Is the AI-Generated Content on My Legal Website Violating Google’s Guidelines?
Are you a lawyer that uses AI-generated content for your legal website? Using AI-generated content allows you to focus on your clients and law firm while staying consistent with content on your legal website. However, AI-generated content may go against Google’s guidelines. Keeping up with a website while providing exceptional services to legal clients almost seems impossible. Furthermore, staying on top of a content schedule is even more time-consuming, so lawyers often resort to AI-generated content. AI-generated content is often used by lawyers as an online marketing strategy to increase website traffic. If you are a lawyer that uses AI-generated content for their legal website, it is important to consider alternative methods for content creation. AI-generated content is now considered to be a violation of Google’s Guidelines, and if caught, website owners will be penalized. Read this article to learn more about Google’s guidelines and penalties regarding AI-generated content, and alternative options to consider for content creation.
What is AI-Generated Content?
Creating content and publishing it to your legal website can contribute to the growth of your law firm. It increases the chances your website surfaces search results. For this reason, legal professionals utilize AI-generated software to produce content. Artificial intelligent generated content (AI-written content) is content that is created by a computerized program or an artificially intelligent program. AI-content generators provide users with content regarding a specific subject that the user requests. Essentially, lawyers are provided with content for blogs that were written by a computer. AI-generated content is a quick, cheap, and easy way to publish content on websites. This allows website owners to quickly publish content without spending too much time and money on it.
Is AI-Generated Content Against Google’s Guidelines?
In the early months of 2022, Google’s Search Advocate, John Mueller announced AI generated and AI-written content violates Google’s Webmaster Guidelines. If you use AI writing tools for the legal content on your website, you are going against Google’s guidelines. AI-generated content, or auto-generated content, is considered to be spam content, which is also against Google’s guidelines. Spam content is content created solely to improve SEO. Typically, it does not provide value and negatively impacts the performance of a website.
Will Google Penalize Website Owners for AI-Written Content on Their Website?
Google advances its approach and capabilities each year. Google can detect if a website uses AI-generated content. However, this is not the case for all AI-generated content. There is no saying if Google will pick up on AI-generated content and which websites it will penalize for AI-written content. It will depend on the AI-generated content itself, its value, text, and information.Besides Google potentially catching on to AI-generated content, if a web user feels the content is invaluable or feels a website is violating Google’s guidelines, they can submit a manual actions report where the website will be further investigated.
What is Google’s Penalty for AI-generated Content?
If Google detects AI-generated content on your legal website, it will significantly impact your online presence, the growth of your legal website, and law firm business. The following can occur as a result of being penalized for AI-generated content:
The pages that violated Google’s Guidelines will receive a low ranking
Your entire website will receive a low ranking
The pages that violated Google’s Guidelines will be completely omitted from search results
Your entire website will be completely omitted from search results.
If any of the above were to occur, your legal website decreases its visibility, SEO, website traffic, and ranking. Furthermore, your legal website may not display as a search result at all.
Will I be Notified if My Website is Penalized by Google?
If you receive a penalization for violating Google’s guidelines, Google will notify you by sending a message in the search console message center and in the report of the manual actions.
Why is AI-generated Content Against Google’s Guidelines?
As previously mentioned, AI-generated content is spam content. Website owners that use AI-generated content are not thinking about providing valuable information to their viewers. Instead, they are trying to take a shortcut to rank on search egnines, which isnt fair to their website visitors or competitors that are effectively creating valuable content.
Why am I being Penalized for AI-generated content?
It is unfair to receive a high rank on search engines driven by AI-generated content because there is content that was created by employees that dedicated hours of time to create efficient, valuable information. Furthermore, the task of any given website is to provide valuable information to website visitors, and it is difficult for AI-generated content to accomplish this task. For this reason, Google decided in order to defeat spam content and improve searches, they must penalize websites that contain AI-generated content.
What Type of Content will be Flagged as AI-generated content?
Your AI-generated content may be flagged for several different reasons. Here are a few reasons why your AI-generated content may be flagged as violating Google’s Guidelines:
If a page has keywords but does not have any meaning or purpose
If a page contains text from an automated tool and was published without being thoroughly reviewed by a human
If the content was created and generated using an automated process
If content does not provide value to its readers
To read more about what will be flagged as AI-generated content, visit Google’s guideline page.
Is AI-generated Content Beneficial?
AI-generated content can be beneficial for your website if it effectively serves as a marketing strategy. If it increases your website visibility, search engine ranking, and website traffic, then it is beneficial. However, oftentimes this is not the case. There is much more that affects a website's online presence and performance than just its content. Many lawyers take the risk and test out AI-generated content because they do not have to hire a writer or write the content themselves.
How does Google Detect AI-generated Content?
AI-generated content is easy to detect because oftentimes it does not provide valuable information and does not make much sense. Though AI has come a long way, it has not quite accomplished writing effective content. Google easily detects AI-written content because it is difficult to read and understand, is low quality, is messy, and contains many errors.
How do I Avoid Google Penalties because of AI-generated Content on my Website?
If you currently use AI-generated content for your legal website, consider creating content on your own to avoid Google’s penalties. If you currently have AI-generated content throughout the pages of your website, consider editing and revising all of them. Avoid penalties by editing and revising AI-generated while also updating the pages of your website. Though this can quickly become time-consuming, you avoid penalties and decrease the risk of losing your website’s visibility. In order to improve your AI-generated content and avoid penalties, follow these tips:
Review:
Read over the content throughout your website and ensure all AI-generated content makes sense. For any content that is hard to follow while reading, revise it so it makes sense to website visitors that are browsing your website. It is likely you will come across illogical content.
Fix grammatical errors:
Grammatical errors are common among AI-generated content and it is an easy sign of AI usage for Google to pick up on. Use spell check and fix all grammatical errors.
Format:
The format of each article you post matters in the eyes of the reader. Make each article and webpage easy to read by adjusting its format. Add bullet points and separate the article into paragraphs.
Fact check:
AI-generators typically include statistical information within the content that they create. Ensure the statistical information that is included is accurate, or remove it from the text.
Research:
If necessary, conduct your own research to ensure the content makes sense and is accurate. Create interesting, thought-provoking headlines to rank on search egnines.
Expand:
Expand each article with valuable information you are knowledgeable about or have learned through research.
Can AI-written Content Really Affect My Ranking on Search Engines?
There are a number of factors to consider when trying to rank on search engines. One of them is staying consistent with content. However, the content itself is just as important. While it is possible for AI-written content to increase the possibility of ranking on search egnines, it’s not likely. AI-generated content is an easy way to publish more content on your legal website, but it's not nearly as effective as human-created content.
How do Law Firms Run their Business while Maintaining and Updating their Legal Website without AI-generated Content?
There are many effective marketing strategies you can use to ensure you are staying consistent with publishing valuable content. Valuable content is one of many website components that can positively affect traffic to your legal website. The more content you have, the more likely it is for your website to surface search results.Although AI-generated content is cheap and efficient, it is no longer permitted and could result in penalties that can put your website at risk. Consider the following alternate options:
Hire an Agency
Hiring an agency will allow you to focus on your law firm business and its clients. Online agencies create effective, valuable content on a consistent, scheduled basis. The content created by an agency is written by a professional in the legal industry and they write, publish, edit, and maintain the content throughout the pages of your legal website. Instead of risking your legal business and its reputation, hire a professional that can offer valuable content and contribute to the growth of your company. The alternative option is to write legal content yourself and manage the schedule when you have the time to do so. Creating your own content will require a lot of time and effort. Consider the following prior to creating your own content:
Content creation is very time-consuming
It may be difficult to write articles if this is something you don’t often do
Effective articles are lengthy
Content creation and writing will most likely take up all of your free time
The articles you create need to be captivating and interesting
Writing content requires proficient writing, grammar, and punctuation skills
Content is an effective online marketing strategy many lawyers use. It increases your reach and introduces your law firm to the right audience. The content must be purposeful, well-written, and free of errors for it to attract website traffic. Additionally, content should be updated frequently and articles should be published weekly.
Create Your Own Content
If you have decided to create content yourself, follow these tips.
Create a meaningful title
The title of your legal article is what will catch searchers' attention and increase website traffic, or leave them scrolling until they find an article they feel will best answer their questions based on the title. The title is what will dictate if you are able to answer their questions. Consider commons question that clients often ask. If you are a personal injury lawyer, one common question might be — How long do I have to file a claim? This question would be the title of your article because it informs web searchers that if they click on the article, they will be provided with the answer.
Identify your targeted audience
It’s important to narrow down your targeted audience so that your legal website reaches the right people. Your targeted audience should be specific. Consider location and practice area. This will allow you to write from a different perspective and create valuable content tailored to your targeted audience.For example, if you are a family law lawyer in Houston, Texas you will use keywords such as “Houston, Texas” “Family lawyer” “Custody” etc. The keywords a family law lawyer uses will be much different than what a criminal law lawyer uses.
Write purposeful and effective content
Effective, purposeful content will increase website traffic and convert clients. Research the topic you are writing about and elaborate on what you have researched, and discuss the information you already know. Ensure each piece you publish offers some sort of value to the reader and relates directly back to the title of the article.
Captivate your audience with the intro
When writing content for your legal website, you need to capture the readers' attention within the first few sentences to hold their attention and leave them interested in the services you offer.
Use effective keywords
Keywords are important so search engines recognize your legal website and display it for your targeted audience as a search result. However, if you use keywords without intent, Google will not display your website. Use keywords that are relevant to the article and include them in the necessary areas of the article.
Be organized
The way that the article is set up can steer website visitors away. Break up paragraphs, include headings, subheadings, and bullet points, and make sure each piece is organized.
Use images
Including images in your blog post adds emotion and allows readers to easily break down the text. Upload images that relate to the article and add to the article's overall message.
Insert links
Links are a great way to create trust and build credibility. Insert relevant links throughout your legal articles that will also provide readers with valuable information.
End your blog strongly
The last paragraph of your blog is just as important as the beginning. Conclude your blogs with a call to action to sell your services. Remind readers about the main points of the blog and explain a possible solution, such as hiring a lawyer.For example, a client searches “How long does a personal injury lawsuit take to get a settlement?” Your article provides them with a thorough description of the process of a lawsuit. Additionally, you explain how long it typically takes and direct them to your website for additional information and encourage them to contact you for fast legal services.
Get a second opinion
Writing content for your legal website is most likely new to you. Furthermore, you are most likely creating content during your time off where errors are bound to happen. Ask a friend, or law firm employee to review your article for advice and feedback. The second pair of eyes will catch mistakes you didn’t, and offer advice to better your writing.
Create a schedule
Creating a schedule is important for the success of your legal website. Google will recognize the consistent effort, and you will increase organic traffic and brand awareness. Stick to a schedule and hold yourself accountable. For beginners, try to publish 1 blog every 1-2 weeks.
Recap
AI-generated content is against Google’s guidelines. If you do have AI-generated content throughout the pages of your legal website, do not panic. Take time to make the AI-generated content into your own content and offer valuable information within these pieces. Otherwise, consider hiring a professional writer for your law firm. Review Google’s guidelines to ensure you are up to date with the latest rules so that your law firm website does not get penalized.
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