author: Authority Hacker

Testing Surfer AI and One-Click Article Generators

Welcome to the Authority Hacker Podcast! In this episode, we'll be discussing one-click article generators, including Surfer AI and other similar tools.

Our Test of Surfer AI

Our team tested Surfer AI about a week and a half ago, along with other one-click article generator tools. Surfer had announced a release date for their AI tool, so we thought we would test it the same way we would for a finished tool. However, the tool wasn't quite ready when we tested it, as it was using the cheapest API from OpenAI at the time - GPT 3.5. Although it performed alright, we wouldn't use it as our primary tool.

The team at Surfer acknowledged the API access issues, which we were familiar with after launching Brandsnap. When we shared our feedback with them, they began implementing several improvements, including switching to GPT-4 32k tokens, which most people don't have access to yet.

The result was a lot better, to the point where we found the AI-generated articles to be a good base for publishing or a first draft. For info articles in particular, Surfer's AI even beat Koala. In comparison, for roundup reviews, the palm still goes to Koala due to its dedicated template.

Our Recommendations

Despite the improvements made to Surfer AI, our recommendations still stand true. We wouldn't rely solely on one-click article generators to create content without reading and editing it. These tools should be used as a first draft to remove the tedious parts of content creation, but value and quality should be added on top of it.

We suggested that original research and experiences that AI can't emulate should be incorporated, to make the content stand out from competitors in the long term.

We see one-click article generators as a way to get a head start in the content creation process, but not as a solution to replace our creativity and input entirely.

Further Discussion

In addition to our discussion on one-click article generators, we touched on several key topics during the podcast. These included:

Google's new language model, PaLM 2
Gemini, their multimodal model
the importance of watermarking and metadata for generated content
Google's changes to SERP layouts for best keywords

We go into more depth about these topics during the podcast.

Overall, our test of Surfer AI yielded interesting results, and while we wouldn't solely rely on one-click article generators to create and publish content, we're optimistic about their potential as a tool to expedite the content creation process.

Google's New Search Results Page: A Comprehensive Breakdown

Google's recent updates to their search results page (SERP) have sparked conversations throughout the SEO community. From changes in layout to the addition of new features, the updated SERP doesn't look like the search results we're used to. In this article, we'll take a closer look at Google's new SERP, including recently announced updates and how they could impact your website's traffic.

Changes in Layout

Google's new SERP layout has a few distinct changes worth noting:

The search box is at the top, followed by a row of ads
Beneath the ads is AI-generated content, such as buying guides
An affiliate comparison table appears next, with buttons that open product listings on Google Shopping
Traditional search results appear below the fold

One noticeable difference is the row of links to affiliated review types and articles on the top right of the page. While this may not impact click-through rates (CTRs) for the top three search results, it could bring more traffic to affiliated review websites.

E-A-T and Personal Experience

Google has also announced updates to its Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (E-A-T) guidelines. In their blog post announcement, they mention an upcoming "helpful content update" that aims to understand personal experiences related to search queries. Short videos (such as TikToks and YouTube shorts), blog posts, and YouTube videos are all expected to appear in the new SERP.

The "Perspectives" widget is another addition that aims to surface personal experiences related to search queries. Short videos, blog posts, and YouTube videos can appear in this widget, creating a more engaging search experience than traditional cookie-cutter SEO content.

What It Means for Your Website

As an affiliate marketer or content creator, these updates could impact your website traffic and rankings. Here are a few things to consider:

With a more engaging search experience, you may need to improve your website's content to earn more traffic and higher rankings.
A more personalized and experience-driven search could lead to a rise in traffic and visibility for YouTube channels and other video-based content.
The newfound emphasis on personal experiences and E-A-T makes it more important than ever to prioritize quality over quantity when creating content.

While it remains to be seen how much these updates will impact affiliate marketers and content creators, it's clear that Google is moving towards more personalized and engaging search results. By keeping these changes in mind and adapting accordingly, you can stay ahead of the curve and continue to drive traffic to your website.

Google I/O 2021: What to Expect from Google's Rollout

Google I/O 2021 has generated a lot of buzz among SEO experts and online content creators, as Google announced some exciting upgrades to its search engine. Here are some insights into what we can expect from Google's rollout, based on what was presented at Google I/O 2021:

Beta Program and Release Date

Google's rollout involves releasing a beta program that users can sign up for to test new features. However, there is no specific date given for the full release. Typically, such programs last for quite a while, and this one could last at least a year or more.

Rollout Strategy

Google's rollout strategy is methodical and measured, with gradual integration of new features. This way, the company can avoid disrupting its revenue engine while still showcasing new and exciting products to its shareholders.

Perspectives Widgets: We may see some of these widgets, such as the Perspectives Widget, deployed in the SERP earlier than other features.
Helpful Content Update: This feature optimizes the search results based on user intent. It is rolled out quickly, without the generative AI on top, such as for news content or legal content.
Generative AI: The generative AI may come a little later, as the company tests and refines it, so it doesn't impact traffic to large news sites, which are the primary revenue drivers.
E-A-T: Expect some changes to the algorithm used to judge website quality, especially the E-A-T guidelines.

Benefits and Risks

Google's rollout comes with its benefits and risks. For instance:

Benefits: The new AI-powered tools like ChatGPT, OpenAI, and Bard offer advanced product answers for users. The new updates by Google aim to enhance search results based on user intent, while ensuring quality content.
Risks: The generative AI, in particular, could hurt major news sites' traffic, which are the main revenue drivers. The rollout could be slower than what we saw at Google I/O 2021.

One-Click Content Generators

Besides its updates, Google is also changing the game for content creation using AI. One-click content generators are new AI tools in the market that are getting a lot of attention recently. These tools allow users to generate high-quality content effortlessly.

Five Top AI Tools for Content Creation

We've evaluated five AI content generators, and here's what we found out:

Jasper clones: These were text editors that allowed users to write prompts and write some of the article. This technology has been around for quite some time.
ZimmWriter: This tool is Windows-only and challenging to use.
Koala: This tool generated a 2000 words roundup review for only $5. It has several options to add affiliate ID and optimizes the article for ranking.
Frase: This tool goes a little deeper than the others, generating an outline and giving the user some control over it.
Surfer AI: This tool is highly customizable, with several options to generate high-quality content.

Note that we have only used these tools a few times for this article's purposes; your experience may vary. Also, the cost for these tools ranges from free to $5 per article, which is much cheaper than hiring an experienced, expensive writer.

Testing One-Click Article Generators: A Review of Koala and Surfer

In this article, we'll be discussing our experience testing two popular one-click article generators, Koala and Surfer. These tools claim to generate high-quality articles for affiliate marketing and other purposes quickly and easily, with minimal effort on the part of the user.

The Options Available with Koala

Koala has several options available, including the ability to insert your affiliate ID and automatically change all links to include your affiliate code. It also optimizes articles for ranking by reviewing top-ranking results and finding ways to improve upon them. We tested the tool by using the roundup preview from Koala in Surfer to get a score, which resulted in a score of 50; the same article from Surfer gave us a score of 54. While the article from Surfer was slightly more optimized, it wasn't too far behind.

The Problem with Koala's Color Thing

Upon reviewing the generated article, we found that the intro was poorly optimized, with way too much text. While we could easily edit it down, we would recommend Koala rethink its prompts to create a stronger flow for the article.

However, the product reviews within the article stood out. Each review sounded legitimate and demonstrated impressive levels of Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness (E-A-T). Koala had a special article template for roundup reviews, which showed they had special writing prompts for these types of articles. It's impressive how the article generators created a section-by-section structure that is almost on-par with some human-written content.

The Issue with Product Selection

One issue we had with Koala's roundup reviews was with the product selection. The first two products featured were too similar, with one being a "beginner HPA paintball gun," and the other being the "same thing, but not an HPA paintball gun package." We recommend double-checking the recommended products to make sure they are not too similar. However, the way the tool writes about the product is superb, which we found impressive.

The Role of Editing

It's clear that these tools are helpful, but they are not one-click solutions that require no editing. To get the most out of one-click article generators, we recommend editing and tweaking the prompts of the tools to achieve the desired results.

While the AI written content produced by these tools may not be as good as some human-written content, the generated articles provide a strong foundation. The rule of thumb is not to publish anything without reading it first. There is still a need for human intervention to add value to the generated articles.

Overall, Koala is an excellent tool, and if you take the time to edit and change the products, you can get an almost perfect article. Surfer, on the other hand, did not perform as well as Koala. If you're looking for a tool to generate draft articles, Koala might be worth the $5 investment.

Comparing AI Content Generation Tools: Surfer and Koala

When it comes to generating content with AI tools, there are several options available in the market, each with its own pros and cons. In this article, we will compare Surfer and Koala, two popular AI-powered content generation tools, and provide our insights on their respective performances.

Testing Process

To test the tools, we used both of them to create a roundup review article on the topic of official paintball rules. We provided the same topic to both tools and did not use any one-click article generators. We opted for a real-life testing scenario rather than hyping up the tools.

Surfer's Performance

We found that Surfer did quite well in terms of the information content in the article, but it fell short in the roundup review section. We believe the reason for this is that Surfer does not have a dedicated article template for roundup reviews. On the other hand, its introductory section was tighter and more concise than Koala. It did a good job of summarizing the key points with bullet points, as it does with most articles.

Surfer's content optimizer also generates high scores, indicating a good level of optimization. However, we noticed that its generated outline was not well-structured, as it did not include product names in H2s and H3s. We recommend manually editing the outline to achieve a better result.

Koala's Performance

Koala, on the other hand, did not perform as well as Surfer in terms of introductory section, which was too long and not very good. However, it excelled in breaking down the content into sections and used bullet points appropriately to make the key information stand out. It also used tables to break up the wall of text, making the article easier to read.

Writing Guidelines

Both tools allow some control over the writing style, but Surfer provides limited options in terms of tone, such as friendly, conversational, SEO-optimized, casual, or formal. Koala, on the other hand, provides more options and allows for outline prompts that can influence the way the content is generated.

In terms of editorial guidelines, Koala allows inputting them in every prompt, while Surfer has no account-wide feature for it. Therefore, creating AI content that matches the brand's tone requires an outline prompt with full editorial guidelines each time for Koala.

The Rise of AI Content Creation Tools

As technology continues to advance, the field of content creation is no exception. In recent years, we have seen the emergence of AI content creation tools that promise to save time and effort for content creators. These tools allow users to generate articles with just a few clicks, eliminating the need for extensive research and writing.

Two such tools that have garnered attention in the SEO community are Koala and Surfer. While both offer AI-assisted content creation, they differ in their approach and features. In a recent test, Koala was found to produce more polished articles despite lacking on-page optimization tools, while Surfer offered better optimization but was criticized for its fluffy writing prompts.

Despite the differing opinions on these tools, it is clear that AI content creation is becoming more prevalent in the industry. However, it is important to note that these tools are not a replacement for human content creation. They should be viewed as an aid, allowing content creators to streamline their process and focus on more strategic tasks.

Benefits and Drawbacks

The benefits of AI content creation tools are clear - they save time and effort for content creators. This can be especially helpful for sites that need to publish a large volume of content regularly. Additionally, they can assist in identifying long-tail keywords and capturing traffic that may have been missed otherwise.

However, there are also drawbacks to these tools. One of the most significant is the risk of producing subpar content that lacks creativity and originality. It is important to ensure that the content produced by these tools is still high-quality and adds value to the reader.

The Future of AI Content Creation

As AI content creation tools continue to improve and evolve, we can expect to see more widespread use in the industry. However, it is important to approach these tools with a critical eye and use them as a tool, not a replacement for human creativity and expertise.

One potential avenue for the future of AI content creation is the combination of AI tools with human expertise. By using AI tools to assist in research and writing, content creators can focus on adding their own unique perspective and voice to the content.

The Rise of AI Content Creation: Strategies for Affiliate Marketers

In recent years, the emergence and evolution of AI content creation tools have revolutionized the way content is written, generated and optimized for search engines. This revolutionary technology has brought about a long-overdue shift towards more efficient and effective content creation. Today, with the help of AI-powered tools, affiliate marketers can create high-quality, optimized content in a fraction of the time it used to take.

However, with the abundance of AI content creation tools available to marketers, it can be difficult to determine how best to integrate them into your content marketing strategy. In this article, we will explore how AI content creation tools can benefit affiliate marketers, and how affiliate marketers can best use these tools to create high-quality content that resonates with their target audience.

Here are some key takeaways from our discussion on how AI content creation can help affiliate marketers succeed:

Capturing long-tail keywords - AI content creation tools can help affiliate marketers identify and capture long-tail keywords that may not have enough search volume to justify a more extensive content creation strategy. By generating high-quality content around these niche keywords, affiliate marketers can capture more search traffic and generate additional revenue opportunities.
High effort-low effort content - Affiliate marketers must develop a content creation strategy that combines both high- and low-effort content to ensure they capture as much traffic as possible. This strategy involves creating hero content that builds reputation and gets links, and other support content designed to capture long-tail keywords.
The changing landscape of content creation - As search engines move towards a more AI-assisted search experience, affiliate marketers must focus on creating high-quality, engaging content that provides value to their users. While AI content creation tools can assist marketers in their content creation, these tools cannot replace the human touch that is required to create truly remarkable content.

By combining AI content creation tools with a human touch, affiliate marketers can create high-quality content that resonates with their audience and delivers real value to their business. By focusing on a mix of high- and low-effort content, marketers can ensure they capture as much search traffic as possible. As AI-assisted search becomes more prevalent, it will be more important than ever for marketers to focus on creating real value for their users, rather than simply creating content that ranks well on search engines.

The Importance of Care in Content Creation

Creating high-quality content is crucial for the success of any online business. However, with the introduction of AI content generation tools, some have started to question if the importance of care has diminished. In this article, we will discuss why care is still essential in content creation and why using AI tools, coupled with careful consideration, can lead to amazing results.

The Gatekeeper to Quality

One of the critical roles of content creators in any business is to act as gatekeepers for quality. Their job is to ensure that only high-quality, relevant content is published on the website. Failing in this task can lead to serious consequences, including Google penalties, loss of traffic, and a damaged reputation. Therefore, it is crucial to have someone in charge of the content creation who cares enough to ensure that only the best content is published.

AI Tools and Care

AI content generation tools can be a game-changer for content marketing. They can help to generate content quickly and provide new angles and ideas. However, it is essential to remember that even with AI, care is still necessary for success. The person in charge of content creation needs to care enough to review the generated content rigorously, checking for errors, editing, and ensuring that it aligns with the brand's voice and values.

Experimenting with AI Tools

To gain insight into how AI tools work and what they can do, we conducted a limited experiment. We generated sample articles using AI and posted them on our website, authorityhacker.com/podcast. You can see the results for yourself on podcast 311. While this was not a complete experiment, it shows that AI tools can be useful, but it is still necessary to review the content carefully.

Our Commitment to Quality Content

At Authority Hacker, we take the matter of content creation seriously. We understand that only by creating high-quality content can we succeed in our online business. That is why we have started to create YouTube videos, which will complement our podcast. You can find the Authority Hacker YouTube channel and subscribe for weekly, high-quality content.

Google's new ai-powered tools and updates offer some exciting possibilities for content creators and seo experts. meanwhile, ai-powered content generators are evolving to make content creation much more accessible, even for those with little writing experience. In conclusion, both surfer and koala have their respective strengths and weaknesses. surfer generates highly optimized content and has a better introductory section, but its outline structure may need manual editing for better results. koala, on the other hand, excels in breaking down the content and uses tools such as tables and bullet points appropriately. the tools' writing styles can be influenced to some extent, but koala provides more options in terms of outline prompts that can influence the way the content is generated. ultimately, the choice of tool depends on the user's preferences and the specific content needs. The rise of ai content creation tools offers both opportunities and challenges for content creators. while these tools can save time and effort, it is important to ensure that the content produced is still high-quality and valuable for the reader. as the technology continues to develop, it will be interesting to see how ai content creation tools are integrated into the content creation process.

AI tools can be a useful addition to content creation, but they are not a replacement for a thorough review by someone who cares about quality. By using AI tools along with care and consideration, we can create amazing content that engages our audience and builds our brands.