Questions to Ask When Using AI to Create Content

There is no denying or stopping AI’s power and influence on content creation. AI technology will power the next wave of technological and creative innovation.

While nothing can currently match the creativity and expertise of human writers, using AI to create content correctly may accelerate and improve your content creation process.

However, before you dive in and start creating content with generative AI, there are a few questions you need to ask.

Ask These 7 Questions When Using AI to Create Content

Using generative AI to create your content seems so easy. Enter a detailed prompt, and voila, you have the perfect blog. Unfortunately, it’s not that simple. Content creators who are copying and pasting AI content will quickly learn their audience can tell the difference and will likely get subpar returns.

This is why choosing to use AI for content creation needs serious consideration. While it can seem like an easy, simple solution to churn out tons of content, as the saying goes, you usually get what you pay for.

Here are seven questions you should consider when using AI throughout your content creation process.

1. Does the AI Content Meet My Content Goals?

Before you start creating content, you need to know what your goals are. Here are some common content marketing goals:

• Foster customer loyalty
• Improve brand recognition
• Increase sales for a specific product or service
• Gain more email subscribers
• Share customer success stories
• Improve customer retention

You may have an overall content marketing goal and a specific intent for each piece of content. Choosing which goal you want to focus on will help you write more focused prompts for AI content generation.

Once the content is generated, read through it carefully to ensure it meets your content goals.

2. Does the Ai-Generated Content Match My Existing Style and Tone?

One of the biggest giveaways to AI-generated content is when it does not match the author’s preexisting tone and style. If AI-generated content adds lofty, formal language to your content when you are usually more casual, your readers will notice the dramatic shift in tone. Just ask a high school English teacher.

It could turn them away if your readers pick up on this style difference.

AI is not human. This means it can miss out on the many emotional nuances that exist in language.

Carefully read through and edit any AI content to ensure it matches your existing content’s style, tone, and word choice. Make sure it sounds like you wrote it.

3. Is the Content Unique and Helpful?

One of Google’s primary goals is to deliver the most helpful results to searchers. This means when someone searches with a specific intent, the results they see on Google will satisfy their needs. If content is found to be unhelpful, it will not perform well in Google’s automated ranking systems.

If you use AI-generated content, you run the risk of it producing unhelpful content. According to Google, helpful content meets the following criteria:

• Fulfills the needs of the searcher
• Created with a specific audience in mind
• Delivers expertise
• Is credible and trustworthy

Another critical factor in helpful content is that it is unique. If searchers can only find the content on your site, it is more likely to be ranked well by Google.

When creating AI content, read it from your audience’s perspective. What need does this content fulfill? Does it answer a question or offer valuable information? What unique information or perspective does your content have?

4. Does the Content Convey Expertise?

In late 2022, Google released a major update to its algorithm as part of its Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines. This added an “E” to the already existing EAT guidelines. With the second E, Google’s algorithm is now ranking content based on the following:

• Experience: This is the new addition to Google’s quality evaluation. If your content can “demonstrate that it was produced with some degree of experience,” it should perform better in the search results.
• Expertise: Extending from experience is expertise. Google is looking at how much knowledge the content creator seems to have on the topic.
• Authoritativeness: Some brands or creators have established themselves as the “authority” on specific topics. Google prioritizes those sites for relevant topics. Is there a topic where you consider yourself an authority? Try to focus your content in that area.
• Trustworthiness: This is the most important factor in the Quality Evaluator Guidelines. Your rankings will be penalized if you give false information or try to deceive your audience. You must be extra cautious using AI-generated content, as it can sometimes produce false information.

Considering these four factors is crucial when creating content, especially when using AI generative tools. While fast, these tools do not fact-check themselves and can produce unreliable results. They are best used as a starting point or a place to generate new ideas. You need human input and control to create content that conveys experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness.

5. Does the Content Add Value?

While the amount of content on your site affects how Google views and ranks your site, churning out content without value will not help. Google’s powerful algorithms know when content adds value. In this case, value means the reader finds it worth their time and attention.

Not every piece of content needs to be breaking news. Here are some ways to add valuable content to your brand:

• Focus on frequently asked questions: Do you have a customer support team or at least an inbox where people can contact you? If so, what are some of the most common questions you receive? Use this as a starting point to create content that answers those questions.
• Solve a problem: Another excellent resource for content is problems. Do you have a solution to a problem faced by your readers? This could be an ideal place to try AI tools. Ask it to solve the problem and see what solutions it offers.
• Share valuable knowledge: Not everything you share must be your unique idea — sharing the thoughts of others can be just as powerful. Try putting together strong ideas to see what innovation and inspiration follow. Just make sure you aren’t accidentally plagiarizing.
• Be humble: While some content creators, especially on social media, become successful by talking about how great they are, this will not work for most. While you may think you and your products are great (and they probably are!), if that is all you tell your audience, they won’t hesitate to ditch you for someone else. Instead, show your audience how you can help them and why that matters.
• Tell a story: As humans, we love stories. If your content tells a good story, your customers and readers will keep coming back to find out what happens next. While this doesn’t mean turning every blog into a fairy tale, it does mean your content should promote problem-solving and knowledge-building.

6. Are You Targeting the Right Audience?

In content marketing, some people get so swept up in checking off all the right SEO boxes that they forget that content should really be for humans. If you are creating content designed only to meet the expectations of “machines,” like SEO spiders, then your content is likely missing the mark.

While paying attention to and following SEO best practices is still important, your customers and readers need to be your primary focus. Read your content from their perspective. Does it sound enticing, or does it sound stilted and keyword-stuffed?

7. Do You Have a Great Headline?

In addition to having great content, you need great headlines. Headlines are what attract people to your content. They are the hook that gets people to start reading.

This is an area where AI tools can be helpful. If you feel stuck and can’t develop a compelling, attention-grabbing title, AI might be able to trigger your creativity.

Get the Best from AI Content with a Human-Powered Marketing Team

We are at the forefront of the digital AI revolution. There is no telling where this advanced technology will take us. However, we can’t ignore the value of human intelligence, emotions and skills. That is why we are using a hybrid approach at JS-Interactive.

We appreciate all the power and innovation AI-generated content offers while recognizing the expertise and unique skills our team has honed over the past 15 years. If you are ready to accelerate your content marketing strategy, we are here to help.

Contact us today for a free consultation! We would love to help you reach your digital marketing goals.