AI and SEO go hand in hand, but not without good reason

AI & SEO. There’s a lot to be said about this in the world of SEO. Many people find it difficult to write new content from scratch. With AI, you can easily generate text. However, that text isn’t yet suitable for publication on your website. Why not? Because Google wants you to write unique content.

AI & SEO: more than just generating text

Simply generating text using AI seems like an easy shortcut. If you want to stand out in the rankings, you need to be unique and distinctive. AI only writes content based on existing sources. So what you end up with is nothing new under the sun. Google doesn’t really take much notice of this. Yes, you have new content on your website, but your rankings barely improve. Many companies are using AI and SEO in the wrong way. Google recognises this, but so do potential customers.

So how do you do it right?

AI isn’t the end goal, but a tool. Feel free to let AI generate your content based on search terms a thorough keyword analysis, but think of this as a starting point. Put yourself in the shoes of a prospective customer and answer the following questions:

1. Does this get you excited?
2. Does it provide a complete answer to your search query?
3. Are there any websites that offer a better solution?
4. Would you like to get in touch straight away or buy the product straight away?
5. Does this website inspire enough confidence in you to use their service?

You write for people

SEO is also a useful tool. Knowing what the key search terms are is a good start. Once a visitor arrives on the website, it’s all about the art of persuasion. AI cannot (yet) persuade. Only you can do that. Ideally, you’re an expert in your field and know better than anyone how to tackle issues. You’re the one who has to make the difference. For many people, their first encounter with your business is on your website. So always write with your key target audiences in mind. AI and SEO help generate ideas. You talk to your customers and they tell you what you’re good at. Whether you sell cars, are an accountant or export flowers, this applies to everyone.

What is the ideal word count?

If you want to project confidence, quantity matters. If you think people don’t read text, you’re way off the mark. People certainly don’t read every single piece of text on a website, but they do read plenty of snippets. If you want to be persuasive, landing pages definitely need to contain a certain number of words. The exact number depends on the level of online competition.

A bricklayer needs to use far fewer words than, for example, a travel agency. Articles by 7,000 to 10,000 words are certainly no exception. It’s a lot of work, but it’s worth the effort. Aachen and Cologne weren’t built in a day either, so here at SEO Ninja we regularly update existing articles. Using AI and SEO, of course. Outdated content is replaced or removed. New insights are explored in depth. As with articles The number of words increases by 25% every year, that’s a sensible guideline. More is, of course, better, but that also depends on how well the landing page is performing. If you’re already scoring highly, there’s no real need to expand further.

Indexing and results

Impatient as we are, we want quick results too. Even though we’re SEO Ninjas, we can’t work magic. Google indexes new changes in its own time. It then decides whether the content will be included in the search index. If it is, the article will have to compete with the online competition. Of course, there are ways to speed up this process (such as internal link building), but ultimately it takes weeks or sometimes even months.

If you want to give SEO a fair chance, you’ll need to be in it for the long haul. Think of your efforts as sowing a field. It’s only after weeks or months that you’ll be able to harvest. If you want to keep eating, you’ll need to sow regularly. Don’t forget to water in good time and keep the soil healthy either. If you really want to speed things up, there’s no getting round the using Google Ads. SEO & Google Ads is a winning combination, but advertising costs money.

Think of AI as a tool. Know what the most important keywords are and write good content for them. You can outsource this to a copywriter, but only you know when you can win over new customers. AI & SEO, combined with data and a personal touch, are the key to success. Of course, the website must have a optimal technical SEO foundation and a strong backlink profile. It all depends on how fierce the competition is, but you can leave that to us. Please feel free to get in touch!