Writing Blog Posts in the AI Era – What’s Old Is New Again

Business blogging is still important to your online visibility, and it’s so stinkin’ easy to get AI to write posts for you. But here’s why this really should be a human task:

Artificial Intelligence has been getting a lot of side-eye lately because AI-generated content just feels superficial and suspicious. While you may save time having ChatGPT write your blog posts, you’re probably losing readers – along with your reputation. Studies show that people prefer human-written content, so you and your team should take on that task yourselves. Here are some tips to help you get started in writing posts that get read.

Start with an eye-catching headline

It doesn’t matter what you write if you don’t grab their attention in the first half-dozen words. While we are all wary – and weary – of headlines that begin with “One Weird Trick,” advertisers used that phrase because it got people to stop and read.

Headlines need words with action, emotion, and a bit of quirkiness to catch a reader’s eye. Plenty of marketing studies report on what works best, so take advantage of the research. 

Once you have a feel for what the experts suggest, try a tool such as a headline analyzer to see how well you did. You can tweak your headline and re-analyze it to try improving your score.

Use subheads and bullet points

We’re all too busy, so we mainly scan rather than read content. Subordinate headlines are the TLDR version of your post, summarizing each section. Readers quickly get the gist of what you’re saying, even if they aren’t reading it fully. Search engines also like subheads because they help index your content properly, which boosts your SEO and GEO.

Bullet points are another way to highlight important content and draw a reader’s eye further down the page. Just be judicious. When everything is emphasized, nothing stands out.

Write a great first paragraph

The next hurdle is to write a couple of fabulous first sentences. The goal is to entice the reader to keep reading, and that’s not easy. Pop culture, humor, and controversy attract attention, but it can be tricky to incorporate those elements naturally and to your advantage.

Pick a topic that is of interest to the kind of reader you wish to entice. Most popular are answers to specific questions and personal experience stories about your product or service. Explore Google Trends for more ideas on what people are searching for online.

Of course, good writing is also necessary, but experts suggest writing to an eighth-grade reading level. Use appropriate search terms for your business, particularly in the first paragraphs. After writing your first draft, try an online tool to help you clean up your grammar and hit the right reading level. 

AI does have a place in content creation. It’s a great way to get ideas for what to write. It can help find sources to reference in your writing. And it can be useful in catching mistakes. But since readers still prefer human-written content, give them what they want.

Too busy to write your own blogs? The Sprocket Team has humans who can do it for you! Give us a call today to learn more about how we can work together.

Photo by Israyosoy S

This article is an update to “3 Suggestions for Launching a Better Blog” dated 12/5/2016.

Kate GingoldKate Gingold

I have been writing a blog with web marketing tips and techniques every other week since 2003. In addition to blogging and client content writing, I write books and a blog on local history.

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I have been writing a blog with web marketing tips and techniques every other week since 2003. In addition to blogging and client content writing, I write books and a blog on local history.

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