“Just use AI” they say… “Everything is easy now…” they say!
AI is storming into every facet of our lives, and this makes life easier in a multitude of ways. In website creation land, we see definite benefits but after the initial honeymoon period there are issues creeping in. They are subtle but can be devastating to those who use their digital presence to sell services.
If you are a human who needs your website to sell human services, or impact humans in a human way, this blog is for you…
The benefits of using AI for your website
The benefits of AI for business are clear: time saving, effort saving, idea creation, amassing and organising facts and thoughts and perspective. These are all crucial business needs, and this is why we see AI creeping into every realm of technology.
This is especially clear to those who are not writers. You can produce a whole page of content in 30 seconds. It is clear and perfectly edited, winning!
Right?
The issues when using AI text on your website
The issues with AI text are very subtle and for our clients in service businesses, education, NGOs and charities, they can be quietly devastating. For our clients, it is their very humanness makes them so important to their clients, patients, and community.
You can’t replicate a lifetime of human experience, human interactions, compassion and intuition with AI. AI can try, but will miss the minute-yet-crucial human ways of being.
And when you use AI text to communicate your business, the subtlety of these misses can be easy to overlook with your perfect paragraphs and smooth content structure. But your human readers know… intuitively.
A trail of red flags
Recently, ads from “proud NZ owned companies” enticed me. They have smart websites, local buzzwords, and local addresses in the footer. But after a minute of browsing, something just didn’t feel right. I couldn’t put my finger on it. Usually at this point a normal human would probably click x and close the website.
As one who analyses websites day in and day out, however, I felt compelled to understand why the experience feels intuitively wrong and took some time to investigate. This involved sleuthing business addresses, business registration numbers, estimated shipping times, as well as returns policies, T&Cs, reviews on Trustpilot, other third-party sites, and more.
In a two-week period, the first 3 that caught my attention via ads were not, in fact, local. Despite their claims, these appeared to be overseas companies, drop-shipping products direct from Chinese factories, with nothing Kiwi except for their marketing hype and their overly general addresses in the footer and URL.
The ad and website for the fourth example seemed to fall into the same category; interesting copy, almost perfectly crafted. Again, that intuitive red flag, more reading… this on their contact page….
In fairness, poor editing is not new, but this screams “I cut and paste from AI with no care”. Unlike the others, this company was eventually found to be based in NZ, but the AI content had the same effect on me, not human, no trust, no sale.
If you use the same tools to write your copy as the shills, and don’t take the time to humanise it, you create the same intuitive red flags for those who visit your website.
Will AI text impact your sales or community?
With product-based impulse sales, perhaps not so much. AI sales copy may trigger the more savvy among shoppers to look deeper, but intuitive red flags are not an obvious metric in analysis tools. It’s hard to tell what the metric is unless you are designing specific experiments.
For heart-based services businesses, not-for-profits, NGOs, charities, and those interested in personal branding… using AI content without the skills to ensure your humanness shows can cloud your message and potentially end relationships before they have begun.
If you are building customer relationships based on your expertise or experience, or building a community built on trust, or asking for donations or bookings, the subtle elements of intuitive human communication can be everything.
Note: If you can’t shake academic writing, these tips will work for you too!
How to avoid the AI text trap
So how do you let your humanity shine in your website content? Especially if you are not a natural writer?
1. Get a great human content writer!
The best way to humanise text is to get a human to write it! Ideally one who is good at writing!
If your copy isn’t that important (unlike, for example, sales or services pages) or if you don’t have the budget, (or a mate who owes you!) the next best option is a hybrid approach.
2. Use a hybrid approach to website writing
You can use the hybrid approach in two ways: first, write excellent AI prompts to get you started, structure the content, and inspire you; then, have humans rewirte and edit it…. a lot!
Or, write your copy as best you can, and ask AI to edit it, keeping as close to your voice as possible. Then, have a human writer check it over for you.
Skilled writers matter because perfect grammar is not the goal, AI text can do that. What you need is someone who “gets” language to bring out the unique, authentic, human, voice you need to connect on page.
In recent years clients have sent us a lot of AI text to finesse. Some had a good working base, but most of it does not and requires a lot of work to humanise it. If you are writing a tutorial or tech piece, AI text can work, but for conversational human, especially for conveying services, there is a subtle yet cringe-worthy gap. If you think your AI text sounds amazing as is, it’s likely you can’t spot the gap, but other people will.
3. Write in your authentic voice
Your conversational voice, your unique ways of communicating, the very essence of your passion for your craft and community, is essential to convey on your website. Think about your most dedicated clients/patients/community members. Your website is a conversation with them. How do you want your first conversation to be? Can a robot replace you in that conversation?
For the most part, AI has perfect grammar and structure, and lacks warmth, emotion, and heart. It is also extremely repetitive; it sounds like AI. This is why you may find several websites with VERY similar content in the same order. If your unique approach/perspective/voice is important, then let it shine in your content.
Time and time again we have experienced that the more authentically you your website copy is, the more of the right people will find you.
4. Read it out loud
Any time you want to review your content, sit down, and read it out loud. Ask others to do the same. Reading your website content out loud changes your sensory experience. It helps identify awkward parts and helps you hear how authentic it feels.
Does it sound like you?
Is it an extension of your voice and language?
Your website speaks for you… make sure you know what it is saying… intuitively.
If the goals of your website are to connect, educate, inspire leads/sales/bookings/donations or community engagement, then your website content is a crucial part of that equation. Potentially the MOST crucial part after being found.
Make sure you understand how your content lands for your website visitors! If you are unsure, if you suspect it is boring, impersonal or if you are guilty of heavy-handed use of AI or academic writing, get it reviewed, edited and get your content working for you.
