Content and let me help you get the traffic you want.

Alright, that's how you can use AI tools to speed up the process while avoiding trouble with Google. If you have questions about using AI tools for SEO, send me a note or sign up for Simple SEO Content. Module one will walk you through keyword research and how to use AI tools. Let's fix your keyword targeting, get you some traffic, and help you achieve the results you want.

Bye for now, and I will see you back here next week. If you're not following, do so now for more great episodes and lots of helpful tips.