While ChatGPT is still in its early days, there seem to be plenty of ways people can use it — from getting personalized recommendations to generating content and helping with decision-making.
For marketers, it’s a powerful tool that can help save time, reduce costs and improve the results of strategies such as search engine optimization (SEO) and content marketing.
AI language models like ChatGPT can be valuable tools for various SEO-related tasks, including identifying relevant search terms to include in meta tags. Here's how they can be helpful:
- Keyword Research: ChatGPT can assist with keyword research by generating a wide range of relevant search terms related to a specific topic or webpage content. By analyzing user queries, it can identify potential long-tail keywords that might not have been considered otherwise.
- Content Optimization: ChatGPT can analyze the content of a webpage and suggest appropriate meta tags based on the page's topic and target keywords. This helps ensure that the meta tags align with the actual content, improving the page's SEO performance.
- Search Intent Understanding: AI language models can comprehend search intent behind user queries. By understanding what users are looking for, you can tailor your meta tags to match their search intent, which can improve click-through rates and user engagement.
- Competitor Analysis: ChatGPT can assist in analyzing competitor meta tags and keywords to identify areas of opportunity or gaps in your own SEO strategy. By understanding what keywords your competitors are targeting, you can refine your approach and aim for better rankings.
- Natural Language Generation: With AI language models, you can create compelling and relevant meta tag descriptions that attract users and improve the likelihood of higher click-through rates in search engine results.
While AI language models can be valuable tools, it's important to remember that human expertise is still essential for crafting the most effective meta tags. SEO professionals should review the suggestions provided by AI and consider factors like relevancy, search volume, competition, and user intent before finalizing the meta tags.
For the most recent articles on this topic, I recommend conducting a search using a search engine like Google with relevant keywords like "AI language models for meta tag search terms" or "ChatGPT for SEO meta tags." This way, you can find the latest and most up-to-date information from reputable sources.
SEO is a technique involving a strategy that requires research and trial and error in order to see results. And while that hasn’t changed, using ChatGPT along with your other SEO tools can help you work more efficiently and get more out of your time.
So what is ChatGPT and how can I best use it?
ChatGPT is an AI-powered chatbot that uses natural language processing (NLP) technology to enable human-like conversations with users. GPT stands for Generative Pre-Trained Transformer, which is the deep learning language model that lets ChatGPT create responses that sound like a person instead of a chatbot.
The tool is free to use with an OpenAI account since the product is in its research and development phase. iOS users can download the ChatGPT app for free and sync conversations across multiple devices.
Unlike non-AI chatbots, ChatGPT can generate more creative and open-ended responses. In other words, its responses aren’t precoded. It also has more ability to understand context and recall information from earlier in a conversation.
You can use ChatGPT to support your entire strategy, from brainstorming blog topics to generating code that helps with technical SEO.
How to use ChatGPT for SEO?
- Generate content ideas around a keyword
- Supplement your keyword research
- Create keyword lists
- Find commonly asked questions about a topic
- Generate content for SEO assets
- Create meta titles and descriptions
- Generate schema markup
- Get RegEx expressions for analyzing performance
1. Generate content ideas around a keyword
Content marketing and SEO often go hand in hand, and one of the first steps of an SEO content marketing strategy is coming up with ideas for your blog posts and other assets.
If you’ve been working on your content optimization strategy for a while, it can be hard to think of new topics your audience will like. On the other hand, it can be intimidating to find a starting point if you’re working from scratch.
Either way, ChatGPT can help you come up with topics to write about. For best results, be specific about your target audience when writing ChatGPT prompts. This will help the tool give you more personalized recommendations.
2. Supplement your keyword research
Once you know the topics you want to cover, it’s time to do your keyword research. ChatGPT is an excellent addition to traditional SEO research tools that you can use to identify related keywords.
If you’re doing initial research, ChatGPT provides a convenient free option to help you narrow down which terms you want to focus on.
3. Create keyword lists
If you only have topic ideas, ChatGPT can help you brainstorm a list of keywords to use for your content. You can even specify what types of keywords you want, such as long-tail or those with a certain search intent.
This is a helpful starting point that lets you narrow down your primary keyword options before researching your top choices in depth. While ChatGPT won’t fully replace keyword research tools like Semrush or Ahrefs, it can complement them while helping you work faster.
4. Find commonly asked questions about a topic
When planning your SEO content, it’s helpful to understand what frequently asked questions (FAQs) your audience wants to know about. In addition to reviewing the top questions on Google’s search engine results pages (SERPs), you can ask ChatGPT to generate FAQ ideas.
You can use these questions as part of an FAQ section on a blog or webpage. Or, you can use this information to help generate headings in your SEO content outline.
Another bonus with ChatGPT is that it can provide answers to the questions it generates, enabling you to create authoritative content more efficiently. Even if you rephrase ChatGPT’s text into your brand’s voice and style, it provides a nice starting point.
By covering common questions in detail, you add experience, expertise, authority, and trustworthiness (or E-E-A-T) to your content. That can increase your chance of ranking higher in relevant SERPs for your main keywords.
5. Generate content for SEO assets
ChatGPT can help with content creation for several types of assets ranging from blog paragraphs and posts to emails and social media posts.
For better results, give ChatGPT details about your brand’s voice. For example, you can ask it to write content in a conversational style.
6. Create meta titles and descriptions
Along with creating blog content, ChatGPT can help with SEO metadata such as meta titles (also called title tags) and descriptions. If you’re struggling with writer’s block, ask ChatGPT to give you multiple options.
7. Generate schema markup
Schema markup is a type of structured data you can add to your website’s code to enable rich snippets, such as events, reviews, products and learning videos.
Rich snippets can help your website rank higher and appear better on relevant SERPs, which can lead to more conversions and organic traffic to your page.
8. Get RegEx expressions for analyzing performance
RegEx, short for regular expression, is a programming language that helps SEO marketers get deeper insights from tools like Google Analytics or Google Search Console.
In short, RegEx lets you track additional variations of your primary keywords, such as partial matches and variations on numbers.
Instead of crafting the RegEx code yourself, you can have ChatGPT do the legwork for you. Then, simply plug the expressions into your analytics tools for more detailed and advanced insights.
Benefits of using ChatGPT for SEO.
Here are a few reasons to consider using ChatGPT as part of your SEO content strategy:
Cost-efficient processes
ChatGPT is free to use, which can help you lower outsourcing costs by making it easy to do tasks such as ideation, meta descriptions and meta titles.
There’s one caveat: you shouldn’t use ChatGPT for 100% of your keyword research. You’ll need to rely on other tools for details about keyword volume, difficulty and cost-per-click (CPC) data.
Time savings
One of the benefits of AI tools is that they can “research” faster than humans. Platforms like ChatGPT are much more efficient at gathering and organizing relevant information. It can also generate content faster than human writers.
Even if you take time to tweak and improve the reader experience, you’ll likely save time overall by using ChatGPT.
Reduces manual work
ChatGPT can take some of the manual, repetitive tasks off your plate, such as finding related keywords and commonly asked questions. As a result, your team can spend more of their time on strategy, editing and creative work.
Can boost creativity
ChatGPT’s ability to generate ideas is helpful for getting people unstuck when they’re experiencing writer’s block. You can also use it to help give a fresh perspective on a topic you and your team know well.
ChatGPT may identify tactics, questions and subtopics that you hadn’t thought of before.
Potential drawbacks of using ChatGPT for SEO
It’s important to note that ChatGPT has some drawbacks when it comes to using it for SEO:
Lack of deep SEO understanding
While ChatGPT may be a useful and versatile tool, it’s not a replacement for real-life SEO professionals. In particular, it may not know fundamental SEO best practices, like including your primary keyword in metadata.
So, you still want to stay current with the top SEO trends to get the best results out of your strategy.
Possibility of incorrect or outdated content
ChatGPT generates its responses based on training data that only goes up to September 2021, which is known as its knowledge cutoff date. This means it may not be able to provide accurate information about events or findings that occurred after that time.
For instance, if you ask specifically about an event that happened after September 2021, ChatGPT will mention its knowledge cutoff date.
Another challenge with ChatGPT is that it doesn’t cite sources in responses. To ensure that your AI-generated content is accurate, you still need to review and fact-check information before publishing.
Tendency towards generic content
ChatGPT’s algorithm aims to generate content using the most commonly used words and phrases. As a result, its content will often be written in a more generic tone of voice that may not be a great fit for all brands.
To work around this, you can ask it to write in a certain way, such as conversational. Still, the best results will come from having a human make sure the content matches your brand’s style.
Inconsistent content writing style
ChatGPT knows how to create content. But it doesn’t know how to create content in your voice.
Since ChatGPT uses the most common words and phrases, its voice can change depending on the topic. At times it may sound formal or educational for complex topics and more casual for beginner-level information.
As a result, you still want to edit AI-generated copy to ensure it’s SEO-optimized and provides a consistent user experience for your audience.
Measuring the success of ChatGPT for SEO
Whether or not you should use ChatGPT for your SEO content strategy depends on your process and the results you see. One of the best ways to see if ChatGPT works for you is by comparing the results and experience.
You can do this by testing a couple of SEO projects with ChatGPT while keeping other projects the same as your original process.
When measuring your ChatGPT results, there are two types of data to consider: qualitative and quantitative.
Qualitative data will tell you if ChatGPT created a better working experience for you and your team. To gather this information, ask yourself questions like:
- Did ChatGPT help me and my team save time?
- Did ChatGPT make it easier to get tasks done?
- Which tasks was ChatGPT the most helpful for?
- Which tasks was ChatGPT the least helpful for?
If there was an overall positive experience during your experiment, that tells you ChatGPT may be a good match for your work.
Quantitative data, on the other hand, can help you figure out if using ChatGPT resulted in better work and SEO results.
You can consider questions like:
- How much time did ChatGPT save me and my team?
- How much money did ChatGPT save me and my team?
- Was I able to create more assets in the same amount of time with ChatGPT?
In this step, you also want to compare your performance with and without the help of ChatGPT, looking at key performance indicators (KPIs) such as:
- Conversions
- Organic visibility
- Organic sessions
- User engagement
- Organic click-through rate (CTR)
Keep in mind that one of ChatGPT’s main benefits is its ability to help you get more done in less time. So, not seeing a big boost in KPIs isn’t necessarily bad.
For example, say you were able to create two blog posts per month before ChatGPT. After using it, you can create three to four posts per month, and your KPIs stay the same. That shows you’re still seeing an improvement in your productivity.
Final thoughts: How businesses can use ChatGPT for SEO content purposes
The marketing world is just starting to see the potential of ChatGPT for SEO. That being said, it won’t replace every tool in your tech stack.
More specifically, it won’t replace the human element of your content marketing team. Instead, you can use these ChatGPT tactics to save time and work more efficiently, but the best results come with a combination of human and AI input.
Beyond content, SEO results also depend on technical factors, like the speed and performance of your website. For fast and secure hosting, explore Bluehost’s web hosting plans today.
Frequently asked questions
Is ChatGPT free?
Yes, ChatGPT is free to use with an OpenAI account. There’s also a free iOS app and a paid tier (ChatGPT plus) that gives users access during peak usage and the ability to try new features first.
Is ChatGPT good for SEO?
Yes, ChatGPT can be a useful tool for your SEO strategy. It can help with tasks ranging from keyword research to content creation and SEO formatting.
Is ChatGPT replacing SEO?
No. You can use ChatGPT to support your SEO strategy, but AI is not replacing SEO. Instead, you can use ChatGPT along with other SEO tools to increase efficiency and improve results.
Will Google penalize ChatGPT content?
Not necessarily. Google’s AI content guidance states that the search engine promotes high-quality content no matter how it’s created. However, if Google detects spam-like practices in AI content, it may penalize your webpage for that.
Can I use ChatGPT content on my website?
Yes, you can use ChatGPT to generate copy for your website and other marketing purposes like social media posts and blogs.