How AI Copywriters Are Changing SEO

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Since the beginning of search engines, writers and companies have chased SEO — the slippery science of getting your results high up in Google’s search rankings to improve web traffic. More recently, however, the advent of cheap, easy-to-use AI copywriting tools enabled by GPT-3 has changed the game entirely. While AI-based copywriting has been steadily advancing for years, until recently it has never been good enough to be more than a party trick. We’re just now beginning to see the effects of companies using AI to produce written content en masse. 

Already, AI-generated copy is being used to produce SEO-driven content at scale, even as Google claims to penalize such content. However, there are more uses for AI tools than simply evading the tactical cat-and-mouse game that many companies and SEO specialists play with Google. Rather, I see a future in which AI copywriting tools will dramatically increase the productivity and, eventually, quality of copywriters — but where the rise of such tools will also heighten demand for skilled human writers and editors.

Today, the widespread adoption of AI tools like Jasper and CopyAI is sparking new questions: How do AI copywriters stack up against human writers? How is the increased use of AI writing tools impacting SEO and search results? And most importantly for companies and creators, how can you intelligently use this AI revolution to your advantage?

The rise of AI-generated writing, powered by GPT-3

GPT-3 is a neural network machine learning model created by OpenAI that is used to translate written commands and generate text. GPT-3 is effectively AI for the everyman: Though it has been trained with absurdly large datasets — almost 500 billion byte-pair encoded tokens — and conditioned using over 175 billion machine learning parameters,  GPT-3 can be used by almost anyone with ease.

GPT-3 requires only a small amount of input text to generate large volumes of relevant and sophisticated machine-generated output text. 

In response, numerous automated copywriting applications have emerged that claim to produce high-quality material. Now those tools are upending the quest for SEO.

For many years, the SEO industry has been outsourcing cheap content writing to India and the Philippines. Within the past couple of years, many freelancers from these countries have begun using AI to spit out massive volumes of content. Why wouldn’t they? Google ranks AI-generated writing in search results and increased industry demand means that higher output can make freelancers more money than ever before.

It’s important to note that while much of this content is mediocre, AI copywriters are not inherently inferior; in fact, AI tools can be used to generate content that is indistinguishable from human output. But while AI-generated content is typically grammatically correct, AI copywriters are not always factually accurate, increasing the likelihood of disinformation or fake news. While GPT-3 has the potential to revolutionize the way we create content, we are only beginning to scratch the surface of what this powerful tool can do. 

How to use AI copywriting tools as collaborators

Although AI is increasingly playing a role in content creation, there are new ways for human copywriters to remain relevant. GPT-3 promises unprecedented outputs at lightning speed, but the best results to date come from those using AI alongside specialized human editors and writers to produce content. AI-assisted copywriting will eventually impact more than just search strategy and SEO.

While the ways that AI copywriting tools work are many, here are the basic workflows:

  • Copywriting: Write a prompt for the AI that includes the document title, content brief, and suggested tone.
  • Blog content writing: Write a content brief for the AI that includes the document title, section headers, and tone. Add an empty line after each header and compose content for each section individually. 
  • Copy editing: Copy and paste text into the AI’s output field. Highlight this text and use the “fix grammar” tool or “rephrase” tool to edit it.

AI is a tool, and like any tool, it must be used correctly to be effective. Used properly, AI copywriting tools can be a valuable asset in any writer’s back pocket. Let’s generalize and say that without AI, an experienced writer can comfortably produce an average of 2,000 words per day. When trained to curate and edit AI-generated content, in my experience the writer’s output can quickly increase to 4,000 or 5,000 words daily, giving them the ability to be more productive with fewer false starts.

AI copywriters can also be used to help new writers learn the ropes by identifying grammatical errors and suggesting structural modifications to make writing more polished and conversational.

Over time, this helps writers improve their sentence structure, grammar, vocabulary, and overall value in the market.

Many different types of AI copywriting tools are available, including Copy.ai, Jasper, GrowthBar, Copysmith, and Writesonic, among others. Each has its own strengths and weaknesses. Some are better at grammar and spelling, while others can help with research and conceptualizing content at a high level.

Five common AI copywriting tools

One point remains across all tools: AI copywriters are not a replacement for human writers — they are best used as an assistant to improve on human efforts. This means that while they can help with some aspects of writing, they should not be solely relied on to produce content in their current state.

Google and the search for quality content

Of course, one of the primary uses for AI copywriting tools is to produce more content for less money, helping companies rank higher on key terms through Google Search. Given Google’s current dominance as a search engine, the company’s perspective on AI-assisted content can have a dramatic impact on the industry.

When the trade publication Search Engine Journal ran the headline “Google Says AI Generated Content Is Against Guidelines” in April, it struck fear in the hearts of SEO specialists worldwide. The article left many wondering what it meant for the future of their AI-assisted domains and the industry as a whole. 

But in fact, Google has been saying for years that it wants its search results to be populated by high-quality content and has been developing technologies to thwart spam content. It’s clear that Google is simply trying to discourage the use of low-quality, spun content — something that has been a problem long before AI copywriters were prevalent — so that high-quality, useful content is surfaced in search results. Back in 2011, for example, Google’s Panda/Farmer update killed off millions of cases of spun content, impacting 12 percent of all search results.

So, will you be penalized for using AI-written content?

Likely not — yet. Google’s algorithms aren’t able to automatically detect content generated by language models like GPT-3, according to Miranda Miller, senior managing editor of Search Engine Journal.

Even if Google considers all AI-written content to be spam, there have been many recent case studies of massively successful websites that pump out AI content. The latest Google broad core algorithm update in May 2022 seemingly penalized purely AI-written content, but AI-written content that is fact-checked and edited by humans still seems to avoid penalty and do just fine.

But while it’s safe to say that while Google may not be great at detecting AI-produced content today, that ability will inevitably improve.

Since an AI tool is trained a particular way using a specific data set, it will create homogeneity in content outputs at the macro level. For example, if Jasper AI was used to cover every keyword related to cooking, future articles using the same AI to cover the same topics might read similarly enough for Google to detect the use of AI more easily. At the very least, when there is a large enough data set to be analyzed by Google, patterns will emerge. That’s the core of its business model — indexing and analyzing the entirety of the internet — so this type of pattern recognition is inevitable.

But will Google penalize AI content? Assuming people act as opportunistically as they have in the past, and assuming history repeats itself, as it often does, it’s extremely likely. If a large portion of the internet becomes AI-generated and free from fact-checking, Google would be inclined to moderate search results for the greater good, just like it did with the Panda/Farmer update. This means that to avoid penalties, SEO specialists and founders alike will likely optimize their AI tools through collaboration with human editors and fact-checkers.

Looking ahead: What AI advances mean for the written word

What if AI-written content becomes indistinguishable from human counterparts?

This is less a question of if than when. For AI copywriters to bridge that technological gap, they will require stronger language modeling, larger datasets, and quality control checks baked into their platforms. The ability to fact-check text content is not far off based on advancements in technology used by social media platforms to prevent the spread of disinformation. It won’t be long before the content production economy sees drastic changes in the next two years.

Counterintuitively, however, I believe this shift will increase the demand for highly skilled human writers and editors going forward, for a number of reasons.

AI advances in the long term

First, as single AI copywriters become more popular, they grow closer to approaching homogeneity in outputs at a macro level. This will push Google toward developing more sophisticated detection algorithms and possibly implementing a wide-scale penalty. It will also mean that without human assistance, a large portion of the internet will read more uniformly than ever before. This is where specialized human editors become key.

Secondly, AI-generated content is most useful for educational content, not investigative reporting. The need for journalists and those doing independent research alongside human writers will persist as AI copywriters mature. Blue ocean content strategy will become more prevalent, resulting in a new generation of content specialists. As search results grow more competitive with the influx of AI-written content, content in knowledge areas that were previously untapped will be high in demand. The wide-open spaces where new interests, new niches, and new industries arise will become stomping grounds for content specialists.

Finally, in an effort to diversify writing styles and to improve how enjoyable content is to read, AI copywriters that specialize in certain fields, styles, and professions will emerge. We’ve already seen this to be true in different fields of marketing, where some platforms are better than others at, say, email marketing or sales copy. Writers and editors who work with these specialized AI copywriters will be a necessity for developing first-rate content. As AI copywriters become more specialized, there will be higher demand for human participation to fact-check and double-check AI outputs. The combination of AI for content scaling and human editors for quality assurance will likely become the industry standard.

Essential Pages Every SaaS Needs to Improve Conversions

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If you’re running a SaaS product, you know that converting visitors into paying customers is essential to your success. But what are the best ways to go about doing that?

One of the most important things you can do is to have the right pages on your website that are specifically designed to convert visitors into signups. In this post, we’ll share with you the essential pages that every SaaS product needs to improve conversions and bring in more paying customers. Whether you create these pages manually with a fine tooth comb or with SEO tools like Data to Page, it’s important you put in your best effort because these pages are sure to bring in new signups. 

Here are the essential pages that are infamous for converting visitors into customers:

#1 – Comparison Pages

comparison pages

Having a well-crafted comparison page will help you bridge a gap in your marketing and can have you ranking based on your competitor’s brand name. Then, whenever a customer searches for your competitor’s brand, your brand will crop up, and the page will demonstrate how your solution is better than theirs.

Before making a purchase and committing to any product, almost every customer searches for better alternatives and hops on Google to search for “X vs. Y.” 

Why not be smart and capitalize on it when you know it happens? Rather than giving your competitor’s the chance, control the narrative and tell your readers exactly how and why your product is better. 

If you’d like an example, then have a look at Podia. They have 48 different comparison pages that detail what they offer vs. what their competitors offer, and without being pushy, they can easily convince the readers to choose them. 

#2 – Integrations Pages

integrations pages

No website or application presents claims to do it all. Meaning people use at least 3-4 different applications daily for their daily chores and work. While your brand or product may not do it all, showing that your product integrates with various other software can make things easier to do and to acquire new customers.

Dedicated integration pages tell your customers what apps you can integrate with. It will also allow you to rank on keywords associated with software that can be integrated with yours.

#3 – “Best” Products Lists Related To Your Industry

best product lists

We know that listing other brands that operate in the same industry as yours on your website may not make sense. Think of it this way – customers within the same industry have similar needs. They may visit your website looking for recommendations for some other product/brand, but while they are on your website, they may also check out your products and services. 

Having the product lists relevant to your industry builds awareness about your brand, pulls people to your website that may not ordinarily check you out, and could even lead to conversions. At the end of these pages, insert a call to action to improve conversions. 

DelightChat, a Shopify chat app, grew traffic from 600 to 240,000 monthly search impressions in 90 days using this method.

However, creating these pages usually takes hours, from designing your templates and writing the content to ensuring they follow all the SEO best practices. This reduces hours of development, designing, and creating to a span of minutes, and you get pages that convert better. Therefore, help promote your brand while saving you time.

#4 – Answer Your Customer’s Questions

answer customer questions

You do not have to dedicate all your energy and focus to selling. Nowadays, people align themselves with a brand that thinks above profits and genuinely focuses on solving its consumers’ problems. Researching your targeted base’s queries and answering them in a dedicated section on your website can help build trust and reliability. By providing genuinely helpful answers, the visitors will have a good impression of your brand and even look for more information on your business. 

The queries do not have to be directly related to the product you are selling as long as it is relevant to your industry. 

If you want to learn how to implement this strategy more in-depth, I highly recommend reading They Ask, You Answer by Marcus Sheridan.

#5 – Custom Landing Pages

A landing page could be one where you click on an ad, and it leads you to a page, or it could be one with a clear call to action, serving as a service or home page. Regardless of how a user gets there, landing pages are undoubtedly a powerful tool in a business’s content and marketing strategy,

A well-crafted landing page can successfully capture the user’s attention and manage to compel them into doing what you want them to. However, one of the most challenging tasks is to write a landing page that caters to the different types of audiences your business serves. 

That’s where custom landing pages are helpful. By creating a different landing page for each category of users, you’ll be able to write a more personalized message that converts better. Therefore, you will not be alienating any potential customers from visiting your website. 

#6 – About Page

The About page is often one of the most overlooked pages on a website. Yet, it can be hugely important in helping increase conversions for SaaS companies.

Think about it – when you land on a website, what’s one of the first things you do? You look around to see what the company is all about. Who are they? What do they do? And most importantly, can you trust them?

This is where the About page comes in. A well-crafted About page will give visitors the information they need to quickly understand what your company does and why you’re the best at it. It will also help build trust by providing an overview of your team, your history, and your company culture.

All of this can be hugely important in increasing conversions, whether it’s getting someone to sign up for your free trial or making a purchase. So if you don’t have an About page on your website yet, now is the time to create one. Here’s a quick overview of what you should include:

A brief description of your company: Include a few sentences that explain what you do and who you do it for.

Your Team: Introduce the people behind the scenes, including key members of your team and executive leadership.

Your History: Give some context about how your company got started and what you’ve accomplished so far.

Your Culture: Share your company values and give visitors a sense of what it’s like to work with you.

Social Proof: Nothing builds trust like positive reviews from happy customers. If you have any, be sure to include them on your About page.

1 Clear Call to Action: Include a CTA, such as a free trial or demo, to encourage visitors to take the next step.

By including all of these elements on your About page, you can give visitors the information they need to understand your company and trust your brand. As a result, you’ll be more likely to convert them into paying customers.

#7 – [Category] Software

category software pages

When it comes to positioning your company in the marketplace, a category software page can be an incredibly valuable asset. This is because potential customers will often research the different types of software available before making a purchase, and by having a well-optimized page about the category of software you offer, you can ensure that your company comes up as a top result. Furthermore, a category software page can help to establish your company as an expert in the field, which can further increase its chances of being chosen by potential customers.

Your homepage is a great place to tackle this type of keyword.

#8 – 404 Content Hub

404 content hub

If your software as a service (SaaS) company doesn’t have a robust 404 page, you could be missing out on a valuable opportunity to increase conversions.

A well-designed and executed 404 page can function as a powerful content hub that helps visitors find the information they need and navigate their way to your site’s most important pages. By prominently featuring links to your most popular content, your 404 page can serve as a powerful tool for driving traffic and engagement.

#9 – Pricing Page

pricing pages

Your pricing page is often the first stop for potential customers, and it’s crucial that they understand what your product offers and how much it costs. There are a few key reasons why having a well-designed pricing page can help increase conversions for your business.

First, a pricing page helps establish your product’s value. Potential customers need to know that your product is worth their money, and a pricing page is a perfect place to showcase this. Include information about what your product does, how it’s different from other options on the market, and what customers can expect to get out of using it.

Second, a pricing page can help build trust with potential customers. When people understand what they’re getting for their money, they’re more likely to trust your product and company. Be sure to include testimonials from happy customers on your pricing page to show that others have had success with your product.

Finally, a well-designed pricing page can make the purchase process easier for potential customers. Include clear and concise pricing information, as well as easy-to-use purchase buttons. Make it as easy as possible for people to buy your product, and you’ll see your conversion rates increase.

Final Thoughts

When learning how to convert visitors into customers, it’s always worth keeping all target audiences in mind. Publishing landing pages that are not relevant to your industry is not a good idea, as it defeats the object of what you’re trying to sell. 

You do not have to focus your mind on entirely selling. Instead, you need to create a brand that has the reputation and first impression of solving a web visitor’s problem. For example, one search query could be ‘How to stay protected from mosquito bites’. Your landing pages ought to include recommendations and products available for attracting mosquitos. 

Creating integration pages is also a good idea to improve conversions, as this method of turning visitors into buyers allows you to implement keywords on other software or online platforms. This not only increases your traffic, but makes your brand seem more trustworthy to searchers.

Landing pages involving product lists often attract visitors to view your content. Thus, putting a sneaky call-to-action button at the end of your own pages is a good idea. Although, don’t try to make it too obvious – keep it engaging and subtle.

Read More: SaaS SEO Essentials: How To Do SEO For SaaS Companies

How to Efficiently Hire Writers: 200+ Candidates in 72 Hours

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How to Hire Writers with Workello

Hiring writers used to suck.

It’s the worst part about your job.

The whole process is manual and chaotic.

It sucks so much that you give up once you get a couple of dozen candidates and only test a handful.

So, you don’t hire the best possible writers you can afford.

You hire the best you can of the few you tested.

Then you spend too much time editing because their portfolio was way better than what they’re submitting to you, and they inevitably resign, or you terminate them.

Here’s the deal: just like the #1 lever for faster SEO results is publishing more content, the #1 lever for hiring better writers is evaluating and testing more writing candidates.

That’s it.

Whether you need sales-driven, persuasive writers or SEO-driven content writers, this process will get you results.

writer hiring funnel

And Workello makes it possible to filter through hundreds of candidates to identify and hire the top 1%.

Why Content Teams ❤️ Workello

“Almost overnight, we had 100+ candidates that we could quickly filter through, and in about 2 weeks, we hired 10 writers.” – Kiril Kirilov, Founder, Rush App

“Workello has changed the game for us. In just under 2 weeks, we hired 4 really amazing, good-quality writers.” – Alan Martin, Founder, RNKD

“Our first hiring round with Workello has been our most successful hiring round so far. In the span of two weeks, we received about 140 candidates, tested 30, we shortlisted to 15 interviews and hired seven new writers that joined our existing team.” – Dr. Mark Coster, Founder, FairyDigital

“With Workello, we were able to test so many candidates that now we are absolutely confident that we hired the best people for the job.” – Alexander Heinle, Zavvy.io

“Never in my life have I managed to filter through 200 candidates in a space of two weeks, and actually get to a point where I’m ready to hire someone, and that for me was a game-changer” – Andrew Kemp, Managing editor, State of Digital Publishing

“With Workello, I can have a consistent stream of candidates that I can always reach out to very quickly and find new writers to help with our stories fast.” – David Adler, NetInfluencer

“Workello just brings it all into one easy place. I don’t have to chase around messages and portfolios in various different channels anymore, which was a nightmare to keep up with,” Jacob Andra, Founder, CustomerFaucet

“With Workello, it’s been so much easier to hire writers and video editors. The testing part is what really shines and makes our process more streamlined.” – Joey Daoud, CEO, NewTerritoryMedia

companies using Workello to hire writers

Start Accepting Candidates in 3 Minutes

It takes approximately three minutes to deploy your hiring funnel in Workello because it has pre-written and pre-optimized everything job descriptions and pre-hire assessments, based on the Workello team’s experience with hiring hundreds of writers.

  1. Your job description is pre-written
  2. Your pre-hire writing assessment is pre-written
  3. Your candidate notification emails are pre-written

Everything is ready to go, so you can start hiring better writers ASAP.

Step #1: Sign up for Workello

Sign up for Workello and breeze through the setup in about a minute.

Workello signup

Step #2: Post your job ad on your favorite hiring channels

Candidates find your job ad on LinkedIn, Reddit, ProBlogger (or anywhere else you post) and complete their application on Workello.

Click here for an example of what your candidates will see.

workello writer platform

Further down in this hiring playbook, you’ll find the Workello team’s favorite hiring channels for hiring generalist writers – if you’re looking for writers with experience in a specific niche, they got you covered too.

Step #3: Watch candidates stream into your hiring dashboard

writer hiring dashboard

Step #4: Send pre-hire assessments to the best candidates

It only takes one click to send candidates a pre-hire assessment test or a polite rejection email.

This means you can filter through hundreds of candidates in just a few minutes.

invite writers to test

Candidates receive emails inviting them to take a writing test on Workello.

writer assessment

Step #5: Review completed pre-hire assessments

Candidates who complete their assessment are moved from ‘Assessment Sent’ to ‘Assessment Received’.

writer assessment received

Step #6: Invite your best candidates to an interview, or send them an offer

With just one click, invite your candidates to an interview, send them a polite rejection email, or click ‘Pass Assessment’ to send them to a holding status while you review your other candidates.

Workello assessment controls

Best hiring channels for finding good writers

Now it’s time to get candidates.

You can post on all of the resources below in less than 30 minutes total.

If you’re not looking for generalists and only want writers with specific experience, check out Workello’s playbook on hiring niche writers.

LinkedIn

Did you know that you can post free job ads on LinkedIn?

And it takes about 5 minutes?

Learn more here.

LinkedIn job posting

Reddit

Reddit is a runner-up favorite for free job ads, right next to LinkedIn.

It’s quick, it’s easy, it’s free.

In our last round of hiring at Spacebar, we received the bulk of applications from these 3 writing-specific subreddits for job listings.

Writing Specific

  1. /r/WritersForHire
  2. /r/HireAWriter
  3. /r/WritingJobBoard

General Hiring

  1. /r/ForHire
  2. /r/Hiring
  3. /r/Freelance_ForHire

Facebook Groups

Posting your job in Facebook groups is NOT necessary to getting 200+ candidates in 72 hours.

It’s also a bit more work because you’ll generally get fewer candidates from each post, so you have to make more posts.

But it’s invaluable if you’re looking for writers with experience in a specific niche/industry.

And it’s free.

But remember — it’s not necessary unless you want writers with specific experience and interest.

Here’s how to do it:

hiring Facebook groups
  1. Navigate to Facebook.com/Groups
  2. Type in your keyword
  3. Join 10+ relevant communities
  4. Wait to be accepted
  5. Go back and post your job ad

Some pro-tips:

  1. Skip the generic “Hiring Writers’ Facebook Groups—they’re filled with terrible writers.
  2. Don’t link to your Workello job ad in the post yet. External links reduce visibility in the newsfeed.
  3. Return to the post 24 hours later after it’s had a chance to accumulate reach, and respond to each commenter with a link to your Workello application.
  4. Check your ‘Other’ inbox on Facebook and reply to anyone who DM’d you with a link to your Workello application.

Paid Resources

ProBlogger costs $80 for a regular job ad, and it should get you about 100 writing candidates.

But if you upgrade to the premium job ad for $160, you’ll probably get 300+ candidates.

Go with the premium.

ProBlogger hiring

$160 might seem like a lot, but you’re going to spend at least $80 per page of content, and the #1 decision you’ll make as a content manager is who you hire.

Everything is either easy, hard, or impossible depending on that first decision.

Workello Demo

Check out this 10-minute demo.

If you have questions, book a call.

Content Repurposing Strategy: Get More From Your Content

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Creating enough content to consistently engage with your audience on social media, drive traffic through your blog, capture leads with bottom of the funnel assets, and entertain your Youtube audience is no small task.

Wouldn’t it be great if you had a system in place that could generate content for social media from your Youtube channel? Or how about new ideas for blog posts every time you deploy a new Ebook or case study? A diligently executed content repurposing strategy may be the answer. 

What is a content repurposing strategy?

Content repurposing is a well-known, but rarely executed strategy to give more life into your content marketing materials. If you’re struggling to publish enough content across all of your social channels, blog, Youtube, and lead gen campaigns, the solution might not be to hire more writers to produce new content, but to look inward and see what existing content can be repurposed and recycled.

A content repurposing strategy is a systematic set of steps to turn a marketing asset into one or more additional marketing assets without having to re-do the core research, writing, and messaging. Converting a piece of written text, video, or audio into a different format for a specific channel helps a marketing team extract as much value as possible from an original piece of content. 

A common pattern in content strategies is that content created for a specific channel and customer profile and it isn’t used to create additional material. It just sits in its original location and becomes stale with diminishing returns. 

To have a well-documented content repurposing strategy ensures that every new marketing asset will have the biggest impact as possible in contributing to the education of your audience and the acquisition of new customers.

What types of content should be repurposed?

Pretty much any content can be repurposed, but some formats and channels are better suited for the task due to their length and amount of research that went into creating it. 

For example, it’s not hard to imagine how one might compose a series of Tweets from an Ebook, but it’s a stretch to expect someone to compose an entire case study from a single Tweet without a significant amount of additional time and effort. This would defeat the purpose of a content repurposing strategy. As a general rule, converting a large piece to a single or a collection of shorter pieces is a sure fire way to get the most out of webinars, blog posts, and interviews.

Convert long text into social posts

A single text-based asset like a blog post, case study, Ebook, white paper, or press release can be converted into a collection of social posts. The great part about this is that your social posts will have a coherent theme, tone, and point of view because they all originate from a single or a group of similar assets.

Blog posts and Ebooks are set up to naturally produce a series of social posts with their well defined structure of headers and subheaders (or chapters and sections). It’s common for a marketer to create a blog post and simply post a link on social media with a quick recap and call it a day. That’s not what we’re talking about here. We’re talking about creating “zero-click” content that is native to the social platform. The goal is not to get the user to go to your blog, the goal is to get the user to engage with your social content. We’re simply using the blog post as a starting point to create new standalone content for social platforms. 

Convert video to social

Video has become a primary marketing channel as people are consuming more and more content on their phone and on social media. With Youtube as the second largest search engine behind Google, most companies are realizing the compounding value behind investing in a video marketing strategy. However, high quality video is very expensive and time consuming to create, so it should be particularly important to extract as much value as possible from every video produced by your marketing department.

Repurposing video into social content can take two forms. First, you can simply break up the video and distribute it on social media as standalone content with accompanying text. It’s been shown that social content that contains graphics and videos have higher engagement than single text-based posts. Additionally, you can use the video content as a starting point and inspiration for completely new written content on social media.

Video content like webinars, interviews with subject matter experts, and promotional videos are rich with details and insights and can be used to assist multiple marketing functions from product marketing to brand development with repurposed content. 

Convert audio to social

Much like video content, audio typically has a lot of locked up value that should be repurposed and used as text or audiograms across social platforms. Interviews with subject matter experts should also be repurposed and expanded as standalone blog posts and Twitter threads. 

There are a number of tools to help convert audio into a visual post for social media. Wavve and Descript are two top-tier solutions to get you started. 

Convert one social channel into another

Although the ideal formats for different social channels are often different, content on one can easily be repurposed for another. A long LinkedIn post can be repurposed into a series of Tweets for a thread, or a series of Facebook posts to be posted over the course of several days. 

What to avoid when repurposing content

It’s important to note that repurposing is not reposting, and that each social channel has a very specific format and tone that should be followed. 

The language used in a webinar might not necessarily be appropriate for a Twitter thread, but the content within it can add a ton of value to your Twitter audience, so the conversion is certainly a worthwhile exercise.

Establish a repeatable repurposing process

Automated alerts

There are so many channels for new content these days with Youtube, blogs, PDFs, email, TikTok, LinkedIn, among others that it is difficult to keep track of new content published. Having alerts set up to let your team know when a new piece of content is posted is a good way to establish consistency in a content repurposing strategy.

A team member responsible for writing social posts on LinkedIn and Twitter may not be paying much attention to what is being posted on the blog or on the Youtube channel, but there may be a wealth of opportunity to use that content in her role as the primary social media content creator.

Schedule content on social

There are a number of social scheduling tools out there from HubSpot, to Hootsuite, to CoSchedule. With every blog post published on your site, you can set up five Tweets to be automatically published every day of the week and a LinkedIn post to be scheduled every other day. Front loading your work all at once makes it a lot easier to find consistency on social media with a pillar piece of content like a blog as the primary inspiration. 

Content repurposing frameworks

There are many frameworks to follow (like this one by Justin Simon from Metadata.io) to establish a reliable repurposing habit that your whole team will follow. The most important feature of a content repurposing framework is repeatability. This relies on identifying patterns in your marketing assets that can be reliably exploited to produce additional content. 

For example, if the structure of your blog posts are constantly changing, it will be difficult to design a framework that can be used on every blog moving forward. However, if you identify a pattern in your case studies that follows a well defined pattern that easily lends itself to generating a series of LinkedIn posts or Twitter threads, then this framework should be developed, documented, and executed with consistency.

Key Takeaways

A content repurposing framework can greatly reduce the workload for a writing team and help publish more content with less effort than creating a new piece of content.

Having a repeatable process to turn one marketing asset into multiple new ones helps maintain brand identity, messaging, and can improve consistency of your content creation pipeline.

5 Backlink Building Techniques That Actually Work

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Effective Backlink Building Strategies

Backlinks act as a powerup for your content, so being able to execute on backlink building strategies is key to SEO success. Here’s how it’s done at scale.

While the power and necessity of backlinks is a hotly debated topic in the SEO world, in my mind, backlinks are without a doubt an effective way to rank websites.

In fact, I’m getting sick of the content vs backlinks debate.

So, let’s try to reframe how you think about backlinks and then I’ll get into 5 backlink building techniques I use to get results for clients at scale.

Concept: Think of backlinks as a powerup for your content.

Super Mario backlinks analogy

Sure, it’s easy to beat Mario without powerups, but do they make the game exponentially easier?

Is it more fun to play with powerups?

Do you beat levels faster than without?

Breezing through the game with superpowers is not only the better experience, but it’s also the fastest route to Bowser’s Castle. The same can be said for backlinks. It makes the SEO experience more enjoyable, more effective and you can get results much faster than without.

In reality, backlinks powering up your content looks more like this.

content and backlinks at scale

Over the last year working as a startup CMO, at my old day job and now full-time with Spacebar Collective, I’ve built hundreds of backlinks every month.

I did this using a variety of powerups, including:

  • Guest blogging
  • Niche edits
  • Broken links
  • HARO
  • Leverage

I didn’t reinvent the wheel, I just executed on well-known techniques.

And you can too.

Guest Blogging for Backlinks

Guest blogging is my #1 source of backlinks, by far.

It’s a scalable tactic that is only limited by your ability to:

  1. send outreach emails to webmasters
  2. produce guest blog content

With the right processes in place, it can be the difference between being stuck on page 2 and stealing valuable search real estate from competitors.

In my experience, webmasters work with guest blogs in a fairly binary manner. They either accept guest posts or they don’t. To some degree, it doesn’t really matter how good your pitch is because some people just prefer to do everything in-house. Therefore, it’s your job as a link builder to put time and effort into your prospecting, doing your best to identify websites that are most likely to accept guest posts.

Here are a few ways I like to pitch guest posts from cold emails:

  1. Offer to refresh outdated content for them
  2. Find topics a website logically should rank for but hasn’t covered already
  3. Offer to rewrite an old blog that used to rank or get traffic but doesn’t anymore

Above all else, when pitching guest posts, you want to make sure you’re making the webmaster’s lives easier. No one likes guest posts that require massive amounts of editing or miss the mark with their existing readership.

Niche Edits

Don’t want to drain resources writing guest blogs? No problem!

Run cold outreach to sites asking if you can pay $ to guest blog for them. Yes, you read that right.

If they’re down, ask if you could just insert your link into an existing blog instead. They won’t have to edit or publish new content, but still get paid. You don’t have to write new content, but still get a link.

Here’s a cold email outreach template to give you an idea of how to pitch this:

Subject: Can I submit a guest post to {{companyName}}? Will pay $!

Hey {{firstName}},

This is Chris Tweten, CMO at Spacebar Collective. I was checking out the {{companyName}} blog and loved your content on backlink building strategies.

I noticed you don’t offer your readers any email templates, could I write a guest post with a bunch of the ones I use? Totally understand if this is something you charge a fee for, I’m willing to pay $ for a guest post on your site.

Let me know either way, it’d be good to hear back from you.

Cheers.

Broken Links

Again, I want to reiterate that I’m not reinventing the wheel. Broken link building is a staple of the industry, used by many SEOs for a long time.

The problem I’ve faced with broken link building is that reply rates in email campaigns have been abysmally low. While it seemed like no one was interested in updating their broken links, that just wasn’t the case.

People weren’t interested in updating broken links for old content they stopped caring about. That makes sense, considering they’ve left it with broken links and haven’t noticed or haven’t cared enough to update it themselves.

The solution?

Target websites with broken links in recent content.

Hit up ahrefs and go to the Best By Links section for a site with lots of links.

I used HubSpot for this example.

Now filter by 404s and sort by First Seen. This shows you all the most recent broken links on the site Broken links suck for SEO and suck even more for reader experience, so pitch your resource to replace their broken link and you should earn some backlinks.

HARO

Help a Reporter Out is an incredibly competitive place to farm links and it’s only going to get more competitive over time.

So, let’s forget all about pitching among the thousands of SEOs out there.

Sign up as a source instead!

Make a request asking for quotes for an expert roundup blog then ask people whose quotes you include to link back to your site in exchange.

The key to making this tactic work is all in the relationship building. You don’t want to get on bad terms with the HARO platform, as this can get your account banned and your domain blacklisted from being a source. Don’t ask everyone for a backlink, just the ones you genuinely connect with that are most likely to.

Leverage

Leveraging digital assets like templates and data is by far the most underutilized backlink building strategy out there

How can you provide value to others in a way that’s straightforward and quick?

Let’s go back to that broken link strategy as an example. Do you think HubSpot would find value in knowing ALL their recent broken links? You know, instead of just the one you want to replace?

Offer them the whole spreadsheet and ask for a link back in exchange.

Backlink Building at Scale

Want to learn more backlink building strategies?

I’m teaching a cohort-based course on backlink building.

backlink building at scale

What Are the 3 Types of AI?

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What Are the 3 Types of AI?

When asked what Artificial Intelligence (‘A.I.,’ or AI) is, common answers might include descriptions of helpful machines that do everyday tasks in place of humans or Doomsday predictions about the extinction of humanity brought on by ruthless robots that are hellbent on global domination.

While the above describes current and hypothetical scenarios involving AI, the full answer to the question is more nuanced.

the future of ai

AI is the science of artificially reproducing the equivalent of human intelligence in a machine for many practical applications. The great promise of AI is in its potential to replace the human workforce when performing tedious and time-intensive tasks. This vastly increases the efficiency and productivity of various production systems, operation, maintenance, conservation, and more.

There are 3 types of AI that vary in terms of complexity and what they are able to do, and we will explore them below.

AI Classifications

AI is classified by the degree or extent to which a machine can replicate complex human tasks and behavior.

As a rule of thumb, AI with limited capabilities of self-instruction and self-improvement would be considered a lower-level AI. AI that can do both and generally perform tasks at a level that equals or exceeds human capabilities would be regarded as advanced.

One method of AI classification gauges how the AI reacts to stimuli and refines those reactions for improved future performance. This method also discerns whether the AI perceives the needs of other intelligent entities and responds to them with the nuanced and complex situational awareness of a human.

jasper ai

Reactive Machines

This type of AI has limited capabilities, which amount to direct responses to stimuli. It can come close to human performance levels in narrowly defined roles and functions but cannot independently improve its performance by “learning” from past instances. Thus, ‘Reactive Machines’ can only perform tasks precisely as they are programmed to do, and no more.

Limited Memory

‘Limited Memory’ AI machines can respond to stimuli just as Reactive Machines do but have the added capability of referring to saved data to inform their future operational decisions, thus gradually improving performance. Limited Memory machines are therefore capable of “learning” independently. Many types of current technology employ Limited Memory AI, such as facial recognition, chatbots, and self-driving cars.

Theory of Mind

‘Theory of Mind’ AI is an advanced form of AI that does not currently exist in a commercial or public scope, as it is primarily theoretical. It would possess the ability to gradually learn about and understand each entity it interacts with (i.e., a human, a chimpanzee, or a house cat) by analyzing their habits, tendencies, preferences, needs, and even emotions or beliefs. The potential applications of this level of AI are tremendous, as it would autonomously develop and refine its understanding of the human mind and human behavior to a high level.

Self-Aware

This is the most advanced stage of AI, and it is purely hypothetical at present. ‘Self-Aware’ AI would be so advanced that it would have its own self-consciousness. This type of AI machine would have its own thoughts, beliefs, and emotions and have the ability to understand or identify with abstract ideas, philosophies, and the feelings of other beings. It would arguably be an equivalent of a human being in all but physical form and appearance.

What Are The 3 Types Of AI?

Suppose someone were to ask, “What Are The 3 Types of AI?”. In that case, one can also refer to the second method of AI classification, which breaks down AI into the following types — Artificial Narrow Intelligence, Artificial General Intelligence, and Artificial Superintelligence. This method of identification and related terminology is commonly used in the field of technology today.

ai seo content

1. Artificial Narrow Intelligence (ANI)

Artificial Narrow Intelligence, also known as ‘Narrow AI’ or ‘Weak AI’, is designed and programmed for a singular purpose. This is commonly used in contemporary applications, such as in the hands-free operation of mobile device applications via speech recognition. This type of AI is, in many cases, faster and more efficient than a human in completing the task it was designed and programmed to do — however, that is about all it can do.

2. Artificial General Intelligence (AGI)

Artificial General Intelligence, also known as ‘Deep AI’ or ‘Strong AI,’ is thus far a theoretical AI that can perform a task or mimic human behavior while also possessing the ability to adjust its future performance via experiential learning. In addition, AGI would also be capable of performing a much wider and more diverse array of tasks in comparison to Narrow AI.

In short, this type of machine can learn from experience and improve its performance independently. This type of AI would theoretically be capable of reaching human-level intelligence if given enough time and ‘experience’ (chances).

3. Artificial Superintelligence (ASI)

This purely theoretical type of AI would easily surpass all levels of human performance because of a self-learning machine’s unparalleled computational power. This translates to an exponential rate of learning that would enable the ASI to effectively master any task a human can perform and do it better and more consistently than any human.

The applications of this level of AI are limitless. Still, notable ones include maximizing efficiency in all areas of human life, from agricultural and industrial production, systems maintenance to relationship building.

To give some examples, this type of AI would be capable of doing the following and much more: advising humans via counseling, performing medical procedures, planning and building new settlements, fixing problems with urban or transportation infrastructure in the most efficient way possible, instructing humans in all fields of learning, building friendships and relationships with humans, directly facilitating the formation of relationships between humans, and directing groups of humans as a unit to achieve larger goals.

Key Takeaways: 

When asked “What are the 3 Types of AI?” many people will express their impressions of AI influenced by popular culture or sensational news headlines. The truth is that the science of AI is still in its nascent stages, and it will take some time to create truly advanced AI.

Nevertheless, the study and development of AI is an exciting and cutting-edge field in technology today. It would be no stretch to say that AI is the ‘future’ of technology. The potential of AI is truly staggering. Experts in the field are hard at work in furthering advances in this field. The development of AI will undoubtedly continue to drive breakthroughs in technology and provide immeasurable benefits to humanity and the world.