Should You Use AI To Write Your Blogs?

It’s nearly impossible to scroll through your news feeds without seeing a new advancement in artificial intelligence (AI). From medical technology to fraud detection and e-commerce, AI is playing a significant role in many sectors.

But AI isn’t reserved for big tech companies or specialized industries. The everyday internet user can harness the convenience of AI to simplify tasks or even enhance your own productivity.

Google, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Zoom and even Netflix all offer their own versions of how they utilize AI to help you, the consumer.

If you run your own business or online site or oversee the marketing for a company, you may already have a marketing plan in effect that includes a blog. A business blog can be a great way to bring organic traffic to your website and attract potential customers who are likely interested in your product or service.

Semrush lists blog posts as the most famous content format, with 9 out of 10 marketers using their blogs to achieve their content goals. As business owners, you wear many hats and have many responsibilities. Finding the time to write blog posts may not be at the top of your priority list. Or, you may simply not consider yourself as a strong writer and need some outside help.

Because sites like ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google Gemini have free versions (for now), these AI wordsmiths may seem like a useful tool and convenient option for you to churn out regular blog posts on your site.

But should you use AI to write your blogs? While AI can be a useful tool as you write blogs for your website, there are some very important caveats to keep in mind. 

Why AI Isn’t The Solution For Your Blog

If you go to ChatGPT or another AI service and type in “write me a 400-word blog post on how to bake a cake,” you’ll get a 400-word blog post on how to bake a cake. Here’s why that’s not what you really want.

Ingredients Matter

Just like when you bake a cake, the ingredients matter. There’s a lot of work that goes into writing a blog before you ever sit down to write it. These ingredients - keywords, internal and external links, SEO optimization, call to action (CTA) and research - all play a role in how well your blog (or the cake) performs. 

Keywords and how you optimize your blog post are particularly important. Keywords are the specific terms and phrases that potential customers use to search for content related to your product or service. Other tools to optimize your blog include meta descriptions, alt text for images and schema markups to help search engines better understand and rank your content.

Determining what keywords you should use in your article involves researching your target audience’s search behavior, analyzing competitor content and using keyword research tools to identify relevant and high-traffic terms. This process helps ensure that your blog post aligns with what potential customers are actively searching for, increasing the chances of driving organic traffic to your site.

If you simply write (or have AI write) content without using tools to optimize it, your words will get lost in cyberspace and have a difficult time drawing potential customers to your website. 

For example, if you run a Google search on the search term, “How to bake a cake,” you’ll get search results similar to this.

As you can see in the upper right corner there were 391 million search results for that specific search term. How are you going to get your article ranked on the first page of Google when there are only 10 organic spots available? Not to mention the competitive advantage sites like Allrecipies.com and Youtube.com have over your website when competing for the same search term. 

You’ll also need to pay close attention to the “People also ask,” section on the search results page. These are terms other people are searching for and you want to include them in your article.

Your Personal Touch Is Lost

It’s easy for content to feel impersonal, especially when automation and AI tools are heavily involved. While these technologies can be a time-saver, they can sometimes strip away the unique voice and personality that set your brand apart. 

When your content starts to sound generic or robotic, it can lose the connection with your audience, making it harder to build trust and loyalty. Your personal touch, or the way you communicate your values, experiences and insights, becomes diluted. As a result, your audience may feel less engaged and connected to your brand.

Accuracy May Take A Hit

When AI generates text, it can come across confident. It can be difficult to determine which information generated by AI is trustworthy and what information is not.

After all, AI’s source for information is the internet, and as we all know, not everything on the internet is true. Even if a piece of content may be factually correct, it can be biased. In other words, AI might offer you information that reflects the biases or perspectives embedded in the data, leading to content that doesn’t fully capture the accuracy needed.

It’s up to you to determine what information is accurate so that you don’t hurt your own reputation, and that can often take just as much time as doing your own research and writing the content itself.

You Likely Don’t Have Updated Info

It’s also important to note that many AI content generators don’t have access to the most recent statistics and data on the internet. 

For example, the free version of ChatGPT doesn’t have real-time access to data or updates released on the internet. Responses are based on information up to its last update, so any information you include in your blog article may be out of date and no longer accurate.

You May Accidentally Plagiarize

AI relies on content that already exists, so if AI is pulling that information together from multiple sources, it’s important to make sure the tool isn’t “parroting” content. 

If you plagiarize, even if it’s accidental, you could impact your SEO activity and ultimately hurt your credibility with search engine algorithms.

How AI Can Help Boost Productivity

Despite the drawbacks of using AI, it’s unrealistic to think AI won’t play a role somewhere in your life. It likely already is. AI can also help you be more productive when writing blogs without sacrificing the quality of your content.

For example, you’ve done your research and decided that writing a blog on a trending topic in your industry can help drive traffic to your website. You have keywords you should include, as well as high-performing links on your site you’ve determined through website analytics. Now you need to compose the blog, but aren’t sure what exactly to write. AI can help develop an outline, providing you with ideas on what potential topics you should address in your blog.

AI can also be used to:

• Generate headlines that capture your content
• Provide writing prompts if you suffer from writer’s block
• Edit and proofread to check for grammar, spelling and style issues

One additional tool you might be able to take advantage of with AI is content translation. This tool can be helpful if you sell your products and services overseas. AI can assist in translating your blog into different languages, expanding your reach. However, it’s important that you check the accuracy of the translations to avoid harming the reputation of your business.

Blog Writing Alternatives To AI

If you’re at a crossroads - relying on AI doesn’t seem like a good business decision, but you don’t have the capabilities or desire to make a commitment to blog writing - there are alternatives. 

A blog is a worthwhile investment - companies with blogs produce an average of 67% more leads per month than companies that don’t have active blogs. But it can take work, especially if you want to do it right.

Writing quality blogs involves knowing your ideal customer, developing an effective content strategy that includes using social media to promote your blog, and telling a good story that addresses your customers’ pain points and the solutions they need to solve their problems.

An inbound marketing agency can help you develop a comprehensive blog strategy, create high-quality content tailored to your target audience, and manage the promotion of your blog across various channels. An agency can handle the research, writing and optimization processes, ensuring that your blog not only attracts and engages readers but also drives leads and conversions effectively.

When your blog is part of a comprehensive marketing strategy, it can elevate your business by enhancing brand visibility, establishing authority in your industry and fostering deeper connections with your audience. This integrated approach ensures that your content not only reaches your target customers but also aligns with broader marketing goals, ultimately setting your business apart from competitors and driving long-term success.