One of the questions we get asked by clients is, “Can’t I just generate content for my website?” We’ve always maintained that human written copy is going to get you further, even if you aren’t populating an entire website in the space of a few days. Now, Semrush has done a full study to show just how true that is.
They looked at 20,000 keywords and 42,000 blog posts to see what worked best: human written content or AI, and how they placed in the ultimate organic marketing podium, the search engine results page. What they found was pretty remarkable:
“Content classified as purely AI-generated appeared in the top spot just 9% of the time. Content classified as human-written was there 80% of the time.” – Semrush
With all of that in mind, we’ll break down a few of the key factors in their findings, but also look at where AI should fit into content generation, and the bits that are best kept in human hands.
AI Content Can Rank – But That’s Not the Full Story
Based on their data, there’s still a little slice of the action for AI generated content. With that said, if ranking on page one (particularly in the top three spots) is a priority for your business (which we hope it is!) then human written content is the first thing to consider. While you can crank through a whole lot of prompts, generate category page content, or churn out a ton of blogs in a day, we already know that volume isn’t the priority for search engines. Relevance is, and that’s where human intervention is key.
Chart displaying the probability of AI content by SERP position
Reference: https://www.semrush.com/blog/does-ai-content-rank-in-search-data-study/
LLMs like ChatGPT and Claude aggregate information, but they’re not going to be able to generate new ideas or concepts the way people can. The likes of Google will always be looking for unique and topical information. That’s where the difference lies.
However, it’s not just human written content alone that matters. What we’re seeing is that EEAT principles and unique, insightful content is more important. Search engines like Google aren’t giving out the top spots for bulk, mediocre content, they’re showing high-quality copy that actually matches the intent of the search terms people are using. When it comes to quality, there are a few things to account for.
The Real Ranking Factor Hasn’t Changed: Content Quality
People and search engines agree on one thing: quality is always preferred to massive amounts of words that don’t say a whole lot. Whether you’re looking at the menus of a restaurant you think you’d like to visit, or choosing between two similar products from two different brands, how information is presented is often a major deciding factor.
If you’re comparing menus, you might be interested to see if they have allergens listed, or whether they can accommodate certain dietary requirements. When comparing two similar products, you might be more inclined to choose the one that explains how it works, how long you use it before you see results, or the research that’s gone into creating it in the first place. The key commonalities in both of these scenarios is context and the information’s relevance to your circumstances. Google acts the same way when you’re typing into the search bar (or chatting to your search engine through voice activation).
Turning that example on its head, when you’re a business, you need to think about what kind of information your prospective clients and customers want. Getting an LLM to write pages of content and blogs that don’t answer the very specific questions your prospective audience has won’t grant you more conversions or leads. Getting just the right information is far more important. You know your business (and your audience) better than a computer does, which is why having those human-motivated answers are so important.
The Efficiency Conundrum
No matter whether you’re a marketing manager or a business owner, chances are you’re time poor and trying to juggle a whole lot of different tasks. That’s often the issue that AI claims to solve. The knock-on effect of this is that things are made just to fill a gap, without the proper reviewing process and attention to detail you need.
AI is great for pushing greater volumes of production, but not differentiation. It can start to feel generic, repetitive, and surface-level, especially if you’re asking for a set word count for a piece. When you ask for 1,000 words when, in reality, 600 is enough to say what you need, you end up with a lot of waffle. AI needs a lot of training to understand and accurately represent what you do and capture your brand’s tone of voice properly as well.
Where AI Use Really Shines: Workflows (Not AI-Only Content)
With all of that in mind, there’s absolutely a balance between quality and speed. You want content to be put together efficiently, but also want to make sure it’s got the right ingredients. One of the best ways to achieve that is with workflows and utilising AI for ideation and planning.
- Got a great blog post that’s gained a lot of traction? Feed it into AI to get it to adjust the format into bite sized pieces for Instagram carousels, LinkedIn posts, or a script for you to use in a video.
- Have a ton of product pages and need to update the meta data? It’s still a ranking factor and is important for getting attention, no matter which spot you’re at on the SERP, and AI can generate this kind of content quickly and easily (though you’ll probably need to tweak it to get it within just the right character limits).
- If you’ve got a new product on the way and have some solid content but want blogs to go with the launch, prompt your LLM with some parameters and get some blog ideas generated. From there, you can pick and choose the ones that match who you are as a brand and business.
- If you’re struggling with layout or heading structure but know the key topics you need to include in a piece of writing, get AI to help with that too. At the very least it gives you a foundation to build upon.
Ultimately, your biggest successes with organic search and copywriting will happen when humans still drive strategy, editing, and quality control and
AI is used to improve efficiency, not as a substitute for thinking.
Chart From Semrush Summarising How SEO’s Use AI in Content Creation
Reference: https://www.semrush.com/blog/does-ai-content-rank-in-search-data-study/
What AI Can’t Replicate
AI is absolutely useful when it comes to the more mundane and administrative parts of copy and content creation, but there are a few things that should be human-only (or at least 90% of the way there!).
Original Thinking
Scientists have been studying how the brain works for hundreds of years, and there are still plenty of mysteries in that department. A computer can’t replicate something as complex as that. Original ideas are a human specialty, from new inventions to how language is used, keep this ball firmly in your court.
Brand Voice and Tone Consistency
Your brand’s tone of voice and the way it’s conveyed through language and imagery is incredibly important when it comes to capturing (and retaining) attention from people who are going to be interested in what you do. This is especially important for brands that serve more than just utility. If you’re selling a lifestyle, no matter whether that’s a product or a service, showcasing how your brand fits into that dream is always going to be more authentic and relatable coming from a human.
Real-World Experience and Insight
This falls under the EEAT principles mentioned earlier, which are important ranking factors and trust signals for both search engines and humans. That’s experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. You know what you’re about, what you do, and why you do it better than anyone else – make sure to showcase that.
Strategic Intent Behind Content
There’s different intent behind every search term, and the commercial and transactional terms are likely going to be the ones you want to target as a business. Outside of the technical elements, knowing what motivates your audience and being able to explain how you solve the problem they’ve got, or enhance the lifestyle they want, is a very human aspect of marketing and copywriting.
What Good Content Looks Like
If you want a TLDR or you’re more of a check-list person, here’s a quick summary for what to keep in mind when you’re writing:
- Clear intent and structure with content that serves a purpose, not just something to fill a gap on your website
- Depth over volume – one really great piece of well-researched, highly informed and informative content is going to do far more than five pages of fluff
- Unique insights (not reworded summaries) are a must, with your own perspectives, information, experience, and knowledge incorporated
- Strong internal linking to make it easy for humans and search engine crawlers alike to navigate their way through your website’s hierarchy of content
If you’re looking for a hand in creating content that ticks all the boxes above and then some, Reform Digital can help. Get in touch with our team, we’d love to chat.
