AI for Bloggers: How to Use AI in Your Content Creation Workflow
So you’re on the hunt for the best AI tools for bloggers and you wanna know—what are some actual practical ways to use AI in your content creation workflow?
We know the feeling first-hand ourselves: AI is a productivity booster, and adding it to your workflow seems like a nice idea in theory. But you’re probably wondering:
- How can I really benefit from AI as a blogger?
- Will Google penalize my site if I use AI-generated content?
- Which AI writing software is best for bloggers?
Over here at RightBlogger, we’re a team of bloggers ourselves. We built these 65+ AI tools for bloggers, to be the exact tools we use in our own workflows—and we’re pretty opinionated on this topic.
So, if you’re looking to learn from real experts, read our guide to uncover everything about AI for bloggers, the best AI writing software for bloggers, and expert tips on integrating AI into your content creation workflow.
Google’s Position on AI-generated Content
Google has made it crystal clear: they’re indifferent to whether content is AI-generated or human-crafted, as long as it meets their E-E-A-T standards: expertise, experience, authority, and trustworthiness.
Essentially, your content needs to be of high quality, original, and relevant. Whether it’s penned by a human or generated by AI, it must be accurate, valuable, and devoid of any misleading information.
To stay in Google’s good graces, your AI-generated content should always hit the mark by being well-crafted, addressing user intent, and not being churned out mindlessly without any human touch.
In summary, demonstrate responsible use of AI tools, which is what we’ll show you how to do in this article.
Pros and Cons of Using AI in Blogging
Generative AI surely offers a plethora of benefits for content creators across the board, but it’s not without its drawbacks.
In this section, we’ll highlight some of the advantages and disadvantages of AI for bloggers so that you can make an informed decision and know how to manage the risk.
Pros of Using AI for Bloggers
Here are some pros of AI for bloggers:
- Efficiency: AI tools will expedite your content creation process by handling various tasks, such as brainstorming topics, generating bullet points, summarizing research, proofreading, or even writing an entire article. This enables you to free up some time and concentrate your energy on other aspects of blogging.
- SEO benefits: The advantages of AI in SEO are vast and impactful, e.g., data-driven keyword research, outline creation, and writing. Additionally, AI can enhance your content velocity and pinpoint valuable ranking opportunities for your blog. These capabilities not only improve your website’s visibility but also contribute to long-term success in search engine rankings.
- Creativity boosts: With AI as a creative collaborator, you can break through creative blocks, explore new topics, and produce engaging content that captivates your audience in no time.
- Time-saving capabilities: AI excels at streamlining the content creation process from start to finish. It efficiently handles tasks like research, data analysis, and writing, significantly reducing the time required for each step. This enables you to produce a larger volume of content in a fraction of the time.
Cons of Relying on AI for Bloggers
Here’s a quick look at the cons of AI in blogging:
- Authenticity concerns: While generative AI can produce text with impressive language and flair, ensuring authenticity remains a challenge. Content generated by AI often requires thorough fact-checking to verify accuracy, coherence, and relevance. Additionally, plagiarism is a common issue, as AI-generated content may replicate phrases or ideas used elsewhere.
- Originality concerns: While AI-generated content can be impressive, it lacks the human touch that resonates with audiences. Crafting genuinely engaging and original content requires human creativity and intuition. In essence, using AI for content creation isn’t a “set-it-and-forget-it” solution.
- Tone and creativity: AI-generated content often comes across as robotic and tends to adhere to a formal style of writing because it lacks the human flair needed in good writing. This is why it frequently uses empty phrases, such as “in today’s fast-evolving digital world” and “in the digital landscape,” to convey ideas. This lack of originality and creativity can diminish the effectiveness and engagement of the content.
Despite advancements in AI technology, infusing content with emotions, personal experiences, and authentic storytelling remains a challenge for AI-driven tools. That’s why this should always be overseen by humans.
Now, let’s dive into a practical guide on how to use AI in your content creation workflow.
How to Use AI in Your Content Creation Workflow
Now that you know how to maximize the use of AI and minimize its downsides, let’s talk about the actual use case that will make your life better as a blogger using generative AI.
Keyword Research
Keyword research is the cornerstone of successful blogging. It helps you find keyword search volumes, long-tail and short-tail keywords, related terms, etc. This guides your decision on what topic to write about and which article to prioritize.
In the AI world, however, the goal of keyword research has shifted from simply uncovering search volume and related terms to something more strategic.
A strategic approach requires you to look into search intent, ranking opportunities, and ideas for topic creation. And generative AI makes all these possible at an improbable speed.
So, use AI to:
Generate a List of Keywords
Instead of manually searching for keywords one by one, use AI-powered keyword research software to identify related keywords efficiently.
For instance, if your blog centers around social media marketing, you’ll want to explore various related queries to target, such as boosting engagement and social media content creation.
AI keyword research software can help you uncover a host of these in a jiffy.
This approach allows you to broaden your keyword research scope and uncover more valuable search terms that will benefit your blog.
Take a look at the example in the screenshot below.
I entered the keyword “social media content strategies,” and RightBlogger got back with several related keywords I wouldn’t have thought of.
Build a Topic Cluster
These days, your blog can’t go far without positioning yourself as an authority in one specific niche.
Establishing topical authority requires creating multiple articles that address the same or related subjects, and this requires you to build keyword clusters. For instance, if your blog covers football games, a single comprehensive post won’t establish your authority.
Instead, you must explore various aspects of football that will resonate with your audience and ensure comprehensive coverage across the board.
This approach will solidify your expertise and credibility in the field and enhance your blog’s relevance and ranking on Google.
For this, let’s use RightBlogger’s topic cluster tool and see what it comes up with.
That’s awesome. RightBlogger came up with all that in under a minute, potentially saving me lots of time and energy.
Outline Creation
A typical process for bloggers to build a blog post outline involves selecting a topic, conducting SERP research, determining the structure, and more. We mostly want this to be data-driven, which can be time-consuming.
While this process can be time-intensive, AI-powered tools can streamline it because they analyze data a lot faster.
Interestingly, you aren’t required to delegate all tasks to generative AI. Instead, you can collaborate with it by either editing the outlines provided, supplying your outlines for refinement, or comparing AI-generated outlines with the ones you created manually.
This collaborative approach allows you to use AI capabilities while maintaining control over your content creation process.
Consider the RightBlogger outline builder, for example. There are numerous approaches to working with it, including:
- Inserting your title and letting it generate an outline from scratch
- Giving it your outline and letting it flesh it out for you.
- Editing the outline it generated for you
Here is an example of a RightBlogger-generated outline without any human input:
Fast Draft Generation
AI provides automation for generating initial drafts of blog posts, significantly expediting the writing process. With AI tools, content ideas can be quickly generated, drafts completed, and writing refined effortlessly.
However, this convenience also brings challenges. It’s crucial not to become too reliant on AI-generated content and immediately publish it without careful consideration. Rushing to publish could be a recipe for disaster.
Before publishing, there are a few processes to complete, and this shouldn’t take you more than two hours. They are as follows:
- Check for plagiarism: This step is crucial not only because AI tools may inadvertently plagiarize but also because many others may be using similar tools to generate content on related topics. Therefore, it’s essential to thoroughly check for plagiarism and address any instances found.
- Fact-checking: When using AI to generate content, it’s imperative to fact-check every detail, including information pulled from the internet. Sometimes, AI-generated content may include fabricated facts or irrelevant links to support its false claims.
- Incorporate E-E-A-T (Expertise, Experience, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness): As a blogger, you’re likely familiar with the significance of E-A-T in creating high-ranking articles and establishing credibility with your audience. To produce exceptional content, ensure it reflects expertise, authority, and trustworthiness while avoiding vague or unsubstantiated claims.
- Edit for coherence and engagement: AI-generated content can occasionally lack fluidity and excitement. While tools like RightBlogger offer options to set the tone of your article, it’s essential to personally review the content for repetitive or meaningless phrases and remove them to enhance readability and engagement.
Proofreading
One of the use cases of AI for bloggers is effective proofreading and editing.
RightBlogger has a Grammar & Spell Checker Tool built just for this purpose.
AI tools excel at grammar checks, provide style suggestions, and ensure error-free blog posts. It can help you consistently polish your content for a seamless reading experience.
Other solid tools for this include:
- Grammarly
- QuillBot
In addition to that, I prefer RightBlogger’s Rewrite Tool because it has another feature: SEO optimization
Yes, RightBlogger allows you to insert your target keywords before rewriting. All you have to do is input your existing content into RightBlogger and have it rewritten for enhanced efficiency and quality.
SEO Optimization
Optimizing content for SEO has become increasingly complex, requiring attention to various factors such as structure, E-E-A-T (Expertise, Experience, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness), NLP (Natural Language Processing), content length, image optimization, and more.
As a writer, I can tell you for free that this process is both challenging and time-consuming. However, AI tools like Surfer SEO and Clearscope have emerged to simplify these tasks, offering valuable assistance in content optimization.
While you may opt for traditional methods, which still work, if you blog in a competitive niche, you’ll need to go the extra mile. Your competitors are already using AI tools for optimization, making their use almost a necessity for staying competitive.
If you’re unable to invest in specialized tools and still want to stay competitive, RightBlogger offers a great budget-friendly solution.
Designed with SEO in mind, RightBlogger ensures that any content generated includes essential SEO elements, providing an accessible alternative to those more expensive software programs.
Content Gap Analysis
Content gap analysis examines content to see if there are opportunities to cover it better. As you know, the race to the top position on Google is a bloodbath, and the richer your content is with information, the better your chance is overall.
This is why identifying content gaps and opportunities is crucial for developing a robust content strategy. AI tools assist in evaluating existing content, conducting competitor analysis, and strategizing future content creation to fill gaps effectively.
A great example is this content gap analysis I conducted with RightBlogger. The amount of insight it yielded within a few minutes is insane:
Analyzing your content against what’s currently ranking at the top of SERPs isn’t a guarantee you’ll replace that top result by implementing these suggestions, but it’ll definitely help move the needle on longer-tail keyword phrases.
What are the Best AI Tools for Bloggers?
To help you find the best AI tools for your content creation workflow, here are our top picks for AI for bloggers:
RightBlogger
We’re a little biased, but we strongly believe RightBlogger is the best generative AI suite of tools for bloggers and content marketers. It offers over 65 AI writing tools, covering blogging tools, SEO tools, social tools, productivity tools, and social tools.
Across these verticals, you’ll find a lot of tools that’ll take your content creation effort to the next level. For bloggers specifically, my favorite features of RightBloggers are as follows:
- AI Article Writer: RightBlogger doesn’t only excel at generating long-form content efficiently, but it also offers customization options. You can instruct the AI on your desired point of view, select the tone of voice, and insert primary and secondary keywords, among other features. This streamlines the editing process, as many aspects you’d typically need to add are already incorporated.
- Content Gap Analysis: RightBlogger’s Content Gap Analysis feature provides invaluable insights in under two minutes, allowing you to understand how to enhance your content and differentiate yourself from competitors. This understanding empowers you to refine your content strategy effectively so that your articles can surpass competing ones in quality and relevance.
- Keyword Cluster: Building authority in a niche requires a strategic approach to keyword clustering. RightBlogger automates this process, offering you a vital feature for enhancing your SEO efforts and establishing authority in your chosen niche.
These are just some of my favorite features of RightBlogger. There are over 60 of them, some of which you may like more.
RightBlogger is reasonably priced at $29.99 per month for unlimited usage.
Copy AI
Copy AI is a generative AI assistant for sales teams and social media marketers. It offers over 90 templates, most of them for social media and email content, and a host of integrations.
If you rely on outbound marketing or post a lot on social media and need a tool for that, Copy AI is for you.
Its pro plan costs $49 per month, and it gives you unlimited usage.
ChatGPT
ChatGPT is a sophisticated writing platform. You can engage in natural language conversations to generate and refine content and ask it to perform a series of tasks that would otherwise take you a lot of time.
It can enhance your blogging experience by providing valuable insights, aiding in idea generation, and facilitating the writing process with its advanced linguistic capabilities. It serves as a reliable companion for bloggers, streamlining content creation and fostering productivity in a professional context.
ChatGPT Plus costs $20 per month.
Writer AI
Writer is an enterprise-grade generative AI that focuses on content creation and workflow building for companies in the financial services, healthcare, life sciences, eCommerce, and retail industries.
Pricing starts at $18 per month.
Surfer SEO
Surfer is a comprehensive SEO tool designed to optimize content, conduct keyword research, audit websites, and monitor performance. One of its standout features is the content score, which provides you with real-time feedback on their on-page optimization efforts.
While Surfer may come with a hefty price tag, it’s a worthwhile investment if you are seeking advanced AI assistance in content creation and SEO optimization.
Surfer pricing plans start at $89 per month.
Final Thoughts on AI for Bloggers
While we advocate for bloggers to use AI to enhance their content creation process, it’s essential to emphasize a crucial point:
Collaborate with AI rather; don’t depend solely on it.
AI undoubtedly boosts efficiency, saves time, and enhances outcomes. Nonetheless, it cannot fully replace human expertise. To ensure the creation of valuable content that resonates with your audience, make sure you are part of the entire process from inception to completion.
Written by Ali Faagba
Ali Faagba is a content strategist and writer for B2B SaaS companies, such as Close, Copysmith, and Userpilot. He focuses on AI, Marketing Automation, and Sales.