// Case Study - Gamertag Guru | AI-Powered Blog

So, let's dive into something pretty cool I worked on a little over 6 months ago: a series of NextJS apps that are not your average blogs. These are fully autonomous, AI-generated blogs. Think of it as blending cutting-edge web technology with a dash of AI wizardry. In this case study, I'm going to walk you through how this idea came to life, the nuts and bolts of building it, and all the awesome things I learned along the way.

Why Automated Blogging?

In 2019, I developed a blog that quickly gained traction, amassing over 5 million page views. It became my full-time job for a period, immersing me in the world of SEO. However, as I gradually moved away from the SEO scene, I observed an intriguing trend coinciding with the emergence of GPT. Google's search rankings were undergoing noticeable fluctuations, and the blogging community was visibly perturbed. It appeared that Google was struggling to filter through an influx of low-quality content.

This observation sparked a new idea. What if I could leverage OpenAI's APIs to fully automate the creation of blog posts? The goal was ambitious: to generate full-length, valuable blog posts that could ascend in search rankings autonomously. Armed with a few new domains, and the best droplets $4 can buy, I embarked on this experimental venture. The aim was to test the feasibility and effectiveness of automated blogs in a landscape that was rapidly evolving.

NextJS and OpenAI: The Winning Combination

When it came to choosing the right tools for this project, I had some clear objectives in mind: efficiency, SEO friendliness, and top-notch content generation. This led me to the winning combination of NextJS and OpenAI.

NextJS: A Game-Changer for Blogging

Choosing OpenAI for Content Creation

When it came to content generation, I wanted nothing but the best. OpenAI's language models are at the forefront of AI technology. Their capability to produce coherent, contextually relevant, and engaging content made them the ideal choice for this project. By harnessing the power of OpenAI's models, I was able to automate the creation of blog posts that weren't just filler text, but valuable content with the potential to engage readers and drive traffic.

Combining the technical prowess of NextJS with the advanced language capabilities of OpenAI created a synergy that was essential for the success of this automated blogging venture.

The AI Blogging Strategy: Focusing on Listicles

When it came to deciding the type of content the AI should focus on, I settled on listicles for several compelling reasons:

1. High Search Volume: Listicles are a goldmine in terms of search volume. They draw a large audience and frequently appear in search results dominated by low domain authority (DA) sites. This presents a unique opportunity to penetrate a market with content that's not only popular but also situated in a competitive space where standing out is still achievable.
2. AI Content Generation Constraints: Working with AI-generated content can be unpredictable. Without specific guidance, an AI tasked with writing a simple recipe might suddenly switch to explaining Python programming. Listicles, with their structured, straightforward nature, mitigate this risk. They offer a clear, concise framework that AI can follow more reliably, ensuring the content remains on topic. This format is ideal for AI-generated blogging as it maintains both relevance and coherence.
3. Large Language Models Perform Great For Listicle Queries: Looking to the future, I believe that the way people search for listicle-type content, such as baby name ideas, is poised to undergo a significant transformation. Large language models are exceptionally adept at crafting personalized listicles, often surpassing the results found in search results (SERPs). Within the next five years, I expect most searches for this type of content to pivot towards large language models rather than conventional search engines. This foresight into search trends adds another layer of strategic value to focusing on listicles.

Design and Architecture: Crafting an Autonomous Yet Quality-Driven Blogging System

The architecture of my automated blogging system is designed to balance autonomy with the generation of high-quality content. The system revolves around a central database and a series of AI-driven scripts and functions, working in tandem to create and optimize blog posts.

Central Database: The Foundation

The system is anchored by a central database that holds vital information such as blog topics, categories, and other essential details necessary for crafting blog posts. This database acts as the starting point for the content generation process.

The database is PostgresQL, hosted on Digital Ocean.

The Automated Content Creation Workflow

• Topic Selection: A cron job script selects a topic from the database for each new post.
• Crafting the Post: The script uses the topic, category, and keywords to begin crafting the post, blending AI with structured data.
• Utilizing Multiple AI Assistants: Different AI assistants generate specific sections of the post, such as intro paragraphs, SEO-optimized titles, and subheadings, ensuring content quality and relevance.
• Outline to Full Content: AI-generated outlines are expanded into full blog posts.
• Efficient AI Image Generation and Hosting: Images are created using the Dall-E API and uploaded from the server to ImageKit via their api for dynamic resizing and optimization to be done on the front end. These imagekit urls are then stored in the database for use on the blog posts.
• The Humanizer Function: A function refines AI content to appear more natural, employing NLP techniques like paraphrasing, sentence simplification, and text stylization. This is to try to bypass some AI detection tools.

This TypeScript snippet showcases the various layers of processing, including paraphrasing, sentence simplification, text stylization, grammar checks, and even the intentional scattering of rare typos to mimic human-like imperfections:

// Function to convert AI content to human-like content
export async function convertToHumanLikeContent(aiContent) {
  let correctedContent = await randomSentenceParaphraser(aiContent)
  correctedContent = simplifySentences(correctedContent)
  correctedContent = await applyContractions(correctedContent)
  correctedContent = await stylizeText(correctedContent)
  correctedContent = humanizeTextEvenMore(correctedContent)
  correctedContent = await grammar(correctedContent)
  correctedContent = await grammar(correctedContent)
  correctedContent = await scatterRareTypos(correctedContent)
  return correctedContent
}

Building the Blogs: Integrating Simplicity and AI into Blogging

The foundation of the blogging system was a straightforward NextJS application, designed with simplicity and functionality in mind. The application included several essential features to create a user-friendly experience:

Personalizing the Blogs

The decision to make every aspect of the blogs - from content to author personas - AI-generated was deliberate. It was a testament to the capabilities of large language models and their potential in content creation. This approach not only streamlined the content generation process but also showcased the power and versatility of AI in modern web applications. Every element, down to the smallest detail, was a product of advanced AI, setting a new standard for automated blogging.

The only thing that had to be created were the logos. Everything else was AI generated.

Once the template was in place, the next step was to personalize each blog:

Showcase: Gamer Tag Guru

Gamertag Guru is one of the blogs within our series of AI-generated content projects, catering specifically to the gaming community. The focus of the site is to provide gamers with a resource for enhancing their online persona in the gaming world.

Pitfalls and Progress: The Journey of Gamertag Guru

While the development of Gamertag Guru has been an exciting journey, it hasn't been without its challenges and learning opportunities.

Recognizing the Limitations

I haven't had too much time to work on the AI blog generator. Some of the content that got published is pretty low quality.This lack of continuous refinement led to some of the content being of lower quality than I would have liked.

AI technology and models have significantly improved since the inception of Gamertag Guru. The newer iterations of OpenAI's assistants, for example, offer enhanced capabilities that I believe could substantially elevate the quality of the content. There's also room for incorporating outbound links and other engaging features to enrich the blog posts further.

• Search Engine Traction: Since pausing the content generation in mid-September, I've noticed a gradual ascent in search result rankings. Interestingly, a significant portion of the traffic comes from Bing, a somewhat unexpected but welcome development.
• Growing User Base: December 2023 marked a milestone with over 455 users visiting the site. The traffic is evenly distributed across various posts, indicating a broad appeal of the content.
• Total Reach: Since its launch, Gamertag Guru has attracted around 1,100 users. While these numbers might not be groundbreaking, they are certainly noteworthy.

A Unique Success

What makes Gamertag Guru's progress remarkable is its reliance solely on AI-generated content, with no human writing intervention and no off-page SEO efforts. This self-sustaining model, navigating the digital landscape almost autonomously, marks a new frontier in content creation and SEO strategy. The trends observed with Gamertag Guru are not just numbers; they represent the potential and adaptability of AI in the ever-evolving world of online content and search engine dynamics.

Conclusion: Reflecting on the AI-Driven Blogging Experiment

As we wrap up this case study on the AI-generated blogs, particularly focusing on Gamertag Guru, it's clear that this project has been a journey of innovation, learning, and adaptation. Here are the key takeaways:

1. Potential of AI in Content Creation: This project has underscored the vast potential of AI in autonomously generating engaging and relevant content. While there are challenges, particularly in maintaining quality without regular human oversight, the strides made in AI capabilities are promising.
2. SEO Success with AI: The steady climb of Gamertag Guru in search engine rankings, especially on platforms like Bing, demonstrates that AI-generated content can indeed carve out its space in the competitive SEO landscape. This success, achieved without traditional SEO strategies or human-written content, opens new possibilities for content creators and marketers.
3. Room for Improvement and Growth: The advancements in AI models, such as the newer versions of OpenAI's APIs, present opportunities to enhance the quality of generated content. Incorporating features like outbound links and continually updating the AI models could further improve the blogs' performance and reader engagement.
4. A Glimpse into the Future of Blogging: This project serves as a glimpse into what the future of blogging could look like - more automated, yet increasingly sophisticated. It challenges traditional notions of content creation and paves the way for more explorations into AI-driven content strategies.
5. The Success of Gamertag Guru: While not game-changing in terms of user numbers, the success of Gamertag Guru in attracting a steady and diverse user base, with minimal human intervention, is a testament to the potential of AI in this domain. It stands as an encouraging example for similar ventures in the future.

In conclusion, this case study not only highlights the capabilities and potential of AI in creating and managing blog content but also points to a future where AI could play an even more significant role in digital content creation and SEO strategies. It's an evolving landscape, one where AI's role is only set to grow, promising exciting developments for creators, marketers, and technologists alike.