Using AI Content for Websites
AI-powered tools are not only here to stay, but their rate of use has exploded. With the surge of creative AI tools, staying ahead of the curve is no longer optional. Generative AI is revolutionizing how we create digital experiences. The promise of optimized efficiency would be tantalizing for any business owner. This is especially true in areas where you might not be an expert. AI can turn writing novices into content geniuses and less than tech savvy folks into website development wizards. How can small businesses leverage all this innovation for their website?
AI Generated Content on WordPress, WIX, Squarespace or Shopify
Many small businesses are using WordPress, WIX, Squarespace or Shopify to bring their products and services to consumers online. Each of these platforms has developed tools to help you generate images or written content. By providing AI tools with specific prompts and information about what you’re looking for, they can create content based on your needs. The more specific you can be with your requests, the better the output will be. It’s somewhat like speaking to a child. When you say to your teenager, “take the trash out,” this may or may not get done when you want it to. Your request is not specific enough. “Take the trash out before dinner today”, is a very specific request and will garner a different result. Since we don’t know your teen, we can’t actually promise that, but you get the picture.
Here’s an example of what you should include in an AI request for content writing.
- What type of content are you writing? Requesting ChatGPT or Gemini to “write about the football draft” is pretty broad. However, if you amend your request to: “Compare last year’s NFL draft to this year’s draft and how major analysts think it will tip the performance of the Carolina Panthers,” your result will be very different. Your first request may have brought back results about how the pick order is decided or how the players are ranked when you were looking for content about your hometown team.
Likewise, writing sales copy for your website also needs to be that specific. Are you trying to highlight new features of your products or services or are you trying to speak to how these products and services will solve problems for your customers?
- Where is the content going? Will it be on the about page or a services page? If it is going on a services page, having testimonials and success stories is key. This is something that you would need to pull from original sources. You can use AI to clean up the copy after you have pulled it together or to make a summary of how you help your clients.
- Who is your target audience? Again, specificity matters. For more than a decade, I defined my target audience for DCA Virtual Business Support as small business owners. While this is technically correct, about 2 years ago we fine-tuned that definition. This happened because my social media coordinator at the time wrote a blog that was written more for an exceedingly small solopreneur or a start-up business. My target audience started shifting after I went through the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program in late 2019. My target market was more specific now. It was small business owners who have employees or regular contractors and earn 500K – 10M annually.
Pro Tip: Consider adding these details to your AI content request: concerns that your target audience has, business interests, and technology specific identifiers.
- What tone should the content be in? You can describe the tone of voice or share reference text for the AI tool to personify.
Consider this: your copy on the About page can take on a personality of its own, if that’s what you want. AI won’t have your bio necessarily, unless it exists somewhere on the internet already. And, if it does, that could be a cool experiment to see what AI thinks of you. But I digress. Use words like professional or snarky. A good example of infusing personality into your About page is with our client Caja Holdings. They are an accounting firm with an About page that says, “We’re upbeat and fun to work with while still giving your business what it needs to grow.”
Now that you have practical tips about how to get content that works for your website, let’s dive into the pros and cons of using AI for content creation. While we’ll focus on websites, these points can be applied to any AI-generated content.
Benefits of Using AI Generated Content on Your Website
Numbers don’t lie. According to the 2024 Grammarly State of Business report, 80% of workers credit generative AI for improving the quality of their work. That stat is staggering evidence that AI really can revolutionize any industry with its potential time and cost saving solutions.
If used correctly, AI Generated content can help you improve your website design, functionality, SEO and, as we’ve already discussed, quality content. The potential to create exceptional content in record time is undeniably enticing. However, like any powerful tool, AI comes with its less than favorable qualities.
Drawbacks to Using AI Generated Content on Your Website
AI models learn by processing massive amounts of information that already exist on the internet. Anything on the internet, right or wrong. Using unedited AI content presents risks and challenges for you and your business.
- Misinformation and inaccuracies are probable in the content that is returned to you. Consider this: you are trying to create copy that highlights you as a MailChimp guru. You go to your favorite AI tool and ask it to list the features and benefits and to write in a manner that shows you are an expert with these features. MailChimp blogs and information exist from, well, when it came on the market. Features have changed over time as have their pricing and benefit. Who’s to say that what your AI spits out is accurate and up to date?
- Copyright infringement and plagiarism are a reality with AI content. If you don’t believe me, listen in on this podcast with Meg Seitz of Toth Shop. She gives an example of a client of hers that used AI to generate content only to realize it was almost verbatim from a competitor’s website.
- Buzzwords, repetition, and generic content are abundant with AI generated content. Besides just not appealing to the humans who visit your website, Google may consider AI generated content as scraping content from other websites, spam, or content abuse. This can result in your website being downgraded in search ranking or even unindexed all together.
Remember, Google looks for high quality content that will provide your users with legitimate information and experience. WordPress, WIX, Squarespace or Shopify are subject to the same content rules for Google rankings.
Humanizing and Testing Your Content
AI generated content can still be the time and cost saving tool we want it to be if we use it effectively. We love procedures at DCA Virtual Business Support. We always recommend steps to promote efficiency and mitigate issues you may have in the future, especially as technology evolves.
Don’t just paste that AI Generated content into your website. You can protect your website from the risks above by placing some human eyes on it.
Add a step in your content process to edit that content. Give it the human element that really speaks to your brand and provides users with relevant information. This includes verifying the information in that content, removing redundancies, and eliminating buzzwords that say, “Hey, no humans here. AI created this.”
Once that step is complete, you can test that content. This step cracks us up. You can use AI to test for AI. While these tools are not going to be 100% accurate, they are a step in the right direction. Here are some AI Detector tools you can use to make sure your content is fresh and original.
Harnessing Innovation
As technology’s role in creative pursuits grows, it is truly up to us to decide how we harness that innovation. The goal of marketing services online is to bring value to consumers. AI is changing how we do this but doesn’t replace the human touch needed to accomplish that goal. A new era of creativity is dawning, powered by AI.
As you update the content of your website, do your due diligence when using the provided AI tools. If you’re looking for the best Virtual Assistant Agency for Website Design and Maintenance, contact us. We’d be excited to get that copy you created onto your website!