The Dos and Don'ts of Blogging with?ChatGPT
Vishal Mehta
UX Design Leader ? Human-Centered AI Innovator ? HCI Specialist ? Design Systems Architect ? Data Visualization Expert ? Accessibility Advocate ? Judge & Scholarly Reviewer ? Senior IEEE ? ACM ? SIGCHI ? UXPA
ChatGPT is spoiling me! ??
I. Introduction
When I first started blogging, I was excited to share my thoughts and ideas with the world. But as time went on, I found myself struggling to come up with fresh topics and engaging content.?
That’s when I started exploring AI-powered writing tools — Jasper.ai,?Rytr, and a few others— that promised to help me generate ideas, refine my writing, and save time.?
Skeptical at first, I continued to explore more, learning the ropes — and eventually was blown away by the results. My latest go-to AI-platform is the most-talked about (and hyped in some respects) phenomenon:?ChatGPT. ChatGPT is helping me overcome writer’s block, generate new ideas, and improve the structure and flow of my writing.
Of course, using AI for blogging isn’t a perfect solution. There are certainly limitations and challenges that come with relying on technology for creative tasks. But after?2 months?of using ChatGPT, I can confidently say that it has been a game-changer for me. It has helped me create better content in less time, and it has allowed me to focus on other important aspects of my writing hobby.
Writer and entrepreneur Tim Fargo once said,?
“Good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment.”?
While using ChatGPT can be a valuable experience, it’s important to exercise good judgment to get the most out of the tool.
In this post, I’ll share my experience using ChatGPT for blogging and offer some tips and best practices for getting the most out of this powerful tool. Whether you’re a seasoned blogger looking to take your writing to the next level, or a newbie struggling to come up with ideas, I hope that my experience will inspire you to give ChatGPT a try.
(There are plenty of example prompts too!)
II. The Do’s of Blogging with?ChatGPT
As someone who has been using ChatGPT for blogging, I have discovered several dos that can help you make the most of this powerful tool to create compelling content.
A. Generate fresh ideas and?topics
One of the biggest challenges I faced as a blogger was coming up with fresh ideas for my content. But with ChatGPT, I can simply enter a topic or keyword and let the tool generate a list of ideas for me. It’s like having a brainstorming partner who never runs out of steam!
Example prompts:
“Give me 5 ideas on a blog post for a UX website”
“Give me 5 blog post ideas for a food blog focused on plant-based and vegan recipes”
“Give me 7 blog post ideas for a technology blog focused on emerging trends and innovations”
“Give me few blog post ideas for a parenting blog focused on raising children in the digital age”
B. Improve structure and flow of your?writing
I’ve found that using ChatGPT to guide the structure and flow of my writing has been incredibly helpful in making my content more engaging and readable. By using the tool to identify key sections and ideas, I’m able to create posts that are well-organized and easy to follow.
Example prompts:
“Create an outline for my blog on ‘Do’s and Don’ts on running a design sprint’”
“Generate few sub-sections for the second key section”
“Give my readers 2 CTAs for every section of my post”
C. Refine and enhance your?writing
I have found ChatGPT extremely useful to help refine and enhance my writing. The tool is able to suggest improvements to wording, grammar, and tone, which helps me create content that is more polished and professional.
Example prompts:
“Rewrite the above section using first person tone”
“Write the entire content using a storytelling language”
“Provide relevant quotes for each section”
“Give me 10 title ideas for this post that score high on SEO”
D. Save time and increase productivity
As a busy blogger, time is always in short supply. That’s why I appreciate the time-saving benefits of using ChatGPT. With this tool, I can quickly generate ideas, outlines, and even full blog posts without spending hours staring at a blank screen.
Example prompt (as a sequence):
“Give me 10 ideas for a blog post on UX. Titles only”
“Create an outline for the topic: {Insert a title}”
“Write 3 versions of meta description for the blog post”
“Write the first section using first person tone and provide a relevant quote”
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“Continue to write the next section, elaborating on all sub-sections”
“Rewrite the conclusion”
“Provide additional reading resources from around the web with links”
E. Personalize your?content
While ChatGPT is designed to generate text based on prompts and input, it’s still possible to customize your responses to make them more personal and engaging. I’ve found that adding my own voice and personality to ChatGPT’s output has helped me create content that feels authentic and unique to me.
I’ve personally found that using the tool’s output as a starting point and then editing and refining the text to better reflect my writing style and personality has been effective. Another approach I use sometimes is to have ChatGPT generate ideas and inspiration, but then write the content myself to ensure that it reflects my voice and tone.
Overall, customizing my responses from ChatGPT has helped me create content that feels more personal and engaging to my readers.
III. The Don’ts of Blogging with?ChatGPT
While ChatGPT is be a powerful tool for bloggers, there are also some don’ts to keep in mind. Here are a few mistakes I’ve made and learned from:
A. Relying too?heavily
When I first started using ChatGPT, I found myself getting lazy and relying too much on the tool to do the heavy lifting. But I quickly realized that this was a mistake, as it made my content feel generic and lacking in personality.?
Here’s my first ChatGPT article:
Instead, I’ve learned to use ChatGPT as a starting point, but then put in the work to refine and personalize the output to better reflect my own writing style and voice.
B. Generating content that isn’t relevant to your?audience
Another mistake I’ve made with ChatGPT is using the tool to generate content that isn’t relevant to my audience. While ChatGPT can be a great way to generate fresh ideas and topics, it’s important to keep your readers in mind when using the tool.
My article that I felt didn’t resonate as much with my readers:
I’ve found that taking the time to consider what my audience is interested in and what they want to read about has been essential. By using ChatGPT to create content that is specifically tailored to my audience, I’ve been able to build a stronger connection with them and provide more value.
C. Ignoring the importance of editing and refining your?content
One of the benefits of using ChatGPT is that it can help you generate content quickly and efficiently. However, it’s important to remember that the tool’s output is not always perfect and may require editing and refining.
One mistake I’ve made in the past is publishing content generated by ChatGPT without taking the time to edit and refine it. This made my content feel rushed and lacking in quality. ChatGPT can generate a lot of duplicate or repetitive content, which smells machine-like.?
Over the past weeks, I’ve changed my approach to treat ChatGPT as a partner, not a replacement — I take enough time to edit and refine the output to ensure that it meets my standards for quality.
My article with the balance of auto-creation and refinements:
D. Sacrificing my creativity and?voice
As I’ve mentioned before, ChatGPT is helping me write better, but it’s important to remember that my own creativity and voice are what make my content unique and engaging. One mistake I’ve made in the past is sacrificing my own voice and personality in favor of ChatGPT’s output.
While the inspirational and technical aspects generated by ChatGPT is certainly welcome, I always augment it by bringing in my own experience and narrative to the subject. ChatGPT cannot really talk about my personal experience — there’s no auto-generated personalized content possible — I need to bring that myself.?
I’ve found that it’s important to strike a balance between using ChatGPT to improve my writing and maintaining my own creative vision. By using the tool to enhance my own ideas and perspectives, rather than replace them, I’ve been able to create content that feels authentic and engaging to my readers.
The article where I sacrificed my own voice:
IV. Conclusion
In conclusion, using ChatGPT for blogging has been a game-changer for me. While it may not be a perfect solution, the tool has helped me overcome writer’s block, generate fresh ideas, improve the structure and flow of my writing, refine and enhance my content, and save time.
By following the dos and avoiding the don’ts of using ChatGPT, I’ve been able to make the most out of this powerful tool. I’ve found that using it as a starting point, rather than relying on it entirely, has allowed me to create unique, engaging content that stands out in a crowded blogging space.
One of my favorite things about using ChatGPT is that it has helped me save time, which has allowed me to focus on other important aspects of my blogging business. Instead of spending hours staring at a blank screen, I’m able to quickly generate ideas and draft posts, which has given me more time to focus on marketing, networking, and engaging with my readers.
While there are certainly limitations to using ChatGPT, I believe that the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks. By using this tool in a smart and strategic way, I’ve been able to create high-quality, engaging content that has resonated with my readers and helped me build a successful blogging habit.
So if you’re struggling with writer’s block, or if you simply want to take your blogging to the next level, I highly recommend giving ChatGPT a try. With a little bit of practice and experimentation, you may just find that it becomes an essential tool in your blogging toolkit.
Appendix — Reading?Material
Here are a few articles and resources from around the web on the topic of using ChatGPT for blogging:
These resources offer a variety of perspectives and insights on the topic of using AI, and ChatGPT in particular, for blogging. I hope you find them helpful!
Marketing Consultant | Entrepreneur
1 年Two aspects where a great writer will easily trump AI created content is storytelling and narrating a real life experience. These are also two of the things most people go to blogs for.? Nice article though!?
Product Manager at Walmart / Human Centered Digital Transformation and Innovation
1 年This is awesome! Very interesting content
Product Manager at Walmart / Human Centered Digital Transformation and Innovation
1 年Wow are you a professioal blogger ?
Digital Transformation Strategist supporting Partners with GTM strategy (Azure, AWS & GCP) for technologies in IoT| AI/ ML| RPA| Cloud | Cyber Security
1 年Good pointers, Vishal!