In 2018, I published this article under the title "How to Write a Perfect Blog Post That Drives Traffic and Conversions."
In 2023, AI decimated the relevance of it.
Tools like ChatGPT changed the way bloggers write posts and how people get answers to certain questions.
Likewise, search engines like Google and Bing have changed the way organic search results are displayed and who gets the best placements on results pages.
So, this article needed revamped for the age of artificial intelligence that has arrived in the world of content creation.
Here are the rules of writing content that can't be replaced by AI (at least not anytime soon).
#1 Make Content People Want to Share
AI is going to slowly takeover the top of search results pages. This means sites that rely entirely on organic search traffic are going to experience a massive dip in traffic.
Keyword research was a huge focus of the first edition of this blog post. That has changed dramatically. As I'm writing this article, search traffic is still thriving, but over the next few years that is destined to change.
Instead of your article appearing atop search engines, in many cases, you're likely going to be replaced by AI generated snippets. There is still value in this (more on that later) but we really don't want to rely solely on search traffic going forward.
So, although there is still a place for keyword focused content, content that is interesting and worthy of being shared on social media is a new priority for bloggers who want to continue to grow.
Here are some examples.
Easily Replaced by AI | Can't Be Replaced by AI |
---|---|
10 Best Budget Friendly Keto Meals | Exactly What I Ate on the Keto Diet to Lose 20 Pounds in Just 2 Months |
What Is Helium 10? Price, Features and Reviews | The Affordable Tool I Used to Launch my 6 Figure Private Label Business |
10 Best Restaurants in Columbus, Ohio | I Went to the 10 Best Reviewed Restaurants in Columbus, Ohio... I Was Shocked |
Best Ways to Increase Your Bench Press | How I Coached My Client To A 405 Lb Bench (My Best Bench Press Tips) |
I could get great results for any of the questions in the left column just by asking ChatGPT or Google Bard.
The blog posts on the right, however, could never be replaced by AI.
They are sharing a unique experience. They have a human aspect that AI will never be able to emulate. They are also things that would be very likely to gain shares on Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook, and other major social media platforms.
AI can repurpose our text, but it cannot replicate our experiences. That is our key advantage over AI, and we need to lean into it to thrive.
YouTube videos are often great examples of adding personal experiences to content and driving traffic without needing to rank for hundreds of highly competitive keywords.
Using the bench press article examples, here's what I would get if I asked ChatGPT how to increase my bench press.
That's a pretty solid set of tips. (I also asked Google Bard, and their answer was not nearly as good).
This doesn't mean that we can't drive traffic to an article about increasing your bench press though. We just need to inject some personal experience into it.
Here's an example (it's a video, but the concept is the same) that shows this in action.
This type of content will include similar tips, but it's much more interesting, share worthy, and impervious to being replaced by artificial intelligence.
Another great place to check for content that is share-worthy is Medium. Medium writers rely mostly on the share-worthiness of their content.
Here are a few examples of Medium articles that have driven tons of views without organic traffic.
Also, consider writing about interesting things that people wouldn't search for on their own but would click on if they were put in front of them.
Here's an example that caught my eye.
I didn't even know that Japanese websites looked different. Most Americans like me probably don't either, but I was interested to read about it.
What sorts of things do you have experience with that are interesting, but most people wouldn't ever think to search for? Those would be great article ideas.
I've written at length about how to find great content, and you can use those same principles to do some topic reverse engineering.
Rule #2 Grow Your Owned Traffic
Each post should lead to a sale, follow, or email opt-in.
Since the future of organic traffic is murky, our owned traffic will help us get visitors to our websites no matter what happens.
- If someone follows you on Facebook, you can share your new articles and they might see them.
- If someone is on your email list, you can send them your latest blog posts, and they're likely to click and read them.
- If someone subscribes to your YouTube channel, you can show them videos related to your blog post content and provide links in the descriptions that they might click.
Owned traffic (although social media traffic is arguably borrowed since we can lose it) is incredibly valuable.
Now, this may seem like I am pitting you against your reader by encouraging you to ONLY write content if it serves you.
That is half true. Your posts can serve you AND your reader regardless of the topic.
Not every post needs to sell something, but each post should at the very least get the reader onto your mailing list or to take some desired action.
"What if the topic I'm writing on doesn't have something I can sell?"
Then you need a lead magnet that is relevant to your main topic. Also, if you have 5 sub topics then you should have at least 5 separate lead magnets to get them all to join your list.
For example, I have the following sub-topics on this blog.
For each of these sub topics, I have a specific lead magnet that encourages these readers to join my list.
- Amazon FBA --> 488 Online Sourcing Sites
- Affiliate Marketing --> Financial Freedom Calculator
- Email Marketing --> Spam Words to Avoid PDF
- Artificial Intelligence --> ChatGPT Cheat Sheet
This allows me to write posts that don't directly sell anything but still make me money and grow my brand in the long run.
Capturing emails is the next best thing to making a sale.
I average about $1/month per email subscriber.
An email list of 10,000 TARGETED subscribers should be earning the list owner at least $10,000/month in revenue (if they are working their list properly).
Also, a quality email sequence sent directly after a subscriber joins your list can be a huge source of clicks if you include your blog posts in the follow up emails.
Depending on the lead magnet, you might want to have a different sequence. Yes, this will take a good bit of time and effort, but if your goal is to generate serious passive income, you will be glad you invested the time and energy in this.
Approach your content with this in mind, and you will see things in a completely different light.
If you're worried about "being salesy," don't be. You don't have to be salesy when you write great content because your products should be perfectly relevant to the topic at hand.
You will craft posts knowing that you need to tie in your product seamlessly OR provide some sort of "content upgrade" to capture an email.
Rule #3 Use AI to Create More Content
I've always preached the "quality over quantity" approach to blogging. Well, with AI, that has changed.
Now it's quality AND quantity. Tools like ChatGPT make it easier than ever for us to use prompts to create more content in less time.
I am in no way suggesting that we use AI to create entire blog posts for us. What I'm suggesting is that we use it to help us with tasks that take a lot of time.
- Helping generate quality titles
- Helping generate meta descriptions
- Rewriting sentences
- and much more...
I've written an entire blog post about using ChatGPT prompts in blogging if you want to learn more about the specific case uses.
While many people are using AI to create their entire blog posts, this method isn't going to be sustainable. Reports of how search engines treat this sort of content vary. Some swear AI content is impossible to rank, while others say they've built entire blogs with it and are seeing great results.
I am positive though that content that is 100% AI generated will not last. Search engines regularly update to address the latest "hacks" that SEOs use to get more traffic. When these hacks don't actually help the search engine provide better results for its users, they are penalized.
Also, 100% AI generated content by its very definition can be replaced by an AI generated search result. Bing now includes ChatGPT answers of its own. If you used ChatGPT to create your own blog posts, it will be very easy for it to be replaced entirely.
Rule #4 Shift Towards Video
Blogging isn't going anywhere for the foreseeable future, but it's wise to pivot towards the more AI proof medium, video. Particularly, YouTube.
Whenever possible, turn your blog posts into videos and vice versa.
Tools like ChatGPT make it very easy to create YouTube scripts from blog posts and blog posts from Videos.
Rule #5 Original Data Is Gold
Although I hate the idea of "feeding the machine," Google is rewarding creators who gather the data that AI simply can't.
For example, AI can't survey Amazon sellers to see how much the average one is making.
Ask yourself this question before publishing anything.
The One Question
"Could ChatGPT have written this article as well as I just did?"
If the answer is yes, it's an awful article. Don't you dare publish it yet.
Go into it and feed it some original data and real original content.
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I’ve been out of the blogging game for over 4 years. Had a homesteading blog and 6k FB page but life got busy and I let it fall to the side. I am definitely interested in learning this skill again!
You have always have some of the best blog posts to read, now I know why!
Great article all around amazing tips
Great book Nate. Very useful as a checklist, with detailed explanations.
What an educational post! Thanks for the easy to read eBook format as well!
Thanks for a great article! Now to put it into practice.
Teach me to blog!
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I can readily see that I NEED this book!
Very insightful!
Wow Nate, this is Epic. You always out do yourself! Tons of value, easy flow, perfect execution WOW
What a fabulous treasure trove of information this is, Nate!! It’s especially valuable since I’m looking into blogging as a way to help me explore/improve my writing. Thank you as always. You’re the best!!
Great post, this is really useful!
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