The simple answer is ‘yes’ – write blogs, which we can then regularly add to their website. Of course, it’s not that simple. Not everyone has the time, skills or simply the inclination to write a blog…
Google loves blogs though and has traditionally rewarded the best content in an effort to make the internet somewhere which prioritises good practice, while penalising content which doesn’t have the reader as its priority.
In its ongoing goal to achieve this, the search engine recently rolled out its ‘Helpful Content Update’ which, as Google explains is ‘part of a broader effort to ensure people see more original, helpful content written by people, for people, in search results’.
But, of course, blogs take time to write and are often not a priority when you’ve got customers to look after. There’s also a cost involved – whether that’s the time which a team member takes to write the blog or the bill an outsourced copywriter will send you.
However, it seems that the solution could have arrived in the shape of ChatGPT and it’s free! Launched in November 2022, this is a mind-blowing piece of software which will write your blog for you (or, in theory your school essay or university thesis)!
On the face of it, ChatGPT is an awe-inspiring example of AI. But wait, if it’s written by a machine, then surely it’s going to read like the equivalent of those disembodied voices you hear on social media?! To be honest though, it’s not bad at all.
Let’s give it a go. We logged onto ChatGPT at 4.30pm on a Tuesday afternoon but got the message ‘ChatGPT is at capacity right now’. That’s one downside. It is extremely popular and you very often have to wait your turn.
It actually took a few hours of checking back in before we were able to use ChatGPT, but when this was possible, we asked for copy on ‘why writing blogs for your website is important’ and this is exactly what it gave us, written in front of our eyes and delivered in a matter of seconds! This is just the first 150 words – ChatGPT continued to type after this. We haven’t made any changes at all:
It all seems too good to be true. However, Google clearly states that it wants to ‘ensure people see more original, helpful content written by people, for people’. The first issue is that this content, while fairly well crafted has been written by a machine. That said, ChatGPT is trawling through content which has been written by a person at some point somewhere…
Another point is that Google doesn’t like to see copy which is ‘lifted’ or simply copied from other sites. If you are asking ChatGPT for say 500 words on a subject, then your competitors could be asking for the same, so the chances are the resulting blogs could be fairly similar. If this the case, Google could potentially notice and penalise you.
Of course, when writing a blog on behalf of a business, it is important to use that company’s tone of voice and there is nothing in the ChatGPT function which helps you to do that. ChatGPT also clearly writes in American English – although you can correct that.
However, using ChatGPT – or its growing number of competitors - could provide a starting point for somebody who really doesn’t know where to begin. Even if you end up rewriting a fair proportion of the content, it could give you ideas about points you might want to consider.
One reason that Google actively searches for quality content is purely selfish… it is the most popular search engine and it wants to remain in that number one position. Therefore, pointing users to badly written content could see people opting to use a different search engine.
Here at Target Ink, we’d probably suggest that if you’re looking for original content, then it’s best practice to use a copywriter and we can introduce you to some. In fact, we’re working on a new marketing hub called Tick-It which is ready to match you up with marketing professionals who suit your particular business. To find out more get in touch with us on the form below.
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