With 69.1% of marketers already using AI in their marketing operations, the widespread acceptance of AI in the industry is undeniable
From ad targeting to search engine optimization, AI has improved marketing outcomes for 34.1% of marketers.
With regard to SEO, content marketers can no longer ignore the power of AI in optimizing their content. AI-powered tools can enhance keyword research, analyze user intent, create content outlines, optimize meta tags, and generate content ideas. Below, we discuss some AI SEO tips for content marketers to implement in 2024.
Why AI SEO Tools are Essential for Content Marketers in 2024
AI SEO means using AI tools for SEO tasks like keyword research and content optimization. As our AI Marketing Report 2024 revealed, 35.1% of marketers produce AI-driven content, indicating the growing use of AI in SEO. So, as a content marketer in today's landscape, you should consider investing in AI SEO tools to avoid lagging behind your competitors.
Besides, Google, the largest search engine in the world, is also using AI to improve its search engine results pages (SERPs). The search engine has rolled out AI Overview in some parts of the world, which appears before the organic SERPs to answer the user's query.
Google's Project Magi is also in action. A team of 160 experts is working to add new AI-related features to the search engine to make it more user-friendly. According to the New York Times,
"The new search engine would offer users a far more personalized experience than the company's current service, attempting to anticipate users' needs."
As search engines are incorporating AI into their algorithms, it makes sense for content marketers to do the same.
10 AI SEO Tips to Conquer the Search Engine Space
AI has gotten so advanced that you can pretty much create your entire marketing strategy with it. A combination of AI tools for different aspects of digital marketing can take your online presence to the next level.
The good news is that many of these tools are often centralized in the same place. Semrush's App Center is one such place where you can find AI tools for anything from content optimization to social media management. For example, the AI Marketing Strategy is a suite of 350 tactics, including AI copywriting, chatbot, graphic design, funnel management, marketing recommendations, etc.
Source: semrush.com
The following AI SEO tips will help you use such a tool to its full potential.
1. Use AI for Keyword Research
Keyword research is among the first and most crucial steps in SEO. You no longer have to scour through Google SERPs to find the right keywords for your business. AI keyword discovery tools help you identify the right keywords for your content.
Since these tools employ Natural Language Processing (NLP) algorithms, they can identify contextually relevant keywords, making your content relevant for voice search and AI algorithms like Google BERT, Google's search algorithm that understands the nuances of words to match them with relevant queries.
Semrush Keyword Magic Tool does exactly this. It allows you to sort keywords by broad match, phrase match, exact match, and related. For example, we searched for keywords surrounding ''SEO tactics,'' and the tool showed us a list of keywords with their search intent, volume, keyword difficulty %, and cost per click (CPC).
Semrush Keyword Magic Tool
You can then use the Keyword Overview tool's AI features, including Topical Authority and Personal Keyword Difficulty (PKD), to get personalized insights for your domain. Semrush's proprietary AI algorithm assesses the
''thematic relevance between the domain you've entered and the keyword, considers the competition level within the topic, and considers metrics of your domain and those of competitor domains present on the SERP''
to show you where your website stands in terms of authority and competitiveness for a given keyword.
For example, our website, influencermarketinghub.com, has the potential to rank in the top 100 positions on the SERPs, according to Semrush's AI. Our Topical Authority is moderate for this keyword, and the PKD is 85%, which means we'll need well-optimized content and backlinks from high-quality websites to rank for this keyword.
Semrush Keyword Overview
A lower PKD means it's easier to rank for the keyword. You can find the six levels of PKD and what they mean here.
Since our PKD is so high, if we were a low-resource website, we would use this insight to direct our efforts and resources toward keywords with lower PKD. Or we could look for long-tail keywords with a lower PKD to improve our chances of ranking.
When you enter your domain, Semrush shows you PKD% alongside the general Keyword Difficulty. From these results, you can see which keywords have a lower PKD%, providing you with an opportunity to rank for these keywords with less effort compared to the more competitive ones.
Semrush PKD% column
AI also lets you analyze SERP features like the People Also Ask (PAA) section to determine which keywords ensure high visibility. In Semrush, the Questions section shows you which questions people are asking related to your keyword and the number of searches for each question.
Semrush Questions keywords
You may answer these questions to increase your chances of coming up in the featured snippets or the PAA section.
2. Optimize Content With AI
Even if you write stellar content, unless it's optimized for search engine algorithms, it likely won't do well. You no longer have to guess what those algorithms prefer; AI tools can analyze your content and make suggestions for optimization.
Semrush SEO Writing Assistant is a prime example of such a tool. To start, it creates a content outline for your piece, making sure you hit all the important keywords and topics. You can then use it to compose the content, and it will provide real-time recommendations for improving readability, tone of voice, and SEO.
For example, we checked the introduction of this article through the writing assistant, and it gave us suggestions on readability, SEO, word count, and keyword addition.
Semrush Writing Assistant
Based on this information, we can make this article more suitable for search engines. With so many insights, it's no surprise that content marketers are turning to AI SEO tools.
In fact, 47% of marketers are using AI to create their entire content marketing strategy, as AI tools like Semrush allow you to do everything from researching content and topic ideas to writing content and expanding existing text.
However, there's always the concern surrounding authenticity and whether using AI tools will lead to generic, unoriginal content. For example, the phrase
"In the rapidly evolving world of"
is quite common in AI-suggested content due to AI writing tools' tendency to mimic linguistic patterns during their training process.
In an insightful article, Djanan Kasumovic explains why this happens and recommends a two-step approach to address this issue. The first step is analysis, followed by emulation. Basically, you feed your writing style to the AI tool and let it learn from it so that the output is not only optimized but also reflects your unique tone and voice.
Kasumovic's 4C framework further provides practical guidelines for putting this approach into practice. It stipulates the following:
- Characterization: Personalizing the AI's output to align with your writing style and tone through emulation of your writing samples and detailed analysis
- Contextualization: Providing a backdrop to the AI writing tool to set the stage for more coherent and relevant output
- Customization: Tailoring AI inputs to create accurate and relevant content that reflects the latest trends and audience preferences
- Clarity: Engineering the input prompts to match your intentions as closely as possible through clear and concise instructions and objectives
4C Framework
Here's an example prompt from Kasumovic's guide that helps personalize the output of an AI writing tool to your particular writing style:
Please conduct a detailed analysis of my writing style from the following sample. Act as a linguistic expert and a Prompt Engineer. Focus on identifying the tone, voice, sentence structure, use of idioms or unique phrases, and overall structure. Here is the sample: "INSERT SAMPLE". Provide a comprehensive summary of 2000 words of the key characteristics of the writing style based on this analysis. Don't give any generic descriptions, but rather analyze the content in depth.
You don't necessarily have to create this premise to write the entire content. AI tools, such as ChatGPT and SurferSEO, can also create content outlines based on the analysis of the top-ranking search results.
The second C of Kasumovic's approach comes into play to help contextualize the AI writing tool's output. Here's an example prompt to create an outline for an article addressing the future of remote work:
Given the increasing shift towards remote work due to technological advancements and global events, write an outline for an article that addresses the future of remote work. Include sections on technological tools facilitating remote work, strategies for maintaining work-life balance, and predictions for workplace culture shifts. Use the context provided by recent studies and expert opinions from the field attached here: "INSERT TEXT, DOC, SHEET, etc.
Similarly, you can use a preferred AI tool to analyze your content and recommend topic clusters. For example, the Keyword Strategy section in Semrush Keyword Overview provides you with topics that you can cover in your content based on the top-ranking search results for your targeted keyword.
Semrush Keyword Strategy feature
3. Confirm Keyword Intent With AI
The primary purpose of SEO-friendly content is for it to align with the search intent of your target audience. If your content matches the user intent, there's a higher chance of search engines showing it to people searching for similar topics.
However, understanding keyword intent can be challenging, especially when dealing with a large volume of keywords. There's no single ''truth'' as to what people are searching for and why. It's quite possible for different audience segments to be searching for the same keyword with different intents.
Keyword intent also changes with a new algorithm update. For example, the Google BERT update changed the dominating user intent of 10.5% of keywords analyzed by SurferSEO. AI can help you keep up with these changes and ensure your content aligns with the most current keyword intent.
In this article, Djanan Kasumovic explains how he conducts AI-driven keyword intent analysis using OpenAI Playground Assistant. He first gathers data from different sources, such as search engines and keyword analysis tools like Semrush. For example, Semrush's Keyword Overview tool tells us that the user intent for our query ''SEO tactics'' is predominantly information, with one keyword having an informational and commercial intent.
Keyword Overview search intent analysis
After gathering this data, he analyzes the keyword intent using the OpenAI Assistant for Topic Intent Analysis. The tool helps identify the overarching themes and consensus points of a group of keywords, giving insights into the most prevalent user intent/s.
By promoting the Assistant for holistic data analysis rather than a unifocal response of the keyword intent, Kasumovic generates a detailed report that includes:
- Key trends
- User intent/s
- Potential content angles
- Unmet audience needs
OpenAI Playground Assistant results
Besides consensus points, this AI-driven approach also helps discover divergent views and different audience segments. Based on this information, Kasumovic can then create content that caters to multiple user intents and meets the needs of different audience segments.
For example, when searching for the intent behind ''SEO tactics,'' you could start with the ''Beginners'' segment, which may need a basic understanding of the topic. You can then explore more advanced tactics for ''Experts'' and tailor your content to the commercial intent by offering solutions and services to ''Businesses''.
The same approach also works for existing content. You can use the OpenAI Playground Assistant to analyze your published content and identify any gaps in terms of user intent or audience segments. This will help you find opportunities to improve your existing content.
4. Improve Content Readability
Ever noticed how academic articles don't usually rank high in search engines? That's because they are difficult to read and not user-friendly.
SEO content needs to be easily readable, not for the search engines but for your audience. There's a common misconception that it's Google that wants your content to have a high readability score. But as Google's Senior Webmaster Trends Analyst, John Mueller, said,
"From an SEO point of view, it's probably not something that you need to focus on, in the sense that, as far as I know, we don't have kind of these basic algorithms that just count words and try to figure out what the reading level is based on these existing algorithms. But it is something that you should figure out for your audience."
To further prove this, a Portent study of 750,000 pieces of content found no correlation between the content's reading level and Google's search ranking. However, as Mueller further emphasized,
"It's not a matter of Google using that reading level score and saying, this is good or bad. But rather, does it match what the people are searching for? And, if nobody's searching for those long words, then nobody's going to find your content. Or, if they do find your content, they're going to be like… I don't know what this means."
Fortunately, AI can help in this regard, too. Semrush's Writing Assistant lets you analyze your content's readability and then fix it. Your content’s readability issues are highlighted in blue. The Writing Assistant also gives you recommendations for content improvement.
Semrush Writing Assistant
The good old ChatGPT also helps. As highlighted by Semrush, there are two complex sentences in our content's introduction. We can use this prompt to rewrite the introduction in simpler language:
Improve the readability of this by using simpler language and a shorter introduction. Aim for a Hemingway Editor score of 7 to 8.
ChatGPT’s output
We checked ChatGPT's content on Hemingway Editor, and the score was 8. Hemingway itself also has AI tools that you can use to simplify complex sentences, rewrite content, and fix grammar automatically.
Hemingway Editor score
5. Conduct On-Page SEO & Technical Optimization
AI tools can assist in implementing your SEO strategy by tackling multiple aspects of on-page SEO. For example, you can use AI to create meta tags, write meta descriptions, evaluate content lengths, and optimize readability.
The Semrush Writing Assistant shows you the optimal length for your content. For example, in our example, the tool recommends a target length of 1,847 words. At 50.8, our content's readability is fairly difficult as per the tool. It recommended a target readability of 52.8 since that's ideal for our target audience's reading level of 10th to 12th grade.
Semrush content readability score
You can also use ChatGPT to write meta descriptions and SEO-optimized titles. For our article, we used this prompt on ChatGPT to generate a meta description:
Write a meta description for this article: 10 AI SEO Tips to Stay Ahead in 2024.
Our article on ChatGPT SEO strategies provides more use cases for the AI tool.
6. Enhance User Experience With AI
As studied by Forrester, for every $1 you invest in user experience, you get an ROI of $100. User experience keeps your audience engaged and more likely to convert. If your website is user-friendly, it will get people to actually read your content and reduce your bounce rate, which will ultimately improve your SEO ranking.
There are plenty of AI tools that can improve your website's user experience. For example, Attention Insight lets you validate your website's concepts during the design stage. It shows you how consumers engage with your design and which parts of the page draw their attention. Using this tool, you can optimize your website's layout for better user engagement.
Similarly, Galileo AI generates user interfaces that are optimized for user experience for both mobile and web applications. All it takes is a textual prompt to generate a design that users will find engaging and easy to navigate.
7. Conduct AI-Assisted Backlink Analysis
As confirmed by Andrey Lipattsev, Partner Development Manager at Google, backlinks are one of the top three strongest ranking signals in Google's algorithm. They indicate the credibility and authority of your website. The more reputable websites that link back to your content, the higher you will rank in search results.
AI backlink checker tools, such as Semrush Copilot AI, can provide recommendations for your backlink strategy. After you connect your domain to the tool, the Copilot conducts a backlink audit to show the following:
- Overall Toxicity Score
- Referring domains
- Total backlinks
- Broken backlinks
- Toxic backlinks
Semrush backlink audit
It also shows additional analytics, such as the authority score of the domains linking to your website. You can use this data to determine which backlinks you need to remove and which ones are important for your website's reputation.
Semrush backlink analytics
Semrush continuously updates its backlink database with machine learning-led algorithms. So, the data you see is always up-to-date, which is crucial for any successful backlink strategy.
8. Automate SEO Tasks
There are quite a lot of SEO tasks that can be automated, such as content topic brainstorming, keyword research, SEO report creation, backlink analysis, and on-page optimization. You can also automate your content distribution strategy, for example, using automated content scheduling tools.
Semrush Copilot helps automate the following SEO tasks:
- Backlink analysis
- Organic research
- Keyword gap analysis
- Position tracking
- Site audit
- Competitor analysis
- Broken page identifying
Semrush Position Tracking
Since the tool updates the data frequently, your reports and tasks are always based on the most current information. You also end up saving a lot of time that you'd otherwise have to spend on manually collecting this data by using a host of tools.
9. Use AI for Schema Markup Creation
The schema markup is your website's way of communicating with search engines and providing them with additional information about your content. It improves your content's ranking since search engines now know more about your website and can display rich snippets in search results.
AI tools facilitate schema markup creation by analyzing your website's content and suggesting the appropriate markup to use. For example, Jasper has a Schema Markup creator that writes a schema markup based on your content. We created one for an article about SEO tips targeting SEO specialists and digital marketers.
Jasper schema markup creation
10. Analyze Competitor SEO With AI
Your SEO strategy shouldn't exist in a vacuum. Instead, it should be informed by an in-depth analysis of your competitors' SEO strategies. With an eye on what they're doing, you can find gaps in your own strategy or find additional keywords to target.
Semrush's Traffic Analytics tool lets you explore your competitor's website traffic stats and uncover growth points. For example, we analyzed our competitors — Ahrefs, Backlinko, and Wordstream — to see how our traffic stacks up.
Semrush Traffic Analytics
Semrush also has an EyeOn tool, which you can use to track your rival's online marketing strategies. You get email notifications every time your competitor starts a new campaign, publishes a new piece of content, or does something else that could be relevant to your business.
You can also use Semrush's features, such as backlink analytics, as we've discussed above, to analyze your competitor's SEO standing. Look for gaps where you might have more or better opportunities to create audience-centric content.
For example, the Keyword Gap tool lets you compare your domain to competitors and look for unique, missing, and untapped keywords. For example, we compared our domain to Ahrefs.com, and found the following missing keywords along with their metrics. We can use this data to incorporate the missing keywords in our content.
Semrush Keyword Gap tool
Best Practices for Using AI SEO Tips
To get the best results with these AI SEO tips, here are some best practices to follow.
Use AI Where It Makes Sense
Sure, AI is a powerful tool, but it's not a magic solution that can tackle all aspects of SEO on its own. Use AI for tasks that:
- Are too time-consuming not to automate
- Align with AI tools' strength
- Assist with tasks that are difficult or impossible for humans to do
A good example is digital marketing competitor analysis. You cannot go through thousands of content pieces from hundreds of competitors to find keyword opportunities, but AI can. So, let AI handle this task.
Your team can then go through the results and make strategic decisions for implementation.
Be Specific In Your Inputs
What you get out of an AI tool is largely dependent on what you put into it. For maximum impact, use clear and customized prompts. The 4C framework we discussed earlier is an excellent resource that can help customize, characterize, and contextualize your AI prompts for relevant outputs.
You can also try a range of prompts to see how they affect outcomes. This will allow you to fine-tune your inputs for optimal results.
For example, we gave ChatGPT a simple prompt:
Create an SEO-friendly title for an article on digital marketing tips.
The response wasn't bad, but it could be better.
ChatGPT output
We then made our prompt more specific to a certain audience:
Create an SEO-friendly title for an article on digital marketing tips. Our target audience comprises beginner-level digital marketers who provide freelance services to clients and aren't associated with a company or an agency.
As you can see, the output is also more specific and tailored to the given audience.
ChatGPT output
We went a step further to include our tone preferences:
We use a humorous tone in our content, often using puns and pop-culture references.
ChatGPT output
As evident, ChatGPT delivered.
This example indicates that the output will be different every time based on the prompt and its level of specificity.
Use AI as a Tool, Not a Replacement
The simple yet often overlooked rule to using AI in SEO is that it should be treated as a tool, not a replacement for human intelligence. Even with AI's advanced capabilities, it is still limited by the data and prompts you provide to it.
So, there must be a level of human intervention when using AI in SEO, especially in prompt engineering, decision-making, data interpretation, and result optimization.
Lead with AI-Driven SEO
The AI SEO tips discussed above make it very clear that AI can supplement your SEO tactics to help you rank higher on Google. From keyword research and backlink analysis to competitor analysis and content optimization, AI can assist in pretty much everything.
Notice how we say ''assist'' and not ''take over,'' AI is meant to be used as your right-hand tool, not a replacement for you.
It's on you to select the right SEO tools, learn how to use them, and then use them to their full potential. You should also be able to keep up with the latest AI-driven SEO trends to not only be at par with your rivals but also create search engine algorithm-friendly content.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does AI SEO really work?
AI SEO helps in keyword research, content optimization, on-page SEO, technical SEO, data analysis, and so on. For AI SEO to yield desired results, it must be overseen by an experienced SEO specialist.
How can you use AI for SEO?
You can use AI for the following SEO tasks:
- Automated keyword research
- Content generation and optimization
- Predictive analytics for SEO trends
- Automated site audits
- Content gap analysis
- Competitor analysis automation
- Meta tag creation
Can AI write SEO content?
AI writing tools can create SEO-friendly content since they usually have built-in keyword strategy features. They can also provide recommendations to make your content more reader-friendly and optimized for search engines. Jasper, Copy.ai, Writer, Type, ChatGPT, and Rytr are some popular AI writing tools.
What is the best AI tool for SEO?
As a beginner, ChatGPT will be the best AI tool for SEO since it is easy to use and offers a range of features like writing, rewriting, content repurposing, summarization, and content optimization. Once you develop SEO skills, you can use advanced tools like Semrush, SurferSEO, Frase, Alli AI, and MarketMuse.
What are some good AI writing tools for SEO?
Here are some top AI writing tools for SEO:
- Jasper
- Buffer's AI Assistant
- Semrush Writing Assistant
- Copy.ai
- Writer
- Type
- Sudowrite
How to use ChatGPT for SEO?
ChatGPT can perform several SEO tasks, such as keyword research, content creation, content optimization, topic brainstorming, SERP snippet suggestions, internal linking suggestions, and FAQ generation. You can also use it to compare content pieces side by side and determine the missing content or keywords.
Is AI Content Bad For SEO?
AI content that is entirely written by an AI tool with little to no human involvement is definitely bad for SEO. However, if you use the perfect combination of human and AI efforts to create SEO content that meets Google's E-E-A-T requirements, you will not be banned or punished for using AI. Just make sure your content is ethically created, fact-checked, and provides value to readers.
