Rellify's Blog

Website indexing is the cornerstone of search engine optimization. Imagine it as your site being cataloged in a vast global library, where search engines like Google acknowledge its existence and present it in their listings. A Google presence is not optional—it's a must-have for the digital footprint of any thriving business.

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High visibility on Google can open the floodgates to web traffic and potential new customers. But before you can climb those search engine ranks, you need to make sure Google knows your website exists. That's where Google indexing comes into play.

Set the Stage for Search Engines: Indexing Your Website

First of all, what exactly is "indexing?" Well, it's the way that search engines, Google particularly, probe and rank pages all throughout the web. When your website sends out a signal that it wants to be included among Google's ranks, Google sends "crawlers" (information-gatherers) to your site to check it out. It looks for certain elements of optimization on your site and signs that your pages are user-friendly, high-quality, and expert.

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Imagine Google's index as a living, breathing organism—constantly evolving, never static. Its army of crawlers never stop scanning for new virtual territories to chart. To entice these digital explorers to your domain, you should:

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• Use Google Search Console to submit your sitemap — a map that guides crawlers through your site's structure.
• Use www.google.com/addurl to explicitly request Google to crawl and index your site or to keep certain pages out of the index.

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To confirm your site's URL submission and induction into the ranks of the indexed, a quick "site:yourwebsite.com/URL" search in Google should display your pages. Alternatively, use Google Search Console's URL Inspection tool for a behind-the-scenes look.

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Sometimes, you may want to keep certain areas of your site out of the public eye—like private admin pages—while ensuring your content-rich blog or store pages are fully indexed. This is where the "noindex" tag and strategic use of the robots.txt file come into play, directing crawlers on where (not) to tread.

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When Google Ignores Your Site: Troubleshooting Google Indexing Issues

It's important to verify the sitemap for errors and check your robots.txt file—it might be unwittingly turning away crawler guests. The .htaccess file could also be the invisible barrier keeping crawlers at bay.

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If not manually prompted, the indexing process through crawlers can take time, potentially up to three months or more. If you've rolled out the red carpet for crawlers and your site still isn't indexed, check for common issues. First, make sure the sitemap is error-free, because an incorrect sitemap will hinder indexing. Google Search Console can help in reviewing the sitemap. The robots.txt file may also contain directives that block crawler access, as mentioned earlier.

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This simple text file, located in your website’s directory, can prevent crawler access if it includes the following:

• User-agent: *
• Disallow: /

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For blocking specific pages, the commands would look something like this:

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• User-agent: *
• Disallow: /folder1
• Disallow: /subfolder2/subfolder3

Reaping the Rewards of Google Indexing

Once your website is indexed, you're in the running to achieve that coveted spot in Google's search results. A high Google rank is like striking digital gold, leading to more visitors and greater visibility. A robust sitemap doesn't just boost your SEO. It also enhances the user journey, and a positive user experience is a cornerstone of a website's success.

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Indexing is not just a technical SEO checkbox—it's your ticket to the vast world of Google search, where the visibility of your content, website traffic, and the satisfaction of your users can soar to new heights.

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Get help from the "indexing experts"

Here at Rellify, we're not only passionate about getting our clients' content published and indexed, but also ensuring they're reaching their target audience in web searches.

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Rellify's comprehensive content-development services include a review of index status, so that you know whether your content is being picked up by search engines. You can also monitor other indications of indexing, including impressions and Google rankings. Insights from our one-click analysis are derived from Google Core Web Vitals. While you can find these yourself through Google Search Console, what makes Rellify different is that we contextualize these insights. We use them to inform topic ideation and strategy tailored to your specific enterprise. You receive the information and direction you need to make informed, data-driven decisions about how and where to shape a most relevant and effective content strategy.

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Ready to find out more? We'd love to schedule a quick meeting to demonstrate exactly what makes Rellify different and how your company can benefit from our unique insights and services.

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Digital marketers are all vying to create content optimized for SEO, an acronym for "search engine optimization," but how did this practice come about in the first place? Read on to learn all about the history of SEO, how it has evolved, and where it's headed.

When did SEO begin?

The concept of SEO began before the inception of Google. According to legend, the rock band Jefferson Starship was at the center of SEO's birth in 1995. Promoter Bob Heyman received an angry call from the band when they were on the road and couldn't find their webpage.

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Several fansites had been writing so passionately about "Jefferson Starship" that they surpassed the actual band's page on SERPs. So Heyman and his partner Leland Harden boosted the number of references to "Jefferson Starship" on the official page, which catapulted them to the top of the rankings.

Who invented the term SEO?

According to this anecdote, Heyman and Harden invented the term SEO, but experts wonder how much of this story is true. Around that time, you could boost SEO performance just by including some inbound links, outbound links, and several references to your focus keyphrase, and posting content on a website that functioned properly. By the mid to late '90, several tech pioneers began using these tactics to see significant results.

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In 1997, the Webstep Marketing Agency was the first group to use the phrase "search engine optimization" in their marketing materials. And around 1998, Danny Sullivan, founder of Search Engine Watch, started popularizing the term and helping clients optimize their content to rank well in search engine results.

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By 2003, the term "search engine optimization" appeared in Wikipedia for the first time, cementing its status within internet culture as an industry of consultants and analysts formed to help companies rise to the top of search engine results.

The failed attempt to copyright the term "SEO"

Although the SEO industry was coming into its own, many marketers were using black hat tactics or word stuffing to improve search performance. In 2007, Jason Gambert, who may or may not be an actual person, tried to own the trademark to the term "SEO." Gambert allegedly wanted to protect the integrity of search engine optimization and save the internet from companies preying on consumers.

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Not surprisingly, other content marketers and SEO experts weren't too excited about this development, nor was the U.S. Patent Office, which denied the trademark by 2008.

SEO and the rise of Google

While SEO predates Google, the rise of this search engine juggernaut started by Larry Page and Sergey Brin has dominated SEO attention for nearly 20 years. So even though people refer to generic search engines, Google's the one that matters most in the history of SEO. Considering that Google accounts for almost 93% of search engine use, this dominance probably isn't going away any time soon.

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One of the main reasons Google broke through the pack of Yahoo, AltaVista, Dog Pile, Infoseek, Ask Jeeves, and others is because it provided better search query results. It has invested heavily in training machines to perform data augmentation and constantly improve its process. As of 2024, it evaluates more than 200 factors when determining SEO rankings, a number that has grown over time.

How has SEO evolved?

Since Google has been the dominant force in the SEO industry for years, many key dates revolve around the Google Core updates. Looking at the history of search engine optimization through a Google lens is a logical way to track how conventional search has changed over the years and which criteria matter most.

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Google has frequently introduced new algorithms to offer different features that improve the overall quality of results from searches. Matt Cutts, the head of webspam and search engineer at Google from 2001 until 2016, led many of these updates. Every algorithm update can bring agony or ecstasy to content marketers, as well as a shuffling of indexing of domains and determining what's actually "relevant content."

How have Google algorithms changed?

The history of SEO is full of changes to Google's algorithms, and they all work together to achieve the goal of providing more relevant content for the users. These updates tend to do one of three things: filter out spam and black hat tactics; prioritize fresh, relevant, local content; or provide relevant results for semantic searches.

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This evolution shows how conventional search has become increasingly refined. You can also see how different algorithms build on past ones. However, keep in mind that Google upgrades and refines each new core update. So even though an algorithm might be over a decade old, it's still impacting search results today. Version 4 of an algorithm will be quite different than version 1. Here are a few key algorithms that have shaped the history of SEO.

• 1996, Page Rank. This early project created by Sergey Brin and Larry Page helped pave the way for the juggernaut that would become Google. It weighted factors including domain authority and internal and external links. While this algorithm created a strong foundation for automatic indexing of the Internet, it was still vulnerable to black hat tactics.
• 2003, Florida. This marked the first major Google algorithm update, designed to filter out sites with large numbers of poor-quality links. They released it in November, and it caused a massive upheaval for many sites, right at the peak of the Christmas shopping season. Unfortunately, many quality sites were labeled incorrectly, significantly hurting small businesses. However, the introduction of link analysis helped shape the trajectory of SEO.
• 2004, TrustRank. The TrustRank algorithm went a step beyond the foundation of Florida as a way to filter out spam and black hat techniques from search engine results. This algorithm helps to identify how trustworthy domains are, so users get quality results.
• 2010, Google Caffeine. This algorithm gave Google search results a nice jolt of energy, as the capacity for indexing articles increased. Search results were able to prioritize fresher content.
• 2011, Google Panda. Google Panda was designed to direct people to higher-quality sites, like news organizations, and minimize the impact of content farms with thinly written, poorly cited articles.
• 2011, Google Freshness. Some websites, like a good recipe, can be timeless, but the vast majority need  regular updates. The Google Freshness algorithm did exactly what you’d expect; it prioritized fresh, relevant content and was an improvement over Caffeine.
• 2012, Google Penguin. Like Panda, Google Penguin took another hit at spammy websites, trying to weed out content that used stealthy techniques to boost their rankings. It targeted spam websites that set up pages with lots of external links linking to them to boost their domain authority and position in search results.
• 2013, Google Hummingbird. This robust algorithm offered a massive transition toward prioritizing natural language in search queries. Hummingbird prioritized natural language over keyword packing and unnatural attempts to fit in all the necessary words for an article.  This massive change represented a new trajectory and laid the groundwork for future improvements of artificial intelligence and natural language processing.
• 2015, Google Mobilegeddon. This update provided a big boost for websites optimized for mobile. Mobile optimization has created a much better user experience for people using smartphones to surf the web. Mobilegeddon, and the prioritization of mobile sites, helped catalyze this change. Mobile search grew from around 20% in 2013 to 63% by 2021.
• 2015, Google Rankbrain. This significant algorithm, which in some ways is an extension of Google Hummingbird, provided more clarity for unstructured data. So its main job is to understand what you’re looking for, even if you don’t use any “quote marks” around your query. For example, if you type in John Smith, it doesn’t look for all the Johns and all Smiths and identify where they overlap; it looks for the unique “John Smith’s.” It’s also a significant building block in the significance of natural language processing and its impact on search, as well as local search. 
• 2016, Google Possum. Does Google ever ask your location when you’re searching? Google Possum paved the way for local results. This algorithm update provided significant changes for local SEO and offered local businesses a way to connect with their audience. So if you look up “best fried chicken,” you’re probably not going to see results from a universal search of all the chicken places in the world. Instead, you’ll see fried chicken purveyors from your local region.
• 2017, Google Fred. If your website had been relying on black hat SEO tactics, you probably felt a dip after Google implemented Fred. This algorithm further sought to penalize poor websites with an overabundance of ads and fewer pieces of quality content.
• 2018, Google Medic. Anyone who has ever asked Dr. Google for answers to medical questions knows how important it is to have trustworthy medical sources in your search results. This algorithm helped prioritize websites with medical authority, like the Cleveland Clinic or Mayo Clinic, over others without medical authority.
• 2019, Google BERT. This powerful algorithm improved upon Hummingbird’s foundation and prioritized search intent and long-form keywords. BERT has improved search quality and prioritized relevance.
• 2023, Google Gemini. This update didn't replace BERT, but works in tandem with it. Gemini focuses on generative tasks and broader applications of AI. It aims to handle more complex queries, generate coherent responses, and engage in sophisticated conversations.

How BERT has changed

Google has updated BERT many times. Let's look at the timeline of how it has evolved.

December 2019: BERT Expansion

Google announces that BERT is now being used across multiple languages beyond English. This expansion helps improve search result relevancy for a wider audience by understanding the context of queries in different languages.

January 2020: Passage Ranking

Google integrates BERT into its Passage Ranking system. This update, known as the “Passages” update, allows Google to understand and rank individual passages within a web page more effectively. This enhances the ability to retrieve relevant information from long documents based on specific query intent.

November 2021: Improved Language Understanding

Google updates BERT to further refine its ability to handle nuanced language and complex queries. This includes improvements in understanding conversational queries and contextually rich language, enhancing the overall search experience.

March 2022: Enhanced Multilingual Capabilities

BERT’s integration is further enhanced to support more languages and regional dialects. This update continues to refine how BERT understands and processes queries in different languages, improving search relevancy globally.

April 2023: Integration with Google’s AI Ecosystem

Google announced advancements in BERT’s integration with its broader AI ecosystem. This update enhances BERT’s performance on complex and conversational queries, benefiting from new AI technologies and techniques developed by Google.

Google Gemini

You've probably seen the new AI-generated text box that appears at the top of some Google search results. This is the integration of Google Gemini, an advanced suite of AI models developed by Google DeepMind, officially introduced in December 2023. It's a rebranding and evolution of Google's earlier AI models, incorporating advancements in natural language processing and understanding.

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You might be wondering, "How are SEO trends going to change if Gemini presents the information to searchers automatically with generative AI?"

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First, Gemini's generative AI isn't employed with every search — only the ones for which the information can be most accurately and logically presented in that format. But Gemini is more than just generative AI integration, it's also an update to the algorithm. Gemini’s advanced natural language understanding (NLU) helps Google better interpret the intent behind user queries. This means search results can be more accurately tailored to match the context of what users are actually looking for, which is hopefully, your site.  

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Websites with high-quality, contextually relevant content are likely to perform better because Gemini rewards content relevance. With Gemini’s emphasis on understanding context and relevance, creating high-quality, informative, and engaging content becomes even more crucial for SEO and content strategy.

How does the history of SEO affect the future of SEO?

Producing great content has become a highly specialized process that often requires a team of experts and complex data sets and models. That's a far cry from keyword stuffing and link sharing of yesteryear's blogging.

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The core of SEO strategy has remained constant for decades. Search engines want to instantly give readers the best possible answers to their search queries. And companies want to be the ones providing those answers to potential customers. Content quality matters. As machine learning and artificial intelligence evolve, we'll see increasingly specialized search results that are based on relevance.

What are some basic tenants of SEO?

Let's look at some of the core elements of SEO when it comes to content and overall website optimization.

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• Keyword research. Identify relevant keywords and phrases that users are searching for. This involves understanding search intent and selecting terms that match your content's topic. While there are lots of SEO tools out there to help you find keywords, this is Rellify's bread and butter. We use deep machine learning to find the right topics and keywords that will resonate well with audiences and search engines.
• On-page SEO. Optimize elements on your own site to improve visibility. Content, meta tags, canonical tags, URL structure, and internal linking are all part of on-page SEO.
• Off-page SEO. This involves external factors that influence your site’s authority and relevance, such as backlinks, social media presence, Google My Business, and online reputation.
• Technical SEO. Make sure that your website’s technical aspects support search engine crawling (robots.txt) and indexing. Optimize page speed, mobile-friendliness, and secure connections (HTTPS).
• User experience (UX). Enhance the overall experience for users, including site navigation, mobile responsiveness, and page load speed. It'll help reduce bounce rates.

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This list isn't exhaustive, but it give you a basic idea of how to go about content creation in the context of SEO. Plenty of web analytics tools can give you insights and help you track every aspect of your SEO. Rellify makes monitoring your content's performance simple by integrating it into your content process. After publishing, you simply add your URL to the file in our content platform and click on “Monitoring.” Data and insights are imported directly from web analytics tools into the platform.

How can I make sure my content remains optimized for SEO?

Google continues to refine its algorithms, usually offering major updates twice a year. It's pretty clear about some of the ranking factors and guidelines, like prioritizing articles according to E-E-A-T (experience, expertise, authority, and trustworthiness.) But even if you're doing everything according to the latest guidelines, you might occasionally see an unexpected dip in your analytics.

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If you notice your content seems to be losing traffic without any logical reason, don't panic! It's probably due to a new Google core update. You might need to tweak a few things, but if your content:

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• is well-written ...
• has sound technical SEO ...
• is based on extensive keyword research ...
• and answers the questions people are asking ...

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then your organic traffic should return or even improve during the next update. For this reason, you've got to keep the long-term results in perspective. Sometimes you'll see quick wins, but annual performance is often more accurate than monthly metrics.

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These algorithm fluctuations are one reason companies like Rellify are so important. With a state-of-the-art custom Relliverse™ from Rellify, you can employ AI-assisted machine learning to crawl and cluster industry-specific data to find what's already resonating with your target audience. So regardless of the next chapter of SEO, you can be confident your content marketing efforts deliver strong results. Be sure to reach out to a Rellify expert to learn more about how your business can get 10x the returns with 10x less effort.

Creating content that resonates with your audience is more of an art than a science. Yet, even the most creative artists can benefit from a map to guide them. If you want to craft a narrative that not only captures attention but also fills the unspoken needs of your audience, having the right tools is essential. That’s where the Rellify Relliverse™ steps in, offering a lens by which to focus your content efforts with precision.

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In this piece, we’re peeling back the curtain on how the Relliverse™ isn’t just another tool — it’s the companion you never knew you needed, the one that helps you spot hidden opportunities and dodge foreseeable pitfalls. If you’ve ever wondered which topics truly matter to your audience, where your content has hit the mark or where it’s missing something, you’re in the right place. We’ll show you how this platform can become the compass that points you toward content success.

First overview: What's in it?

Oh, there’s a lot, even if not everything is visible at first. We partition the view into multiple sections.

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On top you’ll see the three parts your Relliverse™ is divided into: "Competitors", "Topic analysis" and "Articles".

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In the Competitors area you will see your own domain and the domains of your selected competitors for the Relliverse™ production. Below the listed domains there are four graphs that give you a quick overview of the most important KPIs.

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The next tab shows your Topic analysis. Here you will find the focus topics that we used to create your Relliverse™ and some information about connected numbers like their relevance, search volume, difficulty and subtopics.

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The third and last tab is the Articles area where you will see a list of all the topics that you saved during your analysis and the associated article suggestions for these topics.

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Let’s dive deeper.

The "Competitors" section: your competitors and important KPIs

In this first overview in your Relliverse™ you can see the listed domains of your competitors and yourself.

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Our graphs below the table give you an initial overview of where your company is in comparison to the competition. The colored markings make it easier to assign the individual domains. By hovering over a competitor in the table, you can immediately see where they are in the graph. The other way around, i.e. by hovering over a graph, it works the same way.

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The table gives you more details.

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Compare yourself with your competitors across all focus topics. See who is ahead and understand why. Recognize that many articles do not always automatically result in many top rankings. Find out why competitor X ranks for fewer search terms than you and still gets more traffic.

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We show you in detail for all competitors - for all topics combined:

• published articles
• articles with top 20 ranking
• average ranking
• estimated traffic
• traffic distribution
• search terms with top 20 ranking

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For all underlined numbers in the table: Clicking on them opens a pop-up with details. For articles, for example, we list them with a title, show the ranking (top 20) and traffic and allow you to open the article with a click. All columns can be sorted in ascending or descending order, so you can find exactly what you are looking for.

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Do you now understand which competitors you should pay particular attention to and which you could possibly neglect in further consideration? You can set a priority of 1 to 5 stars for each domain and filter by it both here and in the following sections.

The "Topic analysis" section: your topics, sorted by relevance

Explore the columns that will support you in building up your content strategy. You can always sort the results per column.

Topic

All topics we have identified for you are clustered into main topics with connected subtopics. There can be subtopics up to four levels deep. Click on the small arrow left of the topic, and the cluster will open up. This offers you the ability to dive deeper into your topics.

Priority

You can set a priority for your most important topics by select a number of stars (the more stars, the higher the priority). If you have defined a prioritization, you can filter the list of topics by clicking on the “Priority” button.

Relevance

This score is based on the distance to your focus topics as well as the demand (search volume). On a scale of 1-10 we indicate the relevance of a topic for you. A green relevance bar means that the topic is contextually similar to those topics you gave to us as your strategic focus. A gray relevance bar means that the topic has a lower similarity but is still connected to your business or topical focus.

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The number of colored bars goes a level deeper to support this approach. The more bars, the higher the topic’s relevance within the context of its green or gray status. And vice versa.

Search volume

This is the average monthly search volume for the topic. If you dive deeper into your topics, you’ll also see this search volume for every subtopic. That allows you to make decisions based on the demand for a topic if you choose to do so.

Difficulty

The Difficulty gives an indication of how strong the competition is for a certain topic and how difficult it is to rank for this topic with new content. A distinction is made between four levels, from an extremely competitive market (red) to very low thematic competition (green).

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In addition to these main categories, further information is displayed on the individual topics for all domains. "Articles" indicates the number of articles that have been identified for the respective domain and assigned to the focus topics chosen for the Relliverse™ and the related subtopics. "In Top 20" shows how many of your or the competitors articles rank among the top 20 for the topic. In the main view, this includes rankings for the main topic as well as for subtopics. "Search Terms" are all search terms for which the respective domain ranks. "Average Ranking" is the average ranking of all matched articles in your Relliverse™. The term "Traffic" refers to the number of clicks a page receives and is defined as the number of users who are likely to visit an analyzed domain in the following month, assuming that the average monthly organic traffic remains relatively constant. "My traffic share" indicates how much of the traffic for that topic goes to your page, compared to the competitors you defined. The percentage is based on the total traffic for the sites of you and your competitors, using monthly search volume and rankings.

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Filter your topics

You can filter your topics according to the priority of a topic in the topic analysis area. In addition, you can choose whether you want to see the data for all domains or just a selection of domains. If you click on the + button in the upper left corner you can add following filters: relevance, search volume, difficulty, subtopics, articles, articles in Top 20, search terms, average ranking, traffic and traffic share. By clicking on one of the options a small window opens in which you can select the range for your criterium and the comparison option. This way you can filter the data in the Relliverse™ according to your preferences. Filtered views can be easily saved using the "Save View" button so that they can be opened again later.

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Another feature is the display of the winners and losers for a specific topic. If this function is activated you can see which domain performs best for which topic and in which area (e.g. number of articles, search terms, traffic).

The sections

The topic analysis area is divided into five sections with different features and functions. In the section "All" you will find all the articles by you and your competitors, that are sorted in the topic structure created on the basis of your focus topics. By default you will only see the information for your own domain. "My Topics" shows the topics for which you have already published one or more articles. The topics listed also remain the same if you add further domains from your competitors for comparison. Even if they have already published articles on other topics, only the topics that you already covered are displayed. The section "Competitors Topics" will show all the topics that are already covered on the domains of your competitors. In the "Topic Gaps" you will find all the topics that your competitors already cover but on which you have not yet published any articles. "Saved" shows a list of all the topics that you saved during your research in the Relliverse™. You can save a topic by clicking on the bookmark icon on the right side next to the topics.

The "Articles" section: your saved topics and article recommendations

On the left-hand side of this area, you will see a list of all the topics that you saved during the analysis. You can either select all topics or a single topic to display the corresponding article suggestions on the right side. You can sort the article suggestions according to the following categories.

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In the “To Create” tab you will find new suggestions for your saved topics. The “In Rellify” tab shows all topics that you have found via the Relliverse™ and for which an article has already been created. All articles that originate from the Relliverse™ and are already online can be found under the “Online” tab. Here you can also see the calculated Pre-Score on the right side of the list. This shows you an initial assessment of the article for SEO and readability and provides an intuitive overview of where improvements may be nedded. All articles and article suggestions for bookmarked topics are listed in the “All” tab.

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Just like in the Competitor and Topic Analysis area, you can use filters, set prioritization, hide columns or search the suggestions. Once you have found an article suggestions you would like to write an article about, click on “+ Create” on the right side. You can also select multiple articles by clicking on the checkboxes next to the article suggestion and create or generate those at once.

Create articles

You’re ready to create your first articles? Let’s go!

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What are you waiting for? Check your Relliverse™, discover topics relevant to your business and your target groups and cover them in articles that people enjoy reading.

By Sebeastian Paulke - The advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) is speeding up the already fast-paced world of copywriting. Backed by the power of AI in content creation, copywriters can become more efficient and effective. Collaborative AI tools are designed to perform many functions, including:

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• Conduct keyword research.
• Improve SEO performance.
• Help develop ideas and generate content.
• Facilitate editing and proofreading.

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However, for all its strengths, AI still has limitations when it comes to replicating the depth of human emotions, creativity, and critical thinking. The key is to pull the best from your AI tools and human intelligence, so that collaboration leads to high-quality content. As AI continues to shape the future of SEO and content marketing, it is crucial for copywriters to use this technology to stay ahead in the digital landscape.

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The Role of AI in Content Creation and Copywriting

AI has revolutionized various industries, and content creation is no exception. AI copywriting tools are specifically designed to generate SEO-friendly content. These tools use natural language processing algorithms to understand what answers people are looking for when they type in a search query as well as the context and intent behind each word in an article created to answer that search query. By analyzing vast amounts of data, AI tools can generate highly relevant and optimized content that resonates with both readers and search engines. At Rellify, we can create a custom-made database — a Relliverse™ — based on your industry. We build neural networks for clients to serve their specific niches. In this way, we use content intelligence to make every facet of collaborative AI aim specifically toward a client's target readers.

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The impact of AI on content originality

One concern often raised about AI-generated content is its originality. However, AI technology has advanced to the point where it can create unique and original content. AI tools can analyze existing content, identify patterns, and generate new content that is not plagiarized. One form of collaborative AI occurs when copywriters use AI as a starting point to spark their creativity and then add their unique touch to make the content truly original.

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Strengths and limitations of AI in content creation

While AI has made significant strides in content creation, it still has its limitations. AI tools lack the human touch and intuition that experienced writers bring to the table. Generative AI may struggle to offer creative ideas, navigate complex emotions, or adapt to sudden changes in content requirements. Additionally, an AI text generator may lack the personalization and authenticity that a professional writer can provide.

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‍AI can excel in certain areas where human writers may struggle. For example, AI can process and analyze vast amounts of data in a fraction of the time it would take a human writer. It also can quickly generate content on a wide range of topics and in different styles.

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AI also can help with a challenge often faced by people: writer's block. AI tools can provide inspiration, generate ideas, and offer suggestions when a writer is stuck. They can also assist in organizing thoughts and structuring content, making the writing process more efficient. By collaborating with AI, writers can break through creative barriers and produce high-quality content.

For example, here are some of the ways a writer could use Rellify'scollaboration features long-form content:

• Get suggestions for headlines and subheads.
• Type in a question anywhere in an article and get an AI-generated answer.
• Break a logjam by highlighting a passage and asking the AI assistant to generate text to continue the thread.
• Get a real-time count of which keywords have been used, where they are, and how many times they appear.
• Get feedback on the quality of SEO components such as readability, meta titles, metadata in photos, and internal and external links.
• Generate a summary of a blog article that could serve as the meta description.

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Exploring the concept impact of AI on content originality

Collaborative systems integrate AI technology with human intelligence in many ways. They enable a content writer or content editor to leverage AI to the benefit of all parties.

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Some AI-powered collaboration tools allow multiple writers to work on the same document simultaneously. These tools also allow commenting, so that team members can communicate back and forth about an article from inside that article, and version control features. so that no work is lost. Another example is the integration of AI chatbots with content creation platforms, where AI can assist writers in real time by answering questions, providing suggestions, and offering resources.

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Long before an article is in the hands of a writer, AI copywriting tools can spur collaboration and streamline production of SEO-optimized content. Content marketing teams can take advantage of AI's ability to analyze data, identify trends, and devise a data-driven content strategy. For example, your content planning team can augment their own expertise by using AI to help with:

• Gap analysis.
• Content ideation.
• Keyword research.
• Content briefs, including blog outlines.

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The Future of Collaborative AI

The future of AI in content production and marketing is promising. AI tools will continue to evolve, becoming more sophisticated. But they don't have to be complicated. With Rellify, you can access the power of AI through an elegant, intuitive interface to achieve all the advances we've discussed and more.

We also make it easy to:

• Manage content calendars.
• Ensure timely delivery of content.
• Align your creative content with your content marketing strategy.
• Monitor the performance of your website copy.

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When it's properly harnessed, AI technology can lead to exceptional content creation and marketing outcomes. Contact Rellify today to see how content intelligence, backed by a custom-made Relliverse™, can take you from ideas to impact faster than ever.

By Jayne Schultheis - If you're using long-form content to achieve your marketing goals, you have to be strategic in every step. And no step is more critical than the first: ideation.

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Content ideation begins the content marketing process. You sift through potential topics looking for the "just right" fit between the stories you want to tell about your business and your target audience's search intent. And of course, you want content that search engines will choose as the perfect answer to your target audience's questions.

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At Rellify, we help clients create great content that gets seen by the right people. That's why we've harnessed AI in the topic ideation process, particularly in our latest development: the Relliverse™. In this article, we'll look at how to perform content ideation with AI to find keywords and build content that gets long-lasting results.

Machine learning and neural networks

Neural networks are a form of machine learning, and human neural networks are the blueprint for this type of AI.

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Neurons are nerve cells that process and transmit information through electrical and chemical signals. Each one has thousands of synapses that connect with synapses from other neurons. The synapses are "junctions" where neurons communicate with each other. The networks they form enable us to, for example, connect the smell of gasoline with driving a car, filling up a lawn mower tank, and fire, or to connect the sound of a siren with an ambulance, a speeding ticket and a feeling of overall fear.

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Think of an AI neural network as a huge, inter-connected web, where the strongest connections thrive. Through machine learning, the most relevant synapses (topics and keywords) are activated to further fill out the "web" of information. Neural networks create a clear, thorough, accurate overview of how people are engaging with a given topic on the internet. What's more, they can teach themselves to improve. Neural networks excel at topic ideation for several reasons:

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• Learning from large volumes of data. Neural networks can handle and learn from massive datasets. The accuracy and sophistication of the insights they deliver depend heavily on the quantity and quality of the data processed. The more good, specific info one receives, the better it can synthesize valuable material.
• Algorithms for pattern recognition and clustering. Algorithms in neural networks are designed to identify patterns and cluster data in meaningful ways. They detect patterns that are not apparent to humans and "connect the dots" in ways that would be impossible or extremely time-consuming for humans.
• Deep learning. A subset of machine learning, deep learning gets its name from the multi-layered (deep) neural networks that perform sophisticated analysis. These networks can make sense of data with a high level of abstraction and complexity, which is why they're used in advanced applications like natural language processing.
• Adaptive learning and evolution. Neural networks are not static. They evolve as they are exposed to new data. This adaptability allows them to stay relevant and accurate over time.

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Subject-matter AI beats general generative AI

There's a crucial distinction between general generative AI and subject-matter-specific AI, especially as it applies to content ideation and content marketing.

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‍General generative AI, like GPT-4, is designed to process unfathomable amounts of data from a massive range of topics. It offers general knowledge and versatile capabilities. Think of it like a general practitioner who has broad knowledge across many fields, but lacks expertise in any particular area.

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‍Subject-matter AI on the other hand, is akin to a specialist or an expert in a specific field. It's tailored to a particular domain, such as medicine, technology, or finance, and trained on datasets specific to that domain. This specialization allows it to provide more accurate, detailed, and contextually relevant insights within its area of expertise. It understands the nuances, terminology, and latest developments in its specific field far better than a general AI.

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Using the example noted earlier, a subject-matter AI would know which meanings of the word "gasoline" would help an article about electric vehicles rank high in organic search results (Hint: not "filling up a lawn mower tank" or "fire.")

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A subject-matter AI brings in-depth knowledge and nuanced understanding to topic ideation. It doesn't suggest bland topics for a content campaign or create articles with counterproductive tangents.

Introducing the Rellify Relliverse™

The Rellify Relliverse™ is our solution to your need for a subject-matter AI expert. We build custom-made neural networks for clients to serve their specific niches. Each Rellify Relliverse™ points the way toward reaching potential customers and satisfying search engines. Let's look at some of the specific ways a custom Relliverse™ works:

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Deeper understanding of topics/keywords due to the presentation of KPIs

Topic discovery, or ideation, is the first step in content creation. The incorporation of AI allows for the strategic consideration of KPIs (key performance indicators). These indicate to the brief-maker and/or writer exactly what the goals are for the overall campaign and each piece of content.

During topic ideation with a Rellify custom Relliverse™, you receive data on KPIs such as:

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• When topics and keywords spike in popularity
• Search volumes for keywords and topics
• How difficult it is to rank for certain words
• Which words are most relevant to each other
• How relevant certain words are to your core topic

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Understand how your competitors stack up

What's one of the first steps in making sure your content comes out on top? Know your competitors and understand what makes them different from you. A gap analysis conducted within a custom Relliverse™ helps identify differences between the current state of content and the desired state or goals. That is, it helps identify what your current content is missing and what you can do to achieve your objectives. Here's where AI's capacity to process huge volumes of data really comes in handy. By crawling the top competitors' websites and using deep language processing, Rellify can help answer these questions:

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• What are my competitors writing about? What should I write about to best compete with them?
• How many articles do my top competitors have on this topic? How many articles do I need on this topic to also be considered an expert by search engines?
• What keywords do I already rank for in comparison to my competitors? What keywords should I be using to get the highest visibility?

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How to use content intelligence to create great content

Now we get to the real fun — using the data from your Relliverse™ to create expert, relevant content.

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First, you use Rellify's Content Intelligence solutions to build your content strategy. This typically begins with lists of topics and topic clusters, all of which are unique to your business' specific path to ranking as high as possible on search engines.

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With Rellify's Smart Brief, you can easily build detailed specifications and outlines for each article. Use AI to do this with a couple of clicks or manually craft any part you choose.When it's time to start writing, you can prompt Rellify's Natural Language Generation feature to create text for an entire article.If you prefer, use it only to help you by suggesting a headline or subheads, or creating text to answer a particular question. The many AI functions operate from your custom Relliverse™ which understands exactly what kind of SEO optimization your content needs to catch the attention of Google algorithms. Our Article Intelligence Application will guide you on such factors as:

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• Quality of topic match
• Keywords and questions
• Text length/readability/structure
• Links
• Meta descriptions
• Titles

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As you write and edit, the article receives an R-score that reflects how it will perform in search engine results and connect with readers That's what makes Rellify different: better technology, better insights, and better results.

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Benefits of doing content ideation with AI

We'll conclude by looking at the way AI and human analyst teams each bring unique strengths and limitations to the table in the realm of content ideation.

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Strengths of AI in content ideation

As time goes on, these strengths continue to grow:

• Volume and speed. AI can process and analyze vast amounts of data much faster than humans. This makes it highly efficient for extracting insights from large datasets, such as all the material on a company's website, the websites of its competitors and the websites related to its business. Humans are prone to fatigue and can make errors, especially when performing repetitive tasks.
• Pattern recognition. AI excels at identifying data trends and correlations that may not be apparent to human analysts.
• Consistency and objectivity. AI systems can maintain a consistent level of performance without the biases or subjective influences that humans may have.
• Scalability. AI solutions can easily scale up to accommodate growing data and complexity without the constraints that it would place on human teams.
• Predictive analytics. AI can forecast trends and make predictions based on historical data, helping you anticipate content trends and consumer preferences.

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Why you still need humans to supercharge content intelligence

Machines might be useful for doing all the grunt work. However, humans are still an integral part of the topic ideation and content creation process. AI has certain limitations. Here's what humans bring to the table when it comes to content intelligence.

• Contextual understanding. AI may struggle with understanding context, especially in complex or nuanced situations where human insight is key.
• Creativity.While AI can generate ideas based on data, human creativity is essential for original thinking, emotional depth, and connecting with audiences on a more personal level.
• Ethical and cultural sensitivity. AI may not effectively navigate ethical considerations or cultural nuances the way a human can.
• Adaptability to novel situations. AI systems may not adapt well (or as quickly) to entirely new or unprecedented scenarios. It takes a human's quick decision-making to add real-time context.

At Rellify, the fusion of human expertise and AI can accelerate and improve the relevance of your content creation. Content ideation with AI enables you to make strategic decisions based on a custom-made Relliverse™, a neural network that identifies your best content opportunities. Contact us today to get a 30 day trial with no risk and no charge.

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By Daniel Duke - Exploring the intricacies of keyword density is part of unraveling the puzzle of the ever-evolving realm of SEO, where the conventional understanding of pleasing Google is no longer accurate. In fact, we shouldn’t even think about “Pleasing Google” when writing articles for our audience.

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In this guide, we'll provide an in-depth look at the concept of keyword density. We will challenge the common approach and reinterpret the concept. You'll learn that keyword density remains important for optimizing your website. However, the reason probably is very different that what you might think. Read on to learn about:

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• The original concept of keyword density.
• Reinterpreting the concept to emphasize readability.
• What is a good keyword density?
• Focus on quality content.
• How to avoid keyword stuffing.

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Understanding the Original Concept of Keyword Density

Keyword density is a term used in search engine optimization (SEO) to describe the percentage of times a keyword or phrase appears on a webpage compared to the total number of words on the page. It was used as an indicator of how relevant a keyword is to the content of a webpage.Many content creation platforms support this approach. They will tell you how many times you have to repeat which keyword in your text. This can lead to a disproportionately high repetition of a keyword. There are mainly two reasons why a platform defines one term as super important to the topic. Sometimes, it is due to high search volume for that keyword. The other reason is that the vendor wants to match or exceed the number of times a keyword is used on average in the top performing articles of that topic. But is this the way to go? Is this the holy grail to success in the world of content creation?

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Reinterpreting the Concept of Keyword Density

Not really. As search engines have evolved and become more sophisticated, keyword density is no longer the sole determinant of a webpage's relevance. (Why should it be?) It is still important that you include topic-defining keywords in your text. At the same time, search engines focus on the overall content quality, relevance and readability of a webpage.

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Readability: one of the really important Google ranking factors

Readability refers to how easily a reader can understand and comprehend the content of a webpage. It takes into account factors such as sentence structure, paragraph length, use of headings and subheadings, and the overall flow of the text. Google, as well as other search engines, prioritize websites that provide high-quality, well-written content that is easy for users to read and understand.

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High keyword frequency can lead to bad readability. Bad for the reader. Punished by Google. Bad for you.

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This shift in focus means that simply stuffing a web page with keywords to increase keyword density is no longer an effective strategy. In fact, keyword stuffing can now be penalized by search engines, as it is seen as a manipulative tactic to artificially boost rankings.

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Google's algorithm is designed to identify keyword overuse and penalize websites that engage in keyword stuffing. The algorithm analyzes the content of webpages and looks for unnatural keyword usage patterns. It is important to adhere to Google's guidelines and focus on creating high-quality content that provides value to users.

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Keyword density should not mean using a context-critical keyword as often as possible in a text so that search engines understand what it is about. Instead, it should ensure that no keyword is used too frequently in the text. (That's — by the way — what we offer in our Rellify application.)

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Simply said, it is about the maximum, not the minimum.

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What is a Good Keyword Density?

A good keyword density is the optimal frequency at which a keyword should appear in a piece of content to improve its search engine optimization (SEO) without overusing it. While there is no specific ideal keyword density, aiming for a range of 1-3% is generally recommended.

Can you calculate the keyword density for your text by yourself?

Of course, you can! Divide the number of times a keyword appears on a webpage by the total word count of your text. Then multiplying the result by 100. For example, if a keyword appears 10 times in a 500-word article, the keyword density would be 2%. They density for this article is about 1.6%.

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Less is More: Focus on Content Quality Instead of Keyword Counting

Content creators should aim for valuable, informative, and engaging content that is tailored to their target audience. This involves using keywords naturally and organically within the text, rather than forcing them in every sentence. By focusing on creating high-quality content that provides value to readers, your website is more likely to rank higher in search engine results. Furthermore, search engines now employ advanced algorithms that can understand the context and intent behind a user's search query. This means that even if a webpage does not have a high keyword density, it can still rank well. Requirement: It provides relevant and useful information that matches the user's search intent.

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3 ways to avoid keyword stuffing in your text

1. Prioritize creating valuable and engaging content that is relevant to your readers. Focus on providing useful information rather than obsessing over keyword density.
2. Instead of repeating the same keyword multiple times, focus on using synonyms and related terms as keyword variations. Care for the natural language and use it clearly and conversationally.
3. Ensure that your headlines and subheadlines accurately reflect the content of your text. Avoid stuffing keywords into headings just for the sake of optimization.

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Keywords? Whatever! It's All About Crafting Content for Real People

Remember, the goal should always be to create valuable content that satisfies your readers' needs. It is crucial to prioritize the overall quality and readability of the content. Search engines focus more and more on user experience and value. Remember the Google Helpful Content Update. That's why creating informative and engaging content should be your primary goal.

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Don't write for Google, write for your readers, potential clients, followers. That's all Google wants. Deliver matching answers to users searches. If you catch your readers' interest, if they trust you and come back to your content again and again: Congratulations. You nailed it.

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To learn more about how Rellify combines human expertise and AI to accelerate and improve the quality of your content creation, contact us today. Start now for 30 Days. No Risk. No Charge.

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By Daniel Duke - Here at Rellify, we're pretty passionate about using content briefs. They're an integral part of any content marketer's process for delivering expert, relevant content to customers. But how exactly does a brief play into the overall content production process, and why does it matter so much? We'll go over that here, covering:

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• What is a content brief?
• How to write a content brief
• What are the benefits of a content brief?

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What is a content brief?

A content brief is a document that describes what a client or editor wishes to see in an article, blog post or other piece of content. A brief contains the information a writer needs to efficiently complete the article envisioned by the person assigning it. An effective brief will include information about the client, target reader and essential elements of the article, and possibly an outline for article as well as useful sources. Even when the same person handles the planning, writing and editing, we recommend writing a thorough brief. Some might see this as a waste of time, but it's more efficient overall to start out with a brief rather than write an article without one and then make revision after revision.

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A good brief helps a writer:

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• Stay on track. This is especially important when a business is creating many pieces of content as part of a campaign. In such cases, you don’t want multiple articles covering the same subject matter and competing against one another. You want each one to have maximum impact.
• Save time that might be wasted researching and writing unwanted material. This also saves time for editors and helps get material published sooner.

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Writing a brief also forces the person assigning the article to develop a clear focus for it. Fuzzy, vague assignments can lead to fluffy, weak articles that won't rank highly in organic search results.

How to write a content brief with Rellify

Let's review how a brief is constructed to provide the maximum impact. For this walkthrough, we'll use the Rellify application's briefs process, but these concepts apply to any brief.

Focus keyword

This is the topic or “focus” of your article — the word or phrase you’re trying to rank for on search engines. All of your other keywords should relate to this term. The focus keyword guides the content's relevance, aligning it with user search queries. There are many tools for finding focus keywords and then keywords for specific articles. Rellify can use a Relliverse™— an AI-generated database specific to a client's business sector — to do keyword research. From there, it can detect the exact topics, keywords, and phrases that fit your brand and target audience's search intent. It creates a customized neural network of keywords that, when used properly, can strategically position your content to get picked up by search engines. This is one of Rellify's most advanced and groundbreaking features. However, you can still create an effective content brief in Rellify without it.

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In Rellify, once you've done research in the "Explore" tab and entered your chosen focus keyword into the "Brief" section under "specs," it guides the rest of your brief-building and content creation process.

Keyword research

Once you've found the right focus keyword, you're ready to find primary and secondary keywords to incorporate into the brief.

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Keyword research happens in the "Explore" tab, but once you've selected the keywords you'd like to include, they'll show up in the "Brief" tab under the "Outline" section. The writer doesn't have to use all the keyword suggestions, but rather the ones that most closely match the intent of the article. In the "Outline" section, you can indicate any keywords that you'd like the writer to know are "must-use" and "good to use." Be clear in the guidelines of your brief about how many keywords you expect to be included.

Content length/Word count

By providing a target word count , you allow the writer to better manage their time and resources. Although word count is not considered to be a ranking factor for Google, if you want an article to help establish thought leadership and E-E-A-T, a comprehensive (and thus longer) article might be called for. Your ultimate goal should be to match the text length to the user's intent and the nature of the topic, fully addressing it. At Rellify, we use artificial intelligence to analyze the top-ranking articles on your subject and recommend a word count in the brief tab under the "specs" section. With that recommendation in mind, you can still input whatever word count specifications you'd like within the text box.

Article type

Is this content meant to be a blog post? An in-depth guide? Is it a white paper that promotes or highlights your company’s product or solution? The brief should let your writer know exactly what you are looking for. It dictates the structure, style, and approach of the content, ensuring it aligns with the specific goals such as informing, getting leads, or entertaining the audience. In Rellify's "specs" section, you'll find a drop-down menu for "Article Type" where you can select accordingly.

Audience

This is a simple designation of who the reader is in relation to you, the content source. It's not anything extensive, but it helps pointedly guide the writer. It may fall into one of three broad categories:

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• B2B (Business to Business)
• B2C (Business to Consumer)
• C2C (Consumer to Consumer)

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However, you can write a more detailed description of your intended audience, including information such as search intent, demographics, and locality.

Audience expertise

A brief should set clear expectations for who your target reader is. While the writer may be an expert, that doesn't mean the reader will be. Tailoring the content to the level of audience knowledge improves its engagement and effectiveness. In Rellify's Brief, under "specs," you'll find a section titled "audience expertise," where you can select "general," "informed," or "expert."

Tone

Every brand has a unique style or tone that informs its content creation. In-house writers should have this down pat, but a reminder doesn't hurt. For freelance writers, direction on tone will be a big help — and probably save the editor a great deal of time and effort. It also helps to give a link or two to examples of writing that match the client's tone. In Rellify, you can describe the tone in detail in the Brief.

Top rankings

Checking out the competition gives insights into the content strategies and styles that are currently successful and visible in search engine results. This helps editors and writers understand the competitive landscape, audience preferences, and potential gaps in existing content. Naturally, you would Google your focus keyword to see what results it gets. When you identify your focus keyword, Rellify automatically crawls search engines to find the top three web pages that are ranking for it. In the Brief "specs" section, you'll find the links plus an AI-generated summary of the content.

Reading resources

You might trust writers to do their own research. However, if you come across good sources while writing a brief, it makes sense to pass along that information. It can help a writer avoid getting overwhelmed by the sheer volume of search results on your target keyword. You might save everyone a lot of guesswork by giving quality, directed background resources and detailed content information.

Outline

The background information has been set, now you can guide the structure of the article. You can write an outline based on what you see in competing articles, what ground you want to cover, and how you want to distinguish your article from the rest. The right structure, using subheads and bullet points to organize the material, makes it easier for readers and bots to gather information.

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Here's where Rellify's generative AI capabilities really begin to work for the brief-maker. Under the "Brief" tab, click on the "Outline" button. You will then see, on the left side, the focus keyword, primary and secondary keywords, and questions to answer. On the right, you have a blank field labeled "outline." To make full use of AI, you can create an outline with one click of the "Generate outline" button.

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You also can manually create a content outline section by section, starting with the title, the "H1." You can drag and drop keywords you would like to see in that introductory section. You also can write notes for what should be covered there. Then you proceed in the same way with subheadings — the "H2s" and "H3s." In any section, you can get AI assistance with writing titles and subtitles and with generating text that can guide the writer.

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The bottom line: you get to choose just how much you'd like to involve Rellify's article intelligence in the content brief process. It's totally customizable and can be altered according to the brief-maker's thinking and goals.

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Guidelines

You may have a few more instructions for a writer that didn't fit into the other sections. That's why, under the Brief tab, you'll find a third section titled "Guidelines." This is intentionally left blank so you can add background information or specific instructions. Or you can just write them a little note of encouragement or recognition for previous good work.

Suggested internal and external links

Linking is a huge part of SEO best practices. It’s essential to choose quality links to sources and include helpful “further reading” internal links. This information can be particularly helpful to a writer who doesn't know much about the content on your site. Also, be sure to say how many internal or external links you expect them to include. If you have expectations of where links should go in the content, include that info too.

Suggested metadata

This is “data about other data.” Suggest a meta title and a meta description. Even if you want the writer to take care of that, your suggestions provide more guidance on your vision for the article. Rellify's "article summary" feature uses generative AI to summarize any text you choose, which could be used for a meta description. You also can click an "AI support" button to general headlines."

Any media content you need

A big block of text, no matter how well written, is not inviting to the eyes. Photos, infographic and videos create an immersive and rich user experience. Compelling visuals also are a great way to generate quality backlinks and help with your domain authority. Because visuals are so important, the brief should make it clear whether the writer is expected to provide them. If they are, then detailed information is required.

Deadlines

This information helps with timely planning, creation, and publication of the content. It also helps in managing workflow and resources effectively. Depending on your content creation process, you might want to include deadlines for the following steps:

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• Keyword research
• Outline
• First draft
• Notes (if any)
• Revisions
• Approval
• Publication

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What are the benefits of a content brief?

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• Spells out the intent of the article. Content writers will do their best work when they’re given a complete picture of the article’s goal. It’s like looking at the picture on the front of the puzzle box as you put the pieces together. It helps tremendously with producing SEO-focused content.
• Identifies the reader’s needs. When people go to a search engine, they likely have a problem they’re trying to solve. Searchers may be looking for a particular product or just beginning to do research on ways to solve a problem. When a brief identifies the “problems” that are motivating searchers, it helps the writer craft relevant content that offers a solution.
• Improves efficiency. Even in a one-person content shop, writing a brief gets the writer/editor from idea to published content faster and more efficiently. Organization is a good writer’s bread and butter. Develop a content brief template to save time on any given project; you'll only need to fill in certain information once because it's the same for every article on a project. Establishing a good process with your content team or freelancers helps everyone get on the same page. This also can be very grounding for a writer trying to cover an unfamiliar subject.
• Helps with achieving goals and KPIs. KPIs reflect how well your content is doing. You want solid results on the metrics that best represent your company goals. Creating content briefs as part of a marketing strategy makes it much easier to achieve and measure the content performance goals you set for your content.
• Gets more mileage out of your content. Well-written, well-organized content has a better chance of being "evergreen.” This content doesn’t depend on current events for its relevance. It has the depth and lasting value needed to rank well in organic search results for years. And we all know that search engine algorithms change. When they do, an article crafted from a solid brief will need only minor tweaks, not an overhaul. A well-written — and well-structured — piece can easily be repurposed for email campaigns and other uses.
• Generates fully optimized content. Good content briefs include plenty of rich SEO keywords, directions regarding SEO best practices, and information about the intended audience. This all adds up to top-ranking articles. A well-directed, well-informed writer can do the majority of the SEO optimizing for you, especially with a Content Intelligence application like Rellify that tells you exactly what needs to be done.

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Streamline content creation with content briefs

Are you ready to use content briefs to help your writers produce winning results? At Rellify, creating a pointed, clear, and detailed content brief is an essential part of our full-service content marketing strategy for producing outstanding results. Many clients have already noticed significant gains in organic traffic, conversions, and leads since using Rellify. Ready to give it a shot? Experience a free trial of Rellify's Article Intelligence Application and explore the content brief process for yourself. If you're not exactly sure which of Rellify's services you need, schedule a consultation with one of our experts so we can tailor solutions to your specific goals.

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By Daniel Duke - Evergreen content, much like the branches of an evergreen tree, never loses its color or "goes out of season." But a pine needs water, sunlight, and carbon dioxide to stay verdant. Similarly, your evergreen content needs revision, cultivation, and updating to stay informative and relevant.

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Outdated information is like the Christmas tree in your living room in mid-February (if this is you, we're not here to judge, but we stand by our comparison). Don't settle for that. In this article, we'll review:

• What evergreen content is (and what makes it work)
• How to create it
• How to update it and keep it relevant
• Examples of evergreen content
• The value of evergreen content

What is evergreen content and what makes it work?

Evergreen content is material you post on your website that is designed to offer value and rank high in search engine results for a long period of time. It offers in-depth information that’s relevant to a user’s search on core topics. Because that content can stay meaningful and useful for years, it gives consistent content marketing results.

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It can be used as part of a strategic approach in marketing that focuses on delivering timeless, relevant information instead of directly promoting a brand or business. It seeks to build brand awareness by stimulating readers’ interest in an organization's products and/or services. This approach involves the use of both evergreen topics and evergreen content. What's the difference between these two?

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Evergreen topics are subjects people have always talked and thought about:

• What to eat and what not to eat
• How to start a new business
• How to get a good night's sleep

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Evergreen content is an article, blog post, white paper or other piece that explores specific aspects of an evergreen topic

• Ten foods to maximize fat burning
• The best way to use credit cards to start a new business
• Five relaxation techniques to help you get back to sleep

Articles tend to be long-form because of the depth of coverage, and writers use SEO formatting to make the copy easy to scan and comprehend. This content also tends to be:

• More general and not aimed at top experts.
• Informational rather than transactional.
• Focused on the long view rather than trends, the latest developments or the season.
• Fact-based, not opinion-heavy.

It's true that content based on trends, the day’s news, and emotion can bring a quick spike in search results, but it soon falls into the infamous Google graveyard, rarely to be seen again.

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Satisfied readers share evergreen content and link to it, making the SERP results improve even more. You might say it puts down roots. Evergreen content as an SEO tactic develops slowly, but gives a clear path to high organic traffic over the long haul.

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How do you make evergreen content?

To write evergreen content, decide on a topic that fits your marketing strategy. Think about what your customers want or need to know.

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You might not realize it, but you have plenty of sources at hand for evergreen content ideas. Look at the questions you get from customers, whether in person or through email, customer service centers, and your website’s help desk. Ask your salespeople and customer service representatives what questions they get.

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A best practices guide to creating evergreen content:

1. Do your keyword research. Look for keywords and search terms that support your topic. Consider long-tail keywords and use keyword keyword tools to choose the terms that will offer you the best return. Rellify includes AI-driven keyword research as part of our expert service offerings.
2. Make your keywords count.  Optimize your post by selecting keywords that show good search volume and a positive trend. A tool like Google Trends can help.
3. Consider search intent, the reason that readers are searching. What information do they need to make decisions about your organization? You’ll want to check the search engine results pages (SERPs) for a variety of searches to see how to position your content. One helpful technique: check each word’s ranking in the Keywords Explorer.
4. Consider the impact of the meta description, the short piece of information that appears below the blue link in a search result. It should briefly describe the content that readers can find if they click that link. Don't forget other on-page SEO like keyword placement, tags and links. Even the most well-written blog post can’t give long-lasting results if it’s not optimized for Google bots.
5. Write a headline that works. Some words that search engines like include “Best,” “Data,” and “Reasons.”
6. Create high-quality content that offers specific information, not fluff and generalities. If you are part of a company that creates its own content, make sure your in-house experts lend their knowledge to each article. If you are writing for a client, interview one of its subject matter experts to give your article the voice of authority. Aim for content that’s timeless, informative, and better than anything else on the topic. It helps to stay away from overly technical language and jargon, even though you want in-depth, authoritative content. Here's a guide to creating long-form content if you need help getting started.
7. Be sure to keep your topic fresh. Avoid dating it in any way.  Phrases like “Last month,” “Yesterday,” or “In April” will shorten its lifespan.
8. Work from a marketing strategy. Create a schedule to share your content across a variety of platforms, so that you can reach different audiences and spark engagement. Make the content shareable with the click of a button.
9. Link your posts together. For example, in an article on “How to Choose a Tire” include links to other pieces you’ve written on “Tire Treads” and “Seasonal Tire Usage.”

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If the process of evergreen content creation is stressing you out, Rellify has a solution. We can create a custom Relliverse™ that uses AI to help you find topics and keywords that are uniquely relevant to your prospective customers. And if you don't want to make the content yourself, Rellify's content experts can handle it for you.

Update evergreen content regularly

The value of evergreen content is its potential to drive traffic to your site for years because of its continued relevance. To maximize that value, however, it is necessary to check it on a consistent schedule – say, every two months or so – and update it as needed. You also should check after any search engine algorithm updates. This simple SEO strategy requires diligence more than technical abilities. Many companies offer this kind of service if you don’t want to take it on.When you update, follow these easy steps:

• Check for outdated information and correct it.
• Add new content.
• Check links to be sure that they’re still hot.
• Create and a new form of media, maybe an audio clip or a video or a slideshow.
• Add some interactivity; readers love to engage with polls and quizzes.
• Consider this as another opportunity to repurpose your content. Use it in emails, on social media sites, in print and in ebooks.
• Always, always check your grammar and spelling before re-posting. Little mistakes chip away at the trust and authority that you're trying to build.

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Rellify can help you make sure your content remains relevant over a long period. Our clients have access to expert services that monitor and revise content over time to make sure anything that's published has the highest possible ROI value.

What are some examples of evergreen content?

Because certain formats help readers grasp information quickly and provide answers in ways that clearly match their searches, writers use them often to gain evergreen status.

• How-to guides, checklists, whitepapers, webinars, case studies, and tutorials.  Evergreen formats like these are built to reach someone who needs trustworthy information.
• Glossaries. A glossary of important-to-understand terms is a natural setup for quickly satisfying reader queries.
• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs). This also provides a simple way to offer a series of keyword-rich answers to search queries.
• Listicles. This is another format for providing quick, easy-to-find answers. It's often used for trendy and newsy topics, but is useful for evergreen topics as well.
• Top tips about a specific subject. Answers “What’s the best way to …” questions.
• Product reviews. Answers another kind of “What’s the best …” question.

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Good content marketing strategy involves forming your topics around the questions asked at different levels of the customer journey.

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If you are selling elegant bed sheets, you might want to post an FAQ about thread-count and what it means for the softness of the sheet. Another blog post could cover how sheets affect the quality of a person’s sleep.

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For potential customers who are closer to making a decision, you could create a "How-to guide" on measuring beds for the standard sizes for twin, full, queen, and king sets of sheets.

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If you are marketing scarves, a tutorial video on the many ways to tie one of your scarves would provide valuable, timeless information. A listicle describing the fabrics used in scarves – cotton, rayon, silk – would be of general interest.

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A garden center could help establish its authority and expertise by posting a list of, or “the ultimate guide” to, the plants that work in your climate across the seasons.

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Evergreen content can come in many shapes and forms. Of course, you are reading evergreen content right now — part of Rellify's marketing strategy to provide user-friendly, SEO-optimized content that informs and engages.

Why is evergreen content important?

Evergreen pieces save you time and energy. You write it once and update it occasionally, and it gives you a strong, lasting return on your investment (ROI). Usefulness and timelessness are the keys.

‍Evergreen marketing can:

• Show potential customers, competitors and others in your network that you’re a thought leader as you share your knowledge.
• Generate higher search engine ratings. It boosts traffic to your site in general, not only to the one article.
• Consistently generate leads.
• Help with building backlinks.
• Serve as a source for other content as you repurpose it in email marketing, social media and other platforms.

Is it time to go green?

Are you ready to start producing valuable content that changes the way you approach marketing? Maybe you have plenty of material, but you're ready for a content upgrade.

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‍Rellify specializes in helping businesses create and overhaul evergreen content that naturally ranks high in search engine rankings with expert content services. Book your personal demo and see for yourself how easy it is to develop and implement your own customized content strategy.

By Jayne Schultheis - Have you read some text recently and wondered whether it was written by a human or a machine? It's the new normal. And it reflects why AI content detection has become the hot new tool. Schools want to prevent students from cheating. Medical journals want to be sure that they publish articles from scientists, not algorithms. And marketers want to make sure that writers are providing something new and insightful, rather than AI-generic articles.

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In this article — written by a person with extensive online content marketing experience — we will cover:

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• How writers can use AI to improve their articles.
• How to humanize AI-written text.
• Does Google penalize AI content?
• Can AI content be detected?
• How accurate are AI content detectors?

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How Writers Can Use AI to Improve Their Articles

Let's start at the beginning of the content creation process: topic ideation. This is the foundation from which you'll craft your content, and artificial intelligence has revolutionized this process, too. In fact, it's one of the most effective ways a savvy content creator can use AI.

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Rellify is a pioneer of this transformation, harnessing AI to construct Relliverse™ that are specific to each client. Each Relliverse™ we create is a company-specific AI subject-matter expert that provides a rich bedrock for content ideation. This sophisticated use of AI finds winning topics for individual articles and expertly suggests the strongest keywords for each piece.

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Next, writers can use AI to craft a detailed brief and outline, offering a structured framework for an article. And as the writer creates the new article, Rellify's integrated AI-based tools step in to fine-tune the content for SEO optimization. AI can be used to suggest a headline for the article, answer a highlighted question, continue text, and provide an article summary. These functions are also useful for writing Meta Descriptions, posting on social media and generating email promotions.

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In this approach, you use AI to enhance human-created text, rather than simply generating AI-text and trying to humanize it. Human creativity is amplified by AI's analytical prowess. Also, writers and writing teams receive a major productivity boost. In the end, you have content written for people, not bots — engaging to readers and favored by search engines.

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Does Google Penalize AI content?

Google says that it can recognize AI-written text, but doesn't necessarily penalize it. Google uses Natural Language Processingalgorithms that identify patterns typical of machine-generated writing to try to detect AI-generated content.

In a "helpful content update" in September 2023, Google said it wants to promote high-quality, audience-centric content that demonstrates expertise and satisfies search intent. The change from "helpful content written by people" to "helpful content created for people" suggests that AI-generated content isn't inherently problematic.

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Instead, the update emphasizes the creation of people-first content. It also highlights the importance of E-E-A-T. Google's algorithms look for content that displays the following qualities, apparently without regard for how it was created:

1. Experience. Does the content creator have first-hand or life experience with the topic? For example, a review by someone who has used the product has more reliability.
2. Expertise. The content reflects deep knowledge and background on the subject.
3. Authoritativeness: This looks at the content creator's reputation and standing among peers and consumers. A go-to source in a given field will get a high rating here.
4. Trustworthiness. This is the most important of the four factors. Assessing the authenticity of the website, Google rewards pages that are accurate, honest, safe, and reliable.

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These factors are especially important if your content involves Your Money or Your Life (YMYL) issues, such as health or finance. If flaws in your content could lead to health problems or financial losses for readers, Google's E-E-A-T assessment is paramount. AI-written content — with its propensity for inaccuracy — needs to at least be closely edited by a human.

Can AI Content Be Detected?

AI content detection tools are designed to distinguish between content written by humans and content generated by AI. They are not foolproof, however.

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They use machine learning algorithms to analyze written text and look for certain patterns that indicate AI-generated content. Generally, here’s what they look for:

• Writing style. AI writing tends to be overly formal and show a lack of creativity. Detection tools analyze the flow, structure, and written style of content to identify telltale patterns.
• Consistency and coherence. Machine-generated content sometimes fails to maintain context or coherence. It repeats points or fails to adequately develop ideas.
• Common phrases. AI models often use certain phrases more frequently than a human writer would, including certain types of conjunctions and transition phrases.
• Sentence and paragraph structure. AI text generators often optimize for readability, which can result in a similarity of paragraph and sentence structure.
• Semantics. AI-generated content may reflect a lack of deep semantic understanding or common sense reasoning.
• Statistical deviations. Detection tools can identify anomalies in punctuation, sentence length, and word repetition and distribution.

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The sophistication of detection tools varies, and they are constantly evolving. Of course, so are AI content generation tools. As AI systems continue to improve and learn from human feedback, distinguishing between AI-generated and human-written content will likely become more challenging.

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How Accurate Are AI Content Detectors?

The accuracy of AI content detection tools varies widely. It's influenced by several factors, including the complexity of the algorithm, the training data used, the nature of the content being analyzed, the context understanding, and the update frequency.

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There are several types of AI content detection tools:

• Statistical analysis tools analyze the distribution of words and phrases.
• Stylometric analysis tools assess the writing style, including syntax, grammar, and usage patterns.
• Machine learning-based detectors identify patterns that differentiate AI-generated content from human-written content.
• Hybrid tools combine techniques such as linguistic inquiry and word count (LIWC), n-gram analysis, and machine learning.

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Which tool is better? Well, it depends on the specific use case and the sophistication of the AI-written content being assessed. In practical terms, AI content detection tools are useful for flagging material that might be AI-generated. It can then be reviewed by a real human.

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Your Secret Weapon for AI Content Detection

Despite the increasing sophistication of AI, the fundamentals of what constitutes valuable online content remain unchanged. The gold standard continues to be quality content that is relevant, clear, and crafted with the reader in mind. It is both personable and search engine friendly.

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Rellify is at the forefront of producing content that meets these criteria. Book your personal demo today.

By Nora Firestone - At the core of the most successful blogs, you'll find the draw to be pretty simple: meaningful content. It's what keeps people reading, sharing, subscribing and returning for more. As it raises awareness of authors and their content, it also helps validate for search engines which blogs provide useful content worth ranking.

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With the advent of artificial intelligence and its use in content marketing, the temptation has grown to use AI-generated content to keep blogs renewed with fresh posts. No need for content writers, just let AI do the work. However, this method produces mixed results.

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And that's where content intelligence comes into play. With that approach, we can use AI as successfully as a helpful content creation tool.

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In this article, we'll explain what we mean by content intelligence. We’ll also share blog ideas and tips for how it can help you create compelling content that’ll keep your audience growing and coming back for more.

What is content intelligence?

Content intelligence refers to the use of AI-powered data collection and analytics to help inform and shape content creation, planning, optimization and distribution strategies. At Rellify, we look at it as part of our core vision and purpose: AI support for human intelligence in end-to-end content development. This includes using advanced algorithms and machine learning techniques to:

• Better understand your target audience, their preferences and the topics that resonate with them the most.
• Identify content creation and distribution gaps and opportunities.
• Apply data-driven insight and direction to develop quality content with increased speed, efficiency and confidence.
• Optimize your content and strategy for search engines and people and improve the reach, effectiveness and performance of your blog.
• Track and analyze the performance of your blog and articles. Make data-driven decisions to improve strategy, engagement, performance and results.
• Maximize your efforts overall, from ideation to impact.

How to use content intelligence to create great blog content

Now that we have defined content intelligence, let's look at ways you can apply it to your blog content creation. We'll include examples of how our proprietary Relliverse™ custom AI-as-a-service model help people develop high-quality content with more speed, relevance and impact.

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Whether you approach this manually or with the support of an all-in-one solution like Rellify is up to you. Either way, by leveraging content intelligence, you can enhance the quality, relevance and visibility of your articles for a more successful, valued and impactful blog.

Define your niche and get to know your audience

First, identify a specific industry or area of interest and expertise in which you can contribute value. Focusing on a niche allows you to target a specific audience, build a following and establish yourself as an authority.

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The right content intelligence tools will help you understand your audience's needs, search intent, engagement, and even the language and tone they prefer. And by further analyzing the AI-recommended high-ranking articles of others, you can tailor your blog style to resonate with your readers. These steps will help ensure that your content is not only meaningful but also relatable and engaging.

Ideation for blog post topics

No matter how well it's written, you don't have useful content if nobody is searching for it. AI can analyze the content that performs well in your niche and suggest relevant topics that are likely to attract and engage your audience. This helps you choose what to write about, saving you time and effort in brainstorming blog topic ideas.

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Rellify bases topic ideation on ongoing deep analysis of target audiences, their search intent, and market and competitor data. Think of this as your own personal blog idea generator. It’ll enable you to identify content gaps, both on your website and in your market, and quickly and easily select the topics most likely to generate traffic.

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Rellify’s Relliverse™ takes content intelligence to an even higher level, delivering deeper company- and competitor-specific analysis and insights. For example, filters help content creators drill down to where and how they can gain competitive advantage. They can see whether it's best to focus on topics that help them address:

• Expanding expertise.
• Building expertise.
• Delevoping a series (great for expanding and building expertise and improving SEO).
• Ability to rank.
• Competition.

Content planning, assigning and workflow

Apply the intel you gather to individual articles within a comprehensive content strategy. Plan and execute as follows:

• Set a publishing schedule. Remember to account for seasonal needs and events, holidays, and similar predictable factors.
• Prepare articles in advance by creating clear, intelligent briefs. A brief includes an outline for the article, keywords and other specifications. To help the writer stick to the main objectives, a content brief should be concise, purposeful and structured.
• Plan plenty of fresh content, which is key for maintaining the relevance, credibility and search engine optimization, or SEO, of a blog. It can take the form of new blog posts, updated articles, or timely news and trends. By regularly publishing fresh content, you can improve search engine rankings and better establish yourself as a subject-matter expert.
• If you're a content manager with teammates or contributors, involve them and keep track of the progression.

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It helps if you do all this right inside an end-to-end solution. For example, in Rellify’s browser-based Article Intelligence application, you can apply Rellify’s topic intel and smart-brief functions to easily generate precise briefs. Give writers the clarity and direction they need to create relevant, engaging content that resonates and performs. Plan, schedule, assign, write, edit, collaborate and oversee the entire workflow process within a single, centralized powerful hub. Ready to export to your website for publishing? One click: Done.

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Keep it real: AI-generated content vs. the human touch

In today’s content marketing world, content intelligence can involve using AI for automatic content generation to boost production. AI tools exist for that purpose, and Rellify includes that capability. However, we recommend using AI to help human writers rather than replace them.

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In essence, AI-produced content is synthetic vs. authentic in nature. And it's often repetitive and inaccurate. AI cannot, yet, stand alone as a reliable, trustworthy source of quality content writing. Instead, capitalize on the powers and potential of AI augmentation in writing. For instance, AI-generated content can flesh out a good blog post outline, presenting ideas and important points to cover. Quality blog content will result when humans have reviewed and edited the material to ensure accuracy, relevance, quality and a people-first presentation.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]

Search engine optimization

SEO plays a crucial role in content marketing strategy. It involves optimizing your content to rank higher in search engine results pages, or SERPs. All along the process, good content intelligence should provide actionable SEO direction for optimizing content for search engines and readers.

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These SEO practices will help you boost your content quality:

• Content intelligence will provide insights into the keywords and phrases commonly used by your target audience. During topic ideation, identify and select relevant keywords for which your audience is searching. Incorporate them strategically into your articles to attract a larger segment of your target audience.
• Use keywords, phrases and other intel you’ve gathered in your meta titles, meta descriptions, meta tags and subheads.
• Linking adds cross-promotional and SEO value to your content. Embed internal links to and from other articles or resources on your own website. Embed external links to relevant information on other high-quality, authoritative websites, but avoid linking to your competitors.
• Promote your blog content via social media, newsletters and other strategies to increase its reach and authority.
• Pay attention to SEO insights provided by your blog-writing platform or application. For example, Rellify’s R-Score keeps track of things like keyword usage, sentence length, tone and more as you write and edit. It provides real-time direction for quick, easy and measurable SEO improvement.

Monitor and analyze your content’s performance

Track the performance of your blog and published articles with an analytics tool or integration. Identify what works and what doesn't, and make informed decisions for improving your content strategy, ranking higher in searches and increasing organic traffic to your blog.

Revamp old content

Revamping old content is a great way to breathe new life into your blog, and content intelligence makes it easy to turn an underperforming, lackluster article into a quality blog post.

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First, identify posts that need updating or improvement. In Rellify, conduct some topic ideation and keyword research and select the right keywords to integrate into your article files. Then load them into Rellify's "Write" module, turn on keyword highlighter, and watch for the R-Score to improve as you:

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• Check the articles for accuracy and relevance and revise them as necessary. Delete or update any outdated statistics, examples, references or other info. Do the same for any links they contain.
• Improve readability by adding subheads, bullet points and visuals. Break up long sentences and paragraphs to make the content more scannable. The R-Score's "Suggestions" feature will guide you.
• Add fresh new insights or perspectives; incorporate new research, case studies or personal experiences.
• Boost the SEO by optimizing them with your new strategic keywords, headings, internal links, meta data and more. Follow R-Score recommendations for ongoing SEO support.

Engage with your audience

Show your appreciation for your audience by using content intelligence to give them great content. As time permits, respond to comments, emails and social media messages from your readers. Build a community around your blog by not only providing valuable content but also encouraging meaningful discussions and interactions.

Contact Rellify for your personal demo today.