Document. Don't Create. (more AI advice)

In this episode, Meredith’s husband explains how to strategically use AI to support—not replace—your content creation for SEO. Instead of relying on generic AI tools that promise top rankings, he advocates for a smarter, more personal approach: creating helpful blog content by documenting what you do. By targeting less competitive, specific SEO issues that real users search for (like SEMrush errors), website owners can provide valuable resources and build long-term traffic.

Chapter Markers

[0:24] Why “document, don’t create” isn’t a full SEO strategy
[1:49] The toughest SEO question: What should you blog about?
[2:30] Common mistake: Choosing the wrong keyword target
[3:39] My high-traffic keywords: SEMrush technical issues
[4:31] Example: Unminified JavaScript and CSS files
[5:22] The power of specific problem-solving blog posts
[6:29] Applying Gary Vee’s concept to SEO blogging
[7:23] Case study: 100 SEMrush blogs that brought 5,000 monthly visits
[8:51] Use AI to support your content process, not do it for you
[9:45] Funny transcript fail and a theory about AI-powered tools

Resources Mentioned

Semrush Issues: Javascript & CSS files (solved)

---
Meredith's Husband
https://www.meredithshusband.com

Episode Transcript

Meredith's husband (00:00):
So last episode we talked about, if you
remember, using AI to help youcreate content rather than to
create content for you.
Yes, for SEO, because there'sso many tools out there.
They're like with our new AItool yes, just enter your
keyword and we'll blog andyou'll be at the top of Google.
Blah, blah, blah, and we'll doit in your voice and it'll be
perfect and nobody will know.

(00:21):
Okay, so I talked about that alittle bit and how you want to
use AI to help you createcontent, but you have to be the
author.
You are the expert Right In thecontent that you are creating.
That's super important for SEO.
Yes, and I talked about theconcept of document don't create
, remember.
Yes, because coming up withthings to blog about and write

(00:44):
about is tricky a lot of times.
It's not second nature.
No, and the concept that GaryVaynerchuk used to say document
don't create kind of helpshopefully helps give you some
ideas of what you can create.
Yes, now, that's a good start.
Yes, but it's not thatstrategic.
No, because what do you startwith?

(01:04):
What do you start with?
That's a good start.
Yes, but it's not thatstrategic.
No, because what do you startwith?
What do you start with.
It's also not thatcomprehensive, because you
probably want to rank for somekeywords, right, right, so if
you're documenting and usingthat to create content, that
content's probably not going tobe that specific, okay, like

(01:25):
this podcast, for example, totalk about a bunch of different
stuff.
It's not really that specific.
Well, it's all under the exactexactly, but it's, but on its
own it's not really going to getme to the top of Google for
anyone keyword Right.
So it's not really acomprehensive strategy.
It's a good start.
It's a really great start tohelp you and it's a good way to
easily create some content.

(01:45):
But it's not the full strategy.
And this is the tough part ofcreating content, tough part of
SEO what do you write about?
What do you blog about?
Now, I can't tell you exactlywhat you.
I can't tell you Really Doing apodcast.
I can probably tell you, butI'll do that later.
I can't tell listeners onething and they all go out

(02:08):
because the goal is to be theauthor themselves, right, so I
can't.
I can't do that.
What I can do is I can use whatI have done as an example to
help hopefully help illustratethat.
So I need to create content.
Also, right, I need to createresources.
I've talked many, many timesabout how your blog should be a

(02:28):
resource.
Now, top level, let me ask youwhat do you think?
My keywords, my keyword targets, are just off the top of your
head, because this is where alot of people begin.
They go wrong in the verybeginning.
So I'm counting on you to getthis wrong.
I am looking forward to it.
I I actually like being wrong.

(02:49):
Um, I would think it would beSEO teaching that's exactly what
I would think you would thinkand what most people would think
and to be a resource.
Seo for, in this case,photographers.
But SEO, to be honest,everything that we're talking

(03:10):
about here really applies tolocal business owners.
There are some specifics tophotographers, but really all
these concepts would apply toalmost any website outside of
e-commerce websites, correct,and especially local business.
We talk about that a lot, andeven more so photographers.
So SEO for photographers iswhat I was expecting you to say.

(03:31):
No, I think just SEO because itcould be applicable to anybody.
Secretly, I think just SEO asbecause it could be applicable
to anybody.
So when I look at my analyticsand what keywords are bringing
me the most traffic, none ofthose are anywhere near the top.
Nor are they my objectivesReally.
So, see, it's good being wrongthis time.

(03:52):
Yeah, because now we learn.
Yeah, because now we learn.
Yeah.
So to create a resource andagain, this is the tough part I
need to go outside of.
I need to think about thepeople who need SEO for
photography or SEO for localbusiness.
What are they likely doing?
What resource can I provide tothem?
Then they can find me.

(04:13):
That is a much less competitive.
I can get to the top of Googlemore easily for something like
that.
That's going to be lesscompetitive.
So how would you describe thatin keyword-y?
I'm going to show you, or I'mgoing to tell you in just a
second.
My top keywords are things likepages with unminified JavaScript
and CSS files.

(04:33):
It's one of my top keywords.
What Exactly?
What Exactly that specificallyis unminified?
I also have uncached JavaScriptand CSS files.
These are blogs that I havecreated to help fix specific
SEMrush issues.

(04:53):
Okay, do you know how manypeople are searching for that in
particular?
No, unminified JavaScript andCSS files.
I do not Thousands per month.
I get thousands of impressions.
I get hundreds, if notthousands, of visitors for just
that keyword and I have ahundred of those blogs for all

(05:15):
different SEMrush issues Issues.
That's one way I create ahundred of those blogs for all
different SEMrush issues Issues.
That's one way I create aresource.
Okay, and how I get to the topof Google?
I would never get to the top ofGoogle for SEO or SEO for local
business owners, but unminifiedJavaScript and CSS files.
And now guess what?
Those are people who are usingSEMrush and don't know what

(05:39):
they're.
They don't know what this means, so they Google it, they look
it up.
They are already using SEMrushand they don't know how to do
things.
That is my prime audience.
Of course, it is because youcan help them.
That's not really thatcompetitive a term.
I mean, think about it, onlySEMrush.
Semrush is going to probablyrank above me, although
sometimes I rank above SEMrush,there is no real incentive, or

(06:02):
people don't think about it thisway.
They don't think there is anincentive for ranking number one
for terms like that.
But that's exactly when I wantto get myself in front of people
.
When do you want to getyourself in front of people,
right?
Oh, you're asking me whenpeople?
Oh, no, I'm.
I'm asking, uh, the listener,the listener, that's what you

(06:23):
want to blog about.
That's how you can create aresource and this.
How I came up with this idea isfrom listening to Gary
Vaynerchuk when he said documentdon't create.
I'm like this took me a longtime to figure out, to be honest
.
Well, of course, I'm stilltrying to figure out unminified

(06:44):
Java script.
You don't have to.
You see, I have a blog that ifyou were to Google it, you would
end up on my blog and I wouldexplain it to you in a short
little video and what to doabout it.
Are you going to include thatlink?
I so it took me a while tofigure out what like document?
Don't like I get it, but whatdoes it mean?
Yeah, yeah, like what dodocument?

(07:05):
What my walk to work?
Right, like what am Idocumenting?
And then it started to click asI was just working throughout
the day the things that I do I'mfixing SEMrush issues for
clients.
What I'm doing is I'm fixingissues like unminified
JavaScript and CSS files.
So I just you remember, duringCOVID and I kept when we were at

(07:28):
home for like a year and a halfand I would shout down to you
I'm like I'm making a video.
This was what I was doing.
I was blogging about 100different SEMrush issues and I
put that on a blog, on a newblog, just as a test, right
right, right.
And I launched a new website,just a blog.

(07:54):
I didn't do any SEO, I didn'ttry to do any promotion of any
sort.
12 months later, that blog wasgetting almost 5,000 visitors a
month without doing anything.
You're so smart, anyway, that'sjust to help illustrate You're
so smart.
You're so smart, anyway, that'sjust to help illustrate You're
so smart.
And I got nothing from it.
I ended up taking that blog downand then creating it in my new
one.
And so, in doing that, exactlyhow did I do that?
Well, I kind of used the methodthat we talked about last week.

(08:15):
I used AI.
I did a screen recording.
I had a transcript generatedusing AI During COVID Not during
COVID, but when I re-releasedthat blog, oh, when you
re-re-re-re-did it.
Yeah, so that initial blog wasjust a video.
Wait a minute.
There was AI during COVID, chatGPT.
There was, but we didn't knowabout it.
We didn't know yet.
When I incorporated that blogonto my actual website is when I

(08:37):
started using AI.
Give me a blog, create, youknow, take the transcript,
create a blog, create a bulletlist key points to remember, et
cetera, et cetera, and so I usedAI to help with that content,
but not create the content forme.
Okay, now, I'm not saying you'vegot to go out and blog about
minifying JavaScript, but whatis it that you do during the day

(08:59):
that your target audience mightfind helpful?
Look at elephants, that mightmake a good resource.
Oh, you want to hear a funnystory?
Yes, it's not that funny.
I thought it was funny.
I was doing something like thisearlier in the week, and part of
what I do is I use the toolthat I use to shoot videos.

(09:21):
It also generates a transcript,oh wow.
And all of a sudden, for one ofmy videos, it also generates a
transcript, oh wow.
And all of a sudden, for one ofmy videos it didn't work and I
was like okay, but I have other.
I mean, there's so many toolsout there that automatically
generate transcripts, I'll justuse another one.
I used another one.
It didn't work.
I'm like, well, that's funny.
So I went out, found some othertools that I could use.

(09:45):
Didn work, didn't work.
I took it out, I put itstraight into chat GPT Didn't
work.
Nothing worked for that day.
Every single tool out therethat I could, not every single
tool, but all the tools that Icould find that would
automatically generate atranscript from a video.
None of them work and it mademe think that all those tools
are using the same source,probably chat GPT, to generate
transcripts.

(10:05):
And if chat GPT wasn't working,for some reason none of them
were working.
I don't know.
Just my theory.
It's a nice theory.
It was very interesting, likecause it's never happened before
.
Anyway, isn't that a fun story?
I wouldn't say funny, but Iwould say interesting.
So the thing to remember here,like this, is still tough, in

(10:26):
that you got to, you know, crackthe code of how do you use the
concept of document?
Don't create Right, at leastfor me anyway, it was difficult
to put that into practice andbecause I think, like, is
anybody really going to careabout this?
But you figure, if you careabout it, someone else is going
to care.
I mean, I can't tell you howmany people around the world are
using SEMrush, like I getvisitors from all countries

(10:49):
around the world, so there's abunch of people out there
searching for those things and Ikind of, to be honest, I kind
of stumbled across this byaccident.
That's a cool idea.
Does that help illustrate theconcept for you?
Yes, then I'm hopeful that italso helps other people Well.