How to Use ChatGPT to Supplement Your Blog Content Strategy
I have been playing around with ChatGPT for several months now, and even in the early stages of its use, it is proving to be a very powerful tool when used the correct way (and before anyone asks… even though I am about to tell you how to use ChatGPT to write articles, I actually didn’t have it write THIS article. LOL).
One of the most useful ways I have been able to leverage it is in our blog content strategy. For context, we currently own 4 blogs in the pet space and are negotiating the acquisition of four more. Even with a full-time content editor and a team of veterinary writers, keeping the flow of quality and engaging content starts to become a problem.
So spent several weeks playing around with ChatGPT to come up with the optimal way to help supplement our blog content strategy. So if you are interested in seeing my step-by-step process for using ChatGPT, then keep on reading this article (and while I am at it, how about sharing it on social).
Before I get started, let me explain my view on ChatGPT:
- I see it as a great tool for pulling together the components of an article but strongly believe that it should be edited by a human to add personality and fact check (if you are putting your name in the author bio, make sure you 100% in alignment with the content)
- The quality of what you get out of it, is only as good as the input that you give it (read that twice). The better the prompts and the more information you give ChatGPT, the higher the quality of output you will get. I will give you some of my exact prompts later in this post
- Any facts or numbers that it produces should always be fact-checked and verified (I have seen it pull random facts out of the air)
- When used properly, it can help streamline the content creation process AND reduce your production costs/time (especially if you are not writing all of the content yourself)
Now that we got that out of the way, let’s get started ( I am going to have some fun with this article!). This next sub-section heading was chosen by asking ChatGPT — “What are the most searched questions around the topic of How to Use ChatGPT to Write Blog Posts”
How to Train ChatGPT to generate better blog post content
At this point, I am going to assume you have done the legwork — you completed your keyword research, you have your target keywords, you know the style of article you are going to write, and you just need to start creating (If not, go read this article about keyword research).
The first thing I do (which I think a lot of people don’t take the time to do) is give ChatGPT some core details about the blog to use as a baseline of information. Since we have several blogs, and each one has its own tone and slightly different reader base, I want to make sure it understands WHO we are talking to, and how to talk to them. For example, the reader that goes to Alphatraineddog.com is going to be expecting a different tone and style of writing versus someone that is going to technobark.com and looking for reviews of the latest tech and gadgets for their dog.
Step 1: I want to provide demographics and background on the blog that the article will be created for. In this case, I would use a prompt like this: Alphatraineddog.com is a blog about dog training tips and techniques. The target audience is predominantly US-based dog owners that are looking to train their dog on everything from basic commands, how to walk without a leash, and how to correct bad behaviors. Reference this information moving forward
Step 2: Now that we have a baseline of knowledge to work with, let’s get an article written. Rather than asking for all the components of an article at once, I ask for it in chunks. Remember, the quality of the output is only as good as the quality of the input. So the main things that I want to convey in my prompt are:
- Tone of the article (professional, friendly, sarcastic, etc)
- Format of the article (listicle, advertorial, checklist, bullet point)
- Any specific topics I want covered (these could be questions around the target keyword from answerthepublic.com or a similar site)
For this article, we will be writing about “Should I train my dog myself or get a trainer”. Here is the prompt that I would write: Using the information provided, please write an in-depth article from the perspective of a dog trainer answering the question — “Should I train my dog myself or get a trainer?” Include the pros and cons of hiring a dog trainer versus training your dog yourself, tips for selecting a trainer, and best practices and resources for training your dog yourself. Optimize the article for SEO, include H1, H2, and H3
Lots to dissect there…. Could the prompt have been even better? Sure… I could have specified word count, told it the specific sub-headings, etc, etc…absolutely. At the end of the day, I am just using this as a framework for the article, so I want to generate enough content for my team to work with.
Here is a screen capture I did to show you what the output looks like:
https://share.vidyard.com/watch/ToBhabaqWUweJM9ci7EKrz?
One thing you will notice is that ChatGPT will sometimes stop an article short. According to Wikihow, there is a 500 word/4,000 character limit for each output, so all you have to do is ask it another prompt: Please finish the article
Step 3: Ok, now we have the meat of an article, so now we gather the rest of it. Google wants the article to be informative and educational, so I always like to get quotes from professionals in the industry. There are a couple of ways to go about this….
1) If your blog has enough traffic you can post it on helpareporter.com
2) You can manually reach out to professionals/experts to get their input (can be very time-consuming and people are not always responsive)
3) You can ask ChatGPT to find quotes for you
Since we are already in there, let's just give this prompt: Please find two quotes from professional dog trainers about the topic of this article. Include the name of the person, the quote, and a link to the original quote
If everything goes according to plan, it should produce results like the image above. Remember when I said that you should always have someone fact-check and review the content? Here is a great example why…. I decided to check the AKC link that ChatGPT provided, and here is what I found:
What??? Say it isn’t so…. It didn’t provide 100% perfect results?? This is why I think it is a great tool for pulling together pieces of an article, but I would never just copy and paste something it generates right into my blog.
Step 4: Now that we have the article, we THINK we have two credible quotes and their source (we will reach out to verify that the quote is real)… now we need a couple of more items from ChatGPT to finish this off.
Google favors articles that are informative and educational, right? What better way to make an article informative in Google's eyes than answering additional questions people have about the article topic? So my next prompt would go something like this: Please provide the 6 most searched questions around the topic of this article. For each question include a one-paragraph answer, and a link to the Google search results page
Why do this? I am sure there are some SEO experts that are going to rip me to shreds for this, but in my opinion, if Google wants your article to be informative then why not add additional questions at the bottom and link directly to Google's search results? (if anyone has evidence that this logic is incorrect, please get in touch with me or comment on this article)
So now we have the meat of the article, input from industry experts, and other common questions around the article topic… what’s next?
Step 5: In our case, this would go over to a veterinary writer to get fact-checked, some personality added, usually some extra content included, and images/graphics created.
Step 6: If we did our job correctly on step 5, this step isn’t needed, but it is always good practice to double-check your work. I recommend using a service like Originality or any of the software programs that check to see if it sounds like AI wrote the article.
Step 7: As an added measure, I like to run the article through Surferseo to see if there are any extra tweaks we can make to get it to rank higher.
Step 8: Last but not least, we either manually look for articles on our blog that we can link to in the article, or use a service like Linkwhisper to find links for you
Let’s wrap this up
There you have it…. That is my step-by-step process for using ChatGPT to supplement our blog content strategy. Not only does this allow us to produce content faster, but it also frees up a lot of the time it takes our writers to compile everything together, which ultimately ends up saving us 50–60% per article when everything is said and done.
What are the big takeaways?
- ChatGPT can produce some great, and not-so-great results… but it is going to keep getting better
- Use it to SUPPLEMENT your strategy, not BE your strategy
- Double and triple-check everything
- Add some personality to what it generates
- The quality of the output is only as good as the quality of the prompts (perfect your prompt skills, and you can create some magic)
This is by no means a perfect process, so if you have any to add to it, please share in the comments (it is a work in progress). If you found this useful, I would love it if you could share it on social and with other business owners. Thanks for reading all the way to end!
Lastly, after telling you to include other questions around the article topic, I feel like the loop needs to be closed, and I HAVE to leave you with this chunk of AI-created content (sorry, not sorry)
ChatGPT can help you write blog posts by generating ideas, providing content suggestions, and even helping you draft your content. By using machine learning algorithms, ChatGPT can understand the tone, style, and voice of your writing and generate content that is tailored to your needs. Additionally, ChatGPT can help you with research, fact-checking, and grammar-checking, making it an all-in-one tool for your blog post-writing needs.
The process of using ChatGPT to write blog posts involves providing the model with a writing prompt or topic and letting it generate content for you. Depending on the platform you use, you may need to train ChatGPT on your writing style and preferences before it can generate high-quality content for you. Once you have provided a prompt or topic, ChatGPT will generate text based on its training and the context you provide.
3. How do I generate blog post ideas with ChatGPT?
To generate blog post ideas with ChatGPT, you can provide it with a general topic or keyword and let it generate ideas for you. You can also provide it with some context, such as the target audience or purpose of your blog post, to help it generate more relevant ideas. Additionally, you can use ChatGPT to analyze existing content and generate ideas based on trending topics or keywords.
Yes, ChatGPT can help you with SEO optimization for your blog posts by suggesting keywords, meta descriptions, and other SEO-related elements for your content. Additionally, ChatGPT can help you with on-page optimization by suggesting internal and external links, optimizing headings, and more.
To train ChatGPT to generate better blog post content, you can provide it with examples of your existing content or your preferred writing style. Additionally, you can give it feedback on its generated content and correct any errors or inaccuracies. Over time, ChatGPT will learn to generate content that is more in line with your preferences and needs.
Some limitations of using ChatGPT for blog post writing include the potential for the generated content to be repetitive or lack creativity. Additionally, ChatGPT may generate content that is not completely accurate or relevant to your topic, which can require additional editing or fact-checking on your part.
