There was a time when you'd have to spend hours brainstorming ideas, creating content outlines, writing the said content, editing it, and then further refining it for on-page SEO. With AI content generation tools, this process has become faster and simpler. No wonder over 42% of marketers now use AI to enhance content marketing campaigns.
Contrary to the skepticism some may have, 13.08% of the top-rated Google content is now AI-generated, which speaks volumes about the potential of AI for blogging. How do you reap this potential, though? Let's dive in.
- AI and SEO: Transforming Content Creation
- The AI Edge in Keyword Research and User Intent
- Optimizing Blog Content with AI Tools for On-Page SEO
- Maximizing Blog SEO with AI-Enhanced Images and Videos
- Boosting Technical SEO with AI-Driven Audits
- AI in Backlink Strategy: Building Authority and Trust
- Monitoring SEO Performance and Competitor Activity with AI Tools
- Scaling Your Blog Output Using AI Automation
- Use AI as Your Blogging Power Tool
- Frequently Asked Questions
AI and SEO: Transforming Content Creation
AI has moved past the point of being called a "fad" or a "buzzword." It's very much a reality now, especially in the SEO space, where it has changed the content game. Previously, keyword stuffing and query-centric content generation were the norm, but not anymore. Modern search engines like Google have become smarter and more intuitive in understanding user intent, and so must your content.
AI has stepped in to help content creators meet the expectations of search engines and users alike, with its ability to process vast amounts of data and provide insights traditionally unseen due to the limitations of human bandwidth. From keyword research to content optimization, AI SEO tools have made these tasks quicker, more accurate, and more efficient.
Here are some places in the SEO workflows where AI comes in handy:
- Keyword Research: AI tools analyze massive data sets in seconds, finding profitable, high-ranking keywords that align with your niche and audience intent.
- Content Optimization: From identifying gaps in your content to improving readability, on-page SEO, and structure, AI tools refine your posts for better search visibility.
- Visual Enhancement: AI content generators aren't limited to text, with some generating images and videos to accompany your posts.
- Backlink Building: Outreach, backlink audits, backlink gap identification, and potential linking opportunities all become more accurate and less time-consuming with AI.
AI doesn't just optimize, it helps you keep track of the impact of these adjustments, too. You can use AI to monitor and analyze the performance of your content, identify areas for improvement, track keyword position changes in real time, and keep an eye on your competitors' content.
The AI Edge in Keyword Research and User Intent
Let's face it: traditional keyword research can be a time sink. You spend hours manually sifting through search volumes, analyzing competition, categorizing keywords by intent, and second-guessing what your audience might really want. AI flips the script by making the process faster, smarter, and much more precise.
With tools like Semrush, you can perform a deep dive into massive keyword data sets. These tools not only show you the best keywords but also other indicators that can help you in keyword selection.
For example, Semrush shows a Personal Keyword Difficulty percentage, which is an AI-based recommendation of how hard it would be for your domain, in particular, to rank for that query. These are the types of insights we didn't have before.
Similarly, you are provided with user intent for every keyword, saving you time and effort in the research process. AI tools also help find previously untapped data like low-competition niches and hyper-specific long-tail keywords that align with your audience's intent.
The real game-changer? AI's ability to understand semantic search. When you're optimizing for Google's search generative experience or AI search engines, you can't just get away with spamming keywords. Instead, you need to build a semantic relationship between your target keyword and the overall context of your content.
AI tools can analyze the relationships between words, contexts, phrases, and user queries, helping you develop content that's laser-targeted to what your audience really wants. This way, your content won't just rank for specific queries but also address the full spectrum of user questions and needs.
Find Winning Keywords in Seconds with AI-Powered Tools
Semrush is a remarkable AI tool that can not only help you find keywords for your blog content but also assist in keyword selection by providing additional data like user intent, search volume, personal keyword difficulty, and search trends.
Use the Keyword Magic Tool to find queries related to any topic or seed keyword. You can also filter these results to find the exact information you're looking for. Enter your domain to get personalized information like the PKD%.
Keyword Magic Tool
The tool also creates content clusters that you may be interested in. On the left-hand pane, view these clusters by volume (search volume for keywords) and number (the number of keywords) to create a comprehensive keyword list.
The Keyword Overview tool further provides additional details about the keyword, such as:
- Search volume (overall and regional)
- User intent
- Search trend
- Keyword variations and questions
Keyword Overview tool
If you input your domain, the tool will also show you the following:
- Your domain's authority for that keyword
- Your site's current SERP position
- Potential SERP position
Keyword Overview tool
It doesn't stop there. To update your keyword strategy with time, you can monitor any market or competitor using the Semrush Trends tool. It gives you a snapshot of any site's growth trend along with a market overview, including your competitors' content strategies and activity trends.
These insights help you identify emerging keyword opportunities and shifts in search intent, ensuring your strategy stays competitive in an ever-evolving industry.
Semrush Trends
Optimizing Blog Content with AI Tools for On-Page SEO
Even though SEO has changed in many ways, some basics remain the same. On-page SEO is integral to your content's visibility and performance. Elements like readability, structure, keyword placement, content length, internal links, and engaging visuals all contribute to SEO efforts even today.
Since AI tools are familiar (due to their training) with these SEO principles, they can help analyze your content and provide real-time recommendations for improvement. For example, these tools may tell you which keyword to use and where (or how many times). Similarly, AI tools also identify FAQs and headings that can make your content more engaging or SEO-friendly.
Besides engagement, these tools also assist in complying with Google's Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (E-E-A-T) guidelines. This means citing sources, adding statistics, incorporating expert quotes, and sharing real-life examples or case studies is a must.
AI tools can help you find this data. For example, Perplexity.ai searches the web to show you relevant statistics and quotes for your content. However, we'd recommend double-checking the provided resources for accuracy. Plus, check the AI-suggested content improvements for SEO alignment and relevance.
Transform Your Blog Content into an SEO Powerhouse with These Tools
With the keyword/s you've taken from the Keyword Magic Tool or Keyword Overview, you can then create an SEO-optimized content outline using the SEO Content Template tool. Select the country, region, city, language, and device before you enter the keyword since Semrush takes the top 10 results in the SERPs as inspiration. So, it will then do this research based on your criteria to create a location or device-specific content guide.
SEO Content Template
The content template also comes with semantically related keywords, backlink ideas, readability score suggestions, and recommended text length (based on the average word count of top results). Semrush also shows you how your competitors are targeting the same keyword, so you can take inspiration from these results.
For real-time content check for on-page SEO, you can open this template in the SEO Writing Assistant. It's an AI-assisted editor that provides SEO, internal linking, readability, structure, keyword, and tone recommendations. So you can optimize your content as you write it. A higher score indicates your content is more likely to rank higher on search engines.
SEO Writing Assistant
Make sure you don't only rely on the SEO Writing Assistant for content checking. A human editor should go through the content for tone, style, and keyword placement reviews. In fact, it's better to leave out keywords that don't fit organically, as forcing them can come across as spammy—a practice Google actively penalizes. Instead, select the ones that naturally fit into your content and meet the intent.
That’s what LiberEat did. They used Grammarly to check grammar and stylistic mistakes, and then followed it up with the SEO Writing Assistant. Every piece of content on their website was checked using the tool for keyword addition and other SEO improvements. This strategy resulted in a 10x increase in the brand’s traffic.
SEO Writing Assistant
Maximizing Blog SEO with AI-Enhanced Images and Videos
Since blog posts with images get 94% more views than those without them, it makes sense to include visuals in your content. Sometimes, stock photos just don't cut it. AI image generators are better suited to creating images and videos that go with your content's topic.
These AI-powered visuals can increase content visibility and reduce bounce rates. They also boost the chances of your site ranking in image packs and video carousels on the search engine. There are several AI generators that simply need a text prompt to create a picture or video. For videos, you can further create custom AI avatars, add voiceovers, generate animations, and change backgrounds.
At the same time, large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT can help you optimize these images. For example, you can use ChatGPT to create schema markups, descriptions, tags, and alt text for your visuals. These elements improve the visibility of your content in both traditional and AI-powered search engines.
However, a word to the wise: don't rely solely on AI-generated visuals for your blog posts. The advancements in generative AI tech has led to an alarming rise in the creation of ‘’deep fakes’’ that often depict individuals in explicit scenarios without their consent.
To address this issue, Google has implemented robust policies and processes for content removal from Search and enhanced ranking systems to prevent this harmful material from surfacing prominently in results. So, sole reliance on AI-generated visuals can result in your content getting removed or flagged.
Optimizing Visual Content with Advanced AI Tools
Semrush has plenty of AI optimization tools in its App Center, image and video generators among them. One such solution is the AI Video Marketing Automator, which creates videos based on textual prompts. You can also use it to convert a blog post into a video and post it on YouTube for a chance of visibility in the video carousels, if not the organic results.
The tool also supports AI voiceovers and social media sharing. Brands with an international audience can translate the video into over 20 languages for a wider reach.
Source: semrush.com
Similarly, the AI Social Content Generator is another tool that uses AI to generate visual posts, ads, banners, voiceovers, and videos. With a customizable brand kit, the tool allows you to add your logo, colors, fonts, or any other brand elements to the visuals, ensuring a consistent and branded appearance.
Source: semrush.com
Since the AI Social Content Generator can create content in 19 languages, your international SEO is covered. Plus, the one-click resizing makes it easy to repurpose the content for different social media platforms and your blog.
Boosting Technical SEO with AI-Driven Audits
Even the best SEO strategy will have trouble holding up if the technical side of your website isn't up to par. However, going through endless spreadsheets and running manual checks of website issues isn't the best use of time for an SEO professional.
AI is a time-saving ally in this regard, automating technical SEO audits and providing recommendations, all in the same place. With AI tools, you can even schedule regular audits to ensure you're making regular technical improvements on your website. These tools scan your site in minutes, flagging problems like slow page speeds, crawlability issues, missing hreflang tags, indexing errors, and duplicate content. Even better, they prioritize fixes based on what will give you the biggest SEO boost, so you're not wasting time on minor tweaks.
What makes AI especially cool for technical SEO is its adaptability. Google's algorithm is always changing. Case in point: 2024 was the year of three core updates, which significantly reshaped the SEO landscape. AI tools help you keep up by staying updated on what search engines are looking for.
The developers behind these tools are quick to respond to search engine updates, which means you get access to advanced features to meet the algorithm's new demands. A good example of this comes from Semrush being one of the first tools to include AI Overview analysis in its offerings in the wake of Google showing these AI-generated results above organic ones.
You can’t expect your site’s positive performance on traditional search engines to benefit you in this AI-led search transformation. A Semrush study of over 200,000 AI Overviews found that top 10 organic rankings don’t ensure AI Overview inclusion. So, you need a tool like Semrush to monitor your content's performance within this new (and super important) SERP element.
Supercharge Your Site's Health with AI-Driven Audits
Speaking of Semrush, the Site Audit tool checks for over 140 SEO issues, including surface-level errors like broken links and technical problems like poor international SEO and HTTPS implementation. The tool further provides recommendations to fix these technical errors and warnings.
Site Audit tool
These insights can be just the push your site needs to star in organic results. In fact, two eCommerce retailers used this very tool to identify and fix technical errors on their websites. From sitemap problems to duplicate meta descriptions and slow page loading speeds, they had a lot to tackle, but the Site Audit tool made it all easy and manageable.
Coupled with keyword gap analysis and user intent analysis, they were able to increase their site's organic traffic by 40% and 24%, respectively. Since the Site Audit tool is constantly being updated, its recommendations also evolve and adapt to algorithm changes resulting from core updates.
Source: semrush.com
You can further supplement the tool's efforts by using the On Page SEO Checker in conjunction with it. The tool scours your website for improvement opportunities and shows them to you under categories like SERP feature ideas, strategic improvements, backlink opportunities, technical SEO ideas, content ideas, and so on.
On Page SEO Checker
Since the pages that need improvement are already prioritized by the tool, you know exactly what to tackle first and how. Plus, you get an estimated figure on how much your organic traffic may increase if you follow these ideas.
AI in Backlink Strategy: Building Authority and Trust
Backlinks are still gold when it comes to SEO, but building a solid backlink profile isn't as simple as throwing a bunch of links at your site and hoping for the best. Quality trumps quantity, and that's where AI gives you a serious edge.
Instead of manually scouring competitor sites or guessing which domains might help your rankings, AI tools like Semrush dig deep into competitor backlink profiles, pinpointing the exact sites and sending them authority. They further evaluate these potential links based on metrics like domain authority, relevance, and traffic to ensure you're targeting the right sources.
The real beauty of AI in backlink strategy is how it helps you prioritize. Let's say you've uncovered 50 potential link-building opportunities. AI can rank them for you, so you know which high-authority sites are worth your time and effort. So, you're not wasting energy (and outreach efforts) on low-quality or irrelevant backlinks that could do more harm to your SEO strategy than good.
Unlock High-Authority Backlinks with These Semrush Tools
The Semrush Backlink Gap tool finds prospects for new backlinks you don't already have. Input your website, and that of a competitor, and the tool will show you where your competitors are getting their backlinks from but you're not. You can then reach out to those sites and try to secure backlinks for your own site.
Backlink Gap tool
The good news is that Semrush also has a tool to help streamline this process. Their Link Building Tool provides you with an overview of your domain prospects and the progress of your outreach efforts. You can also monitor the responses to your outreach attempts and track the status of your backlink requests.
Semrush Link Building tool
Monitoring SEO Performance and Competitor Activity with AI Tools
SEO is changing day by day. One day, you're riding high on page one, and the next, an algorithm update or a competitor's move can knock you down a notch. With AI tools, you cannot only keep an eye on these changes but also understand their impact. For example, you could use a tool to analyze SERP features, such as featured snippets or AI Overviews, to see which rich results keywords in your industry tend to trigger.
Since zero-click searches are increasing and people are now finding information without scrolling down from featured snippets or the knowledge graph, it's more important than ever to focus on these results. AI tools, such as Semrush Position Tracking, can show you how many of your keywords (and those of your competitors) trigger different SERP features.
Similarly, you can use the Semrush Traffic Analytics tool to get insights into where your competitors get their traffic from. The tool further shows you the traffic journeys of the target audience, which can help you target the same mediums as your competitors to steal their traffic.
Track and Adapt in Real-Time with AI Monitoring Tools
To start, the Position Tracking tool shows you the visibility, estimated traffic, and average position of your website's keywords in Google's top 100 organic search results. The data is displayed across devices and locations for advanced strategy modification.
Keep a close eye on the SERP features tab since this is where you see keyword performance in Google's rich results. As you optimize your content for visibility here, notice the improvement in SERP feature exposure to determine if your strategies are working.
SERP features
You can further use the Traffic Analytics tool to monitor the same trends for your competitors' websites, such as their unique visitors, average visit duration, purchase conversion, and so on. The tool also shows you their top pages, which you can analyze for insights into their content strategies.
Traffic Analytics
Meanwhile, the Semrush Sensor monitors algorithm shifts and updates across industries. It shows you:
- Percentage of occurrence of SERP features
- Recent Google updates
- Personal score for your project (based on the volatility of your keywords in Position Tracking)
- Volatility deviation across industries
Semrush Sensor
Go through these features regularly to gain a good understanding of the current happenings on SERPs in your industry so that you're always prepared for what's to come.
Scaling Your Blog Output Using AI Automation
One major use case of AI for content marketing is using it to scale your blog output. What was once one or two articles a week can now be increased to a daily output with AI. Since the SEO landscape is shifting super-fast, a constant content flow has become even more important.
You can build a full-fledged content workflow with AI. Start with a topic generation tool to brainstorm content ideas, then use the SEO Content Template to create outlines and the SEO Writing Assistant to optimize your content during the SEO copywriting process.
However, make sure humans are also a part of this workflow. They should still be involved in the ideation process and final approval of content. Plus, you should also check AI content for factual accuracy and bias.
Accelerate Your Content Creation Process with These AI Tools
To start, use the Topic Research tool to brainstorm ideas for the whole month. The tool shows you topics along with their corresponding keywords, headlines, and questions. These titles can then be used to create outlines for your blog posts using the SEO Content Template tool.
Semrush Topic Research
You can also use the ContentShake AI app to create content for these outlines much faster than writing from scratch yourself. The tool also shows topic ideas tailored to your target location and audience. It further analyzes trending topics and competitors to keep your local audience engaged.
Source: semrush.com
So, you can create a human-AI duo to scale content generation. For example, you might use AI to draft an outline, pull supporting data, or even write an initial draft. Then, during the editing process, you can refine the tone, verify facts, and add unique insights that only you can provide. This hybrid approach lets you scale your content production while maintaining the authenticity and expertise that make your blog stand out.
Use AI as Your Blogging Power Tool
The AI SEO tips we've discussed so far can act as the blueprint for your blogging success, especially as the online landscape is becoming more competitive and dynamic. Futuristic SEO strategies aren't limited to the capabilities of AI writing tools. You can even use AI for backlink analysis, competitor analysis, keyword optimization, on-page SEO, and more.
However, note that AI can assist by suggesting data points or creating an outline, but the real magic happens when you infuse it with human insight and creativity. The key is to build a workflow where AI handles repetitive or time-consuming tasks, leaving you with more bandwidth to focus on what matters most: connecting with your readers.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is AI SEO blogging?
AI SEO blogging is using AI tools to optimize your blog posts for search engines. These tools can help with keyword research, outline development, intent analysis, content creation, and on-page SEO checking.
Can AI tools replace human content writers for SEO blogging?
AI tools can't fully replace human writers but can definitely help them. AI is great for generating ideas, speeding up research, and handling repetitive tasks, but it lacks the creativity that humans bring. The best results happen when AI and human writers work together.
Which AI tools are best for SEO keyword research?
For SEO keyword research, Semrush is a top pick. The Keyword Magic Tool is great for discovering tons of keyword ideas and analyzing competition, while the Keyword Overview tool provides personalized insights and shows keyword trends, variations, and related questions.
Is AI-generated content good for SEO?
AI-generated content can be good for SEO if used correctly, i.e., not relying on it entirely and editing the content to add a human touch. AI tools can speed up the repetitive tasks in content creation workflows, while human writers can add the personalization and creativity that search engines love.
Can AI help me improve my blog's ranking on Google?
AI can help boost your content's Google ranking by providing keyword insights, identifying user intent, giving content recommendations, performing SEO audits, and automating link-building outreach. In addition, you need high-quality, relevant content that meets user intent.
Will Google penalize AI-generated content?
Google doesn't penalize AI-generated content outright, but it focuses on the quality of the content. If AI-generated content meets the E-E-A-T guidelines, it's fine. However, content that's overly optimized or spammy could lead to penalties.
How does AI improve the content structure for SEO?
AI tools like SEO Content Template analyze the top-ranking pages and suggest how to organize your content. It can recommend headings, subheadings, and keyword placement, ensuring your content is easy to read and follows a logical flow.
Can AI assist with backlink strategies?
AI can improve backlink strategies by analyzing your competitors' backlink profiles, identifying high-quality link opportunities, suggesting sites for outreach, and automating outreach efforts. You can also use AI tools to monitor the progress of your link-building strategy.
Do AI tools help with mobile SEO?
An AI tool like Semrush Site Audit can help with mobile SEO by analyzing site speed and user experience on mobile devices. It further provides suggestions for corrective action, which you can implement to improve mobile SEO.
Are AI SEO tools expensive?
AI SEO tools are available at various price points, from free to high-end enterprise-level tools. Some basic tools have free versions or affordable plans, while advanced ones can cost a few hundred dollars per month.
