Artificial intelligence is sweeping through the content marketing industry, with 69% of marketers admitting to using ChatGPT for daily tasks.

But can we truly trust AI-generated content?

According to 63% of AI adopters, bias and inaccuracies are the biggest challenge when using AI.

AI bots are notorious for making up facts — and they do so with confidence!

Even a major tech news site like CNET.com fell for this, publishing an AI-written article riddled with wildly incorrect information on compound interest rates.

Fortunately, 88.1% of AI users say they verify the accuracy of AI-written content. 

This makes the role of SEO content editor even more crucial today.

In this blog post, we’ll talk about SEO content editor essentials and how you can switch from SEO to AIO as the era of AI begins.

Table of Contents:

• SEO Content Editor Essentials for the Era of AI
  • Keyword Research for SEO Content
  • Optimizing Visual Elements
  • Link Building Strategies
    • Benefits of Exact Match Anchor Text Linking
    • How to Choose Outbound Links
  • Editing and Proofreading
    • Mixing Up Sentence Structures
    • The Role of White Space in User Experience
  • Best SEO Tools for Content Editors
    • Grammarly
    • Hemingway
    • PageOptimizer Pro
    • Asana
    • Canva
  • Optimizing Featured Snippets
  • Importance of Fact-Checking SEO Content
  • Promoting Articles on Social Media
• Conclusion

SEO Content Editor Essentials for the Era of AI

What are some essential processes, tools, and tips for the new SEO content editor emerging — the AIO writer?

Here’s where to hone your focus.

Keyword Research for SEO Content

One of the most crucial aspects of creating high-quality, SEO content is keyword research. Tools like Google Keyword Planner help identify target keywords with significant search volume and low competition levels.

Once you have a keyword list, start adding them to strategic places such as:

• Title tags: Add your primary keyword to the beginning of your title tag to tell readers and search engines what your content is about.
• Meta description tags: Create compelling meta descriptions containing relevant keywords. Use actionable language to entice the user browsing search results to click your link.
• URL slugs: You should also add your primary keyword to your URLs. Keep them concise and descriptive to provide clear information about the contents of the page.

Keyword research is an essential part of SEO as it enables search engines to easily find your content and show it to your intended audience.

Visual Element Optimization

Accurately describing each visual element in your article can also help people find you. This is the purpose of image ALT text. These descriptions not only improve accessibility but also help search engines understand the context of images on your page better.

How to write descriptive and accurate alt text:

• Avoid keyword stuffing: While it’s crucial to include target keywords in your image descriptions, overusing them may lead to penalties from search engines. Maintain a natural flow when incorporating keywords into alt text.
• Be concise: Keep descriptions brief yet informative. Aim for around 125 characters or less when describing what the image is about.
• Create unique descriptions: Each image should have its own distinct description that accurately represents its contents without duplicating other existing alt tags on the same page.

Content editors should know both on-page and off-page SEO.

Link Building Strategies

Building links are also an important part of an SEO content editor’s job. Links from authority sources are one of the most effective ways to boost ranking as they represent a vote of confidence from a credible website to yours.

These links also provide valuable resources for readers interested in learning more about related topics while enhancing your website’s authority.

Exact Match Anchor Text Linking

An exact match anchor text is a hyperlink that uses the same target keyword as the page you’re linking to, making it easier for search engine crawlers to understand and index the content effectively. Using exact match anchor text linking can help improve your SEO, as link relevancy between pages helps search engines better understand their relationships.

How to Choose Outbound Links

• Relevance: Look for content that’s closely related to your topic, providing additional value to readers who want to learn more.
• Authority: Select high-quality websites with good domain authority (DA) or domain rating (DR) scores, which will positively impact your own site’s reputation and ranking.
• Freshness: Aim for recently published or updated content that reflects current trends and information in your industry or niche.
• User Experience: Create a seamless user experience by adding outbound links that open in new tabs so visitors don’t have to leave your page when exploring external resources

Why backlinks matter in SEO 

Editing and Proofreading

The main job of an SEO content editor is to improve readability, especially if you are generating content with an AI writer. Despite the advances in AI technology, its written output often fails to sound like a human — which is why you need an editor to add a human touch.

Mixing Up Sentence Structures

Mixing up sentence lengths can make your writing both interesting and clear. Shorter sentences are generally easier to read, whereas longer ones can provide depth when necessary. Tools like the Hemingway Editor offer suggestions on how to improve sentence structure for optimal readability.

In addition, making your sentences shorter and cutting the fluff will help ensure your AI-generated content is easier to read.

The Role of White Space in User Experience

White space makes your content visually appealing and easy to navigate. It helps break up large blocks of text, allowing readers’ eyes to rest between paragraphs or sections. This practice not only enhances the overall user experience but also contributes positively to search engine rankings.

For more on editing and optimizing AI content, check out the framework we developed: C.R.A.F.T.

Want to learn every step involved in our C.R.A.F.T. framework? You’re in the right place. To learn more about AIO and C.R.A.F.T, read our individual guides:

• C – a full guide on cutting the fluff
• R – a full guide on optimizing your content for SEO
• A – a full guide on adding blog images and visuals
• F – a full guide on how to fact-check
• T – a full guide on how to trust-build in your content

Additionally, subscribe to our blog, watch our C.R.A.F.T. and AIO tutorials on our YouTube channel, and read this blog to understand the AIO model.

Best SEO Tools for Content Editors

Optimizing content is easier with AI tools. Here are some of the best tools to help you with editing, proofreading, project management, content creation, and graphic design.

Grammarly

As a content creator, you know that producing high-quality content is essential to rank well on search engines. But it’s not just about keywords and metadata — your grammar and spelling matter when publishing online content, too.

Search engines are trained to identify quality content that provides value to users. Poor grammar or spelling mistakes can signal low-quality content, which can negatively impact your search engine rankings.

Sloppy writing can also affect user experience. Readers will quickly lose interest if they come across multiple errors while reading your content.

If you’re looking for an easy-to-use tool that helps improve the overall quality of your writing, look no further than Grammarly.

• Detects obvious mistakes: With its advanced algorithm, Grammarly detects obvious grammatical errors like misspellings and misplaced punctuation marks instantly.
• Suggests higher-level changes: Grammarly also suggests higher-level changes such as sentence structure improvements or word choice based on context analysis.
• Detects tone: Depending on what kind of message you want to convey with each piece of writing — whether formal or informal — this online assistant will detect tone issues. This feature ensures consistency throughout all pieces written by different authors so customers receive clear messaging from your brand.

With Grammarly, you don’t have to worry about missing any errors in your content. It comes as a Chrome browser extension and will detect spelling and grammar issues across the board, whether you’re writing emails or editing your blog.

Hemingway

Online readers have short attention spans, so it’s important to create content that they can easily understand. If your writing is complex or filled with technical jargon, users will quickly lose interest and move on to something else.

You want your audience to engage with your content while also satisfying search engine algorithms. This is where the Hemingway App comes in handy.

The free online version of the Hemingway Editor analyzes text for readability issues such as hard-to-read sentences, passive voice usage, or excessive adverbs or phrases that could be simplified for clarity purposes.

Sentences that need improvement are highlighted and color-coded within the editor interface. And an overall grade score helps keep track of progress.

PageOptimizer Pro

PageOptimizer Pro, also known as POP, is a powerful SEO tool that can help content editors easily optimize their work.

Using the tool is simple. Input your target keywords, domain, and target page, then choose your competitors and geographical region. The tool will create a detailed brief based on this information. You can export these briefs or work on them from within the POP dashboard in Excel or Sheets format.

• Better optimization suggestions: POP’s editing tool provides suggestions to improve keyword density without stuffing too many keywords into each sentence.
• Detailed report card: After creating posts with this software, you get a scorecard detailing how well your content is likely to rank.

Asana

Asana‘s calendar-based job assignment functionalities allow you to manage multiple content creation tasks efficiently. By staying organized and on track with deadlines, you’ll maintain a consistent publishing schedule that appeals to both readers and search engines alike.

Canva

Canva’s vast library of royalty-free images/templates allows you to design eye-catching visuals without infringing on copyright laws – essential when optimizing visual elements within SEO writing.

Content at Scale

Last but not least, if you want all of the above tools rolled into one — AI writer, editor, on-page SEO optimizer, and more — Content at Scale does all of this.

Create a long-form blog post on any topic, for any niche, in minutes, and then edit, proofread, and optimize using the in-app tools. That includes AI and plagiarism detection.

The app is so good, we use our own tool + AIO to produce all of our blog content… including the one you’re reading right now. 💫

Optimizing Featured Snippets

Increase visibility and click-through rates by optimizing your content for featured snippets. Answer questions concisely within your articles while fact-checking all information to ensure accuracy and credibility.

To rank in Google’s featured snippets, you must understand the types of queries that typically trigger these results. For instance, question-based searches like “how-to” or “what is” are prime candidates for optimization. 

Here are some techniques you can implement:

• Create a concise answer (40-60 words) targeting the primary keyword.
• Structure answers using headers (H1, H2) and bullet points or numbered lists where it makes sense.
• Include relevant images with descriptive ALT text.
• Perform competitor analysis on existing featured snippet holders and improve upon their content structure.

Importance of Fact-Checking SEO Content

Maintaining accurate information within your content not only helps you rank higher but also establishes trust among readers. To achieve this level of accuracy, always fact-check your content before publishing:

1. Cite reputable sources such as industry experts or research studies when presenting facts or statistics (avoid using anchor text like “source”).
2. Use tools like FactCheck.org or Snopes to verify claims made within your content.
3. Regularly update your articles to ensure they remain current and relevant, especially in fast-paced industries like technology or marketing.

8 steps to fact-checking SEO content

Promoting Articles on Social Media

Promoting your work on social media platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn is an effective way to amplify the reach and exposure of your content. By sharing your articles with a wider audience, you can increase traffic, engagement, and ultimately conversion potential over time.

A few tips on sharing content on social media:

• Create engaging posts: Craft eye-catching headlines and include relevant images or videos in your social media posts to capture users’ attention.
• Incorporate hashtags: Use popular hashtags to make it easier for your target customer to discover your content.
• Schedule strategically: Post at optimal times when your target audience is most active online. Tools like Buffer can help automate this process.

Conclusion

SEO content editors remain essential even in the era of AI. While artificial intelligence has revolutionized many aspects of digital marketing, don’t underestimate the human touch. We humans possess the unique ability to infuse creativity, empathy, and strategic thinking into our work, which can truly make a difference in attracting and engaging audiences.

AI tools can assist in optimizing content, identifying relevant keywords, and analyzing data, but they lack the intuition and contextual understanding that content editors bring to the table.

Editors understand the nuances of language, the target audience’s preferences, and the ever-changing landscape of SEO algorithms. They can craft compelling narratives, ensure readability, and maintain a consistent brand voice.

Moreover, content editors play a crucial role in ethical considerations of AI content. They can navigate the fine line between maximizing SEO potential and maintaining authenticity, ensuring that content remains valuable, informative, and relevant to users.

By combining the power of AI technology with the expertise of SEO content editors, you can achieve the best of both worlds. You can harness the efficiency and accuracy of AI tools while leveraging the human touch to create engaging, user-centric content that stands out in the digital landscape.

Here at Content at Scale, we’re already moving from SEO to AIO. Our human editors provide the necessary oversight while the AI generates content at mind-boggling speeds — ensuring we meet quality standards even when scaling content.

Free Resources to Train Your Writers into AIO

I’ve been personally training agency owners and teams and helping them convert to the AIO way. Want these? You’re in luck – we’re giving them away.

Free Guide

First, I wrote a full guide – a writer’s worksprint, links to our best tutorials and training, and even a job description template if you want to find an AIO writer.

Want this incredible resource? It’s called the AIO Writer’s Worksprint. Download now for free.

Free Step-by-Step AIO CRAFT Writer’s Training Course

Additionally, after months of putting AIO and C.R.A.F.T. into action (over 40M words are produced each month by our users at Content at Scale, and our Done-for-You client side is another 500,000 words/month! Talk about AIO at scale 🤯 ) – we put together a step-by-step AIO C.R.A.F.T. tutorial.

Ideal for you, your writers, and any content creator ready to adapt to the CRAFT methodology and the AIO way.

Enjoy!

New to the idea of AIO and CRAFT? Read this to understand the innovation behind AIO. 

Want a written guide that has all the CRAFT steps from the YouTube video? Your wish is our content command. Step-by-step AIO writing tutorial, blog version.