AI is everywhere.
You can use ChatGPT for enhanced data analysis and even to help with your copy, but there are other tools that you can use to enhance your SEO, including AI image generators.
You have a lot of options for these:
- Midjourney (which I used for this article).
- Adobe Firefly.
- DALL-E 2.
- Tons of others.
You don’t even need to replace your stock image site or photographer because there’s a place for all types of images in SEO.
AI can provide imagery that adds to your site’s user experience and transforms your blogs from unengaging to fun and exciting.
However, AI-generated images have no copyright, so the user has no ownership. This means anyone can use the images a user generates.
And if you follow Google’s image guidelines, you may even drive some traffic from Google Images to your site.
It’s also possible to reuse some of this content on your social media accounts like Pinterest and other channels that don’t rely on search traffic.
Here are just a few of the ways that AI image generation can boost your SEO and content:
Unique Content Creation – Based On Your Own Thoughts
Google’s John Mueller already confirmed two things:
- Stock images won’t impact your web search negatively.
- Stock images don’t perform as well in image search.
By using AI to generate unique images, you can avoid stock photos that may be used on multiple websites, giving your site an original edge.
While you can mix stock and AI images, you can benefit from truly unique images that no one else has on their site if you use a bot like Midjourney.
If your image output too closely resembles an individual’s artwork that was used to train Midjourney, you are open to liability. Midjourney’s terms of service makes clear they will not legally or financially protect you should there be a legal dispute.
For example, I used the prompt: “Create a fuzzy monster eating blog posts with a piece of paper in its mouth with lorem ipsum on the page” to generate the image below.
Screenshot from MidJourney, October 2023Imagine that the monster is “Google” after the Helpful Content Update, and it’s eating everyone’s great content as rankings tumble for many sites.
What a fun, shareable, and unique image, right?
You can also go deeper into image personalization with AI, adjusting your prompts and having it create relevant images for you.
Image Personalization
Marketers love personas. You can use personas to dig deep into the minds of your ideal customers or segments of customers. AI can help you create images based on user:
- Profiles.
- Segments.
Image personalization can indirectly influence your site’s SEO with improvements in user dwell time and engagement.
For example, if you were optimizing for a business website and the company focuses on businesswomen in the 2o – 40-year-old bracket, you can use a unique image like the one below:
Screenshot from MidJourney, October 2023You can also personalize the image further. Instead of a businesswoman, let’s focus on a businessman who is on the phone closing a deal.
Screenshot from MidJourney, October 2023Sure, you can find many stock photos that look like this, but you can instantly change the photo by asking for a different suit color, a younger or older man, different features, and anything you want.
Your image personalization can really hit on the pain points of your personas to make each image relatable.
Snappy Infographics And Data Visualization
Infographics are still very shareable and can lead to very valuable backlinks.
The problem? They’re tedious and expensive to make.
AI can help you create generic infographics that you’ll need to fill out in Photoshop or something similar.
Visual data is a lot of fun to make with a tool like Midjourney.
However, it is very tricky to get graphs and charts to work out if you’re looking for accuracy because there’s a lot going on. For example, I just prompted Midjourney to create an infographic for me.
See the results for yourself.
Screenshot from MidJourney, October 2023While the infographic is certainly beautifully made and far better than what I could make on my own, many prompts would need to be added for the graphs and charts to depict the data accurately.
However, if you don’t mind adjusting the prompts or don’t need accurate graphs and charts, you can create fast content assets that attract more links to your site.
Updating Outdated Graphics
Updating content is nothing new. If you’re not updating blog content, you’re missing out on the opportunity to have fresh content. However, updating images on your website can be costly and time-intensive.
You can now use AI to solve this problem in two different ways:
- Create additional images for your site and content assets.
- Train AI to suggest modern replacements for your visuals.
In Midjourney, you can update your old biography picture and ask it to spruce it up for you. You can even use a URL to prompt the generator. However, the platform will use the image as an influence and not reuse it in 100% likeness.
Automation and advanced applications using API would be a fun experiment. Imagine feeding in a blog URL and having AI create an updated variation of any images that are outdated.
New, better images may help boost your traffic from image search and improve your page’s dwell time – a win-win.
Generating Images Based on Keywords
For many brands, finding the right images to complement their content can be challenging.
AI can step in to create images based on your keywords. Just add the keyword to your prompt and see what the bot spits out.
Why should you create images based on keywords?
Images play an important role in SEO. Google uses computer vision algorithms along with alt text to understand the content of an image.
Screenshot from MidJourney, October 2023This image was produced for the keyword “luxury bathroom ideas.”
AI image generators like Midjourney can be especially useful for long tail or unnatural keywords for which you may struggle to find images.
Beef Up Your A/B Testing
You can use AI-generated images as part of your A/B testing to see what type of imagery works best for your audience.
With Midjourney, you can use the “Vary (Strong)” option to create different variations of an image to see how well they perform.
I used this option to create four variations of our fuzzy monster image from above.
Screenshot from MidJourney, October 2023As you can see, AI is still not perfect – it has its quirks. The monster in the bottom left corner didn’t quite get the paper into his mouth! But you have three other variations you can work with to see which one resonates with your audience.
With Midjourney, you can also choose which region of the photo you want to vary.
Or you can simply use two or three different prompts to get entirely new images to try.
Let’s go with the blog post theme we used for our fuzzy monster image.
This time, let’s go in a different direction and use the prompt: “Imagine a hedgehog writing a letter to a friend.”
Screenshot from MidJourney, October 2023Both photos convey similar ideas but in different ways. Through A/B testing, you can see which image/copy pairings are the most engaging for your audience.
Create Hyper-Localized Content
If you’re focused on local SEO, you can use AI to generate images that resonate with your local audience.
Not only can you optimize your content for local keywords and use local language, but you can also add imagery that speaks to your audience.
Final Thoughts
While AI can be a useful tool for localized content and for SEO in general, it’s important to remember that it can be biased.
Additionally, it’s worth considering that AI-generated art takes compensation and jobs away from human creators.
While AI can provide innovative solutions and efficiency, it’s crucial to balance technological advancements with the ethical implications and impact on the creative industry.
So, create AI images with caution. The last thing you want to do is offend or alienate your target audience.
But when used with the right approach, you can leverage AI image generation to enhance your SEO efforts and provide your audience with unique content.
More resources:
- How To Create Perfect Images For SEO With Dall-E 2
- Google On The Use Of AI Images
- Generative AI And SEO Strategy: Getting The Most Out Of Your Tools
Featured Image: tete_escape/Shutterstock
