Developing a killer content strategy… don't forget the humans

In his Brighton SEO 2024 talk, Richard George from Wavemaker discusses the balance between AI-generated content and human involvement in content creation. Key points include:

Audience Focus: Despite AI's increasing role in content generation, George emphasizes that content should primarily cater to real people, not search engines.

Author Reputation: He underscores the importance of an author's reputation and expertise in content creation. Google, he suggests, rewards content based on the "fame" or credibility of its authors.

Hiring Expert Authors: For businesses lacking reputable authors, George advises hiring expert authors under license. This can help ensure high-quality, trustworthy content.

Human vs. AI: While acknowledging that AI can scale content production, George asserts that human authors bring invaluable experience, expertise, authority, and trustworthiness that AI cannot replicate.

Long-term Strategy: Building "fame" or credibility takes time. Businesses should focus on nurturing their authors' reputations for long-term success.

The Role of Humans: Despite the new world of AI-generated content, there is a crucial role for humans. The right human author demonstrates experience, expertise, authority, and can be trusted, which are key factors in successful content strategy.

In conclusion, George highlights the enduring value of human input in content creation amidst the rise of AI.

Transcript

1. Developing a killer content strategy… don't forget the humans Richard George Wavemaker @richgeorge speakerdeck.com/richardgeorge
2. 2 Wavemaker @ Brighton SEO In the new world of AI generated content is there a role for the human?
3. Inspiration Research Purchase 3 Wavemaker @ Brighton SEO We… Spend over six hours and nine minutes consuming content daily Source: Statista
4. 4 Wavemaker @ Brighton SEO Evolution of Content in Search…
5. Wavemaker @ Brighton SEO 5 AI, Content and Google… the story so far
6. Google has been using AI and machine learning for over a decade Wavemaker @ Brighton SEO 6 1998 2013 2015 2018 2022 2023 Google is born Hummingbird RankBrain BERT Multimodal Search ChatGPT Google Bard The New Bing Google’s SGE Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning Updates Generative AI 2014 DeepMind Acquired 2024 Gemini AI Tools
7. 7 Wavemaker @ Brighton SEO By 2025, 30% of content and outbound marketing messages from large organizations will be synthetically generated, up from less than 2% in 2022 Garnter report 2024
8. Does Google says its OK to use AI for content? IWavemaker @ Brighton SEO 8 https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2023/02/google-search-and-ai-content
9. 9 Wavemaker @ Brighton SEO Google’s updates March 2024
10. 10 Wavemaker @ Brighton SEO Google has once again said something that is not new… create content for your audience first, real people not search engines
11. First steps in developing a killer content strategy Inspirational Slides 11
12. 12 Wavemaker @ Brighton SEO Who are we producing content for? Who is your audience? How do they search around • Brand • Products • Topics How do they search? Devices and talk or type Where do they search? Search and social platforms
13. 13 Wavemaker @ Brighton SEO 01 02 03 04 05 Impact measurement Map to content existing and new Keyword Discovery Content creation and refresh optimisation Model opportunity Wavemaker content planning process
14. “Author / Authorship” 78 times
15. 15 • High level of trust • Reputation of the content creator • Authors web content have relevant experience & expertise • YMYL Wavemaker @ Brighton SEO
16. 16 Wavemaker @ Brighton SEO How famous are the authors of your content?
17. 17 Wavemaker @ Brighton SEO Google is looking for signals around the levels of expertise and experience to reward your content based on the “fame” of the authors. Garnter report 2024
18. 18 Wavemaker @ Brighton SEO Are you using high quality authors and what's the authors Bio and digital footprint?
19. 19 Wavemaker @ Brighton SEO How well sign posted is the author in content?
20. Analysing authors and building fame
21. 21 Wavemaker @ Brighton SEO Understanding your authors fame through advanced Google queries No information to signal author quality Googling and brand searches, expert contributions can be found Searching their name + “topic” shows quality results that demonstrate expertise Searching name shows quality results that demonstrate expertise. Google auto suggests modifiers such as “journalist” or “XYZ newspaper” 4 but also has Google Knowledge panel 03 02 01 04 05
22. 22 Wavemaker @ Brighton SEO Then analysing the competition pages Competitor Author page Author bios Schema ✓ 30 indexed authors ✓ Author bios ✓ Published dates ✓ Article schema ✓ Person Schema ✓ 12 indexed authors ✓ Author bios ✓ Published dates ✓ Article schema ✓ Person Schema x No author pages x Author bios ✓ Published dates ✓ Article schema x Person Schema
23. 23 Wavemaker @ Brighton SEO Then analysing the competition authors Do they have a Google Knowledge Graph? Yes No No Do they have a significant social following (1k+ on twitter / 500+ linked in connections) No No No Do they write for / feature in Tier 1 sites Yes Yes Yes Do they appear in Google Search Results for their name on known publications Yes Yes Yes Do they have a strong portfolio on muckrack.com (1+ articles in the last 12 months) Yes Yes No Overall rating 4 3 2
24. 24 Wavemaker @ Brighton SEO Creating fame for your content authors URL /authors/author-name Clear name of the author Bio highlight expertise and years of experience Include links other publications 2 3 4 4 1 1 2 3 4
25. 25 Wavemaker @ Brighton SEO Creating fame, signpost the authors to Google Article Pages – Schema Author Pages – Person schema Schema Property Example URL “https://www.uswitch.com/broadband/guides/full-fibre-broadband/” Headline “What is full fibre broadband, and is it available to you?” Description “Find out all you need to know about full fibre broadband, including how to check whether it's available in your area.” Date Published “2023-08-23” Date Modified “2023-08-23” Image “https://assets.usw.co/s3/uswitch-includes-production/img/favicon-32x32- 6b91462a15.png“ Author.type “Person” Author.name “Max Beckett” Author.jobtitle “Broadband Expert” Author.URL “https://www.uswitch.comhttps://www.uswitch.com/authors/max-beckett/” Publisher.Type “Organisation” Publisher.Name “USwitch” Publisher.URL “https://www.uswitch.com”
26. Consideration PR the person not just the brand Inspirational Slides 26
27. Fame The persons actions online can be +ve or –ve to the brand Inspirational Slides 27
28. 28 Wavemaker @ Brighton SEO What if your business does not have authors of fame or reputation to outpace the competition?
29. 29 Wavemaker @ Brighton SEO Help to find strong authors Screen shot from Ahrefs
30. Warning! Think about IP and ownership of the content Inspirational Slides 30
31. 3 Learnings to take away
32. 32 Wavemaker @ Brighton SEO Using AI to produce content can create scale. Produce content for the audience first not the search engine.
33. 33 Wavemaker @ Brighton SEO Fame can take time to earn… Look to bring in experts under license.
34. 34 Wavemaker @ Brighton SEO Remember the humans … The right author demonstrates Experience, Expertise is an Authority and can be Trusted
35. 35 Wavemaker @ Brighton SEO In the new world of AI generated content there is a role for the human!
36. Grow fearless Richard George Head of Organic Performance richard.george@wmglobal.com 07825 424803 https://www.linkedin.com/in/richardgeorge1/