cloverjgardener

[cloverjgardener]

Is it AI Copy or a Tired Writer Trying Their Best? A Look Backstage in Copywriting

(For those unaware, copy in this context is used to describe the informational writing on a website)

So for a while now I've seen people online point at certain web copy and claim that it's clearly generated by AI. In many cases I disagree. People against generative AI will claim the tells are easy. People for generative AI will often say the same thing, right before selling guides on editing the obvious tells out of your generative text to slip under the radar.

I don't have the most authority on the topic, but I've been in technical writing for about six years. I've worked as a by-the-assignment ghostwriter and a salaried copywriter. So I think I have enough backing to say that I don't think it's possible to catch AI writing. I think it's possible to perceive sloppy writing, manipulative writing, almost incoherent writing. But a lot of that has existed before the sudden surge in large language models, thanks to the way many companies in the industry direct their writers to work.

Want a behind-the-curtain look at what goes into a lot of the copy you read online? Follow me!

See this? This is a keyword ranking off SEOSpyGlass for a popular house cleaner service in Portland. I am not the best person to talk about Search Engine Optimization. In my defense, I believe that's because SEO changes constantly - first based on the whims of what Google would value most, which has now gotten even more convoluted as other search engines creep into more prominent use.

This ranking above shows the most common search terms that resulted in someone clicking on a certain link (In this case, MollyMaid - or the specific page that "ranks" high enough in search results).

Pretty much every copy-writing company I've ever worked for would give me a list of "relevant search terms" for an assignment, and part of my job was to fit them into the copy I created. Looking at some of these terms, you might see that a lot of them aren't easily fit into writing in a way that feels normal to read on a website. The "[SOMETHING] near me" is probably one of the most popular search terms in pretty much every industry. In my opinion it's also the clumsiest to work with as a writer.

It's actually very funny to see this. You see that phrasing at the start? Hey did you search this specific phrase? Cool! Use us for that. That is essentially the exact format I would use whenever I had to fit in any variant of that keyphrase. It doesn't feel great. If Google ever loses interest in longer, conversational keyphrases, a lot of copy will be outdated and pointlessly clunky.

The emphasis on keywords and word count in general is the true culprit behind a majority of web copy that reads as if the website you're on is having an nervous breakdown. I've been in many situations where I've had to pad out assignments for no reason, because even though I expressed all the information that needed to be expressed, I was short of the word count given ahead of time. I imagine based on the latest change to Google's algorithm, this might slowly become less of a sticking point. They seem to claim that value is now in writing like a human being, and that's harder to do if you have to circle the same points again and again just to kill time.

It's kind of interesting isn't it? I'm gradually edging into freelance copy-writing work - which is cool, because it hopefully means I can choose how deep into SEO I decide to work in. Despite my complaints, I really enjoy the technical writing aspect, especially for a client I want to help.

I just had to get all this out there, because before I found SEOSpyglass I tried to use Semrush and was immediately like haha holy shit I remember this.

[cloverjgardener]

Clover Jean Gardener Intro Post

Hi! My name is Clove, and I write a lot of words for reasons that mostly elude me. This is my intro post! I am not good at talking about myself so I'll try and keep it brief.

I live in Portland, Oregon, with my wife and two dumb, dumb cats. I've been writing professionally as a copywriter, ghostwriter, and arts critic since the late 2010s. My current massive project is an urban fantasy series called Songbird Elegies, which I am gradually hoping to get less terrible at marketing.

Links

My personal website. Contains some previously published works and a growing collection of scripts available to download and utilize for free under a Creative Commons license. Will soon have an online shop where you can buy or download my writing at the best price for you and the best royalties for me.

An Intro and overview to Songbird Elegies, my queer urban fantasy series that people keep calling "comforting" even though a major plot element is magic being a living thing that hates humanity. Contains a summary of the series as a whole, as well as descriptions and excerpts of the books int he series. (As of writing this I am almost finished with book two so. It'll be a while.)

My Goodreads! People have already said such nice things on here it is hard to stare at too long without feeling wiggly.

@goodluckclove - this is my personal blog that I am far more active on. If you're interested in development posts on whatever I'm working on, aggressive enthusiasm towards newer writers, or oddities from my brain-space, it'll be here.

This side account is mainly for focusing on finished projects and more concrete artistic pursuits. So you can follow me here if you'd like to support my work (wow thanks!) but don't want me to clog up your feed with rants about the 1971 crime thriller Klute (understandable!)

Tag Guide

#Clove Takes on Writing - Longer form thoughts on the industry, from the perspective of both fiction and technical writing

[cloverjgardener]

Old Clove dodged my first slash with expert, cat-like reflexes. Unfortunately they dodged it right into a pile of banana peels.

The banana peels weren't fatal. But the bemusement they provoked was a tragic distraction from the torn plane engine that was headed right towards them.

hello i am new clove. i beat clove in a sword fight and now i get to be clove and clove is sent to the Nightmare Dimension for 10000 years.

(i got banned for some reason. does that give me internet clout?)

clover jean gardener, author of blind trust, avid muppets fan, writing advice extraordinaire, that clove?

tell me all about this sword fight.

[cloverjgardener]

Really though it is entirely my fault I'm pretty sure. Narrowing down the one thing they could've picked up on - yeah, it's not like a societally, objectively shitty thing, but it was a dumb mistake.

I'll be resigned to share the full story once I could go maybe a few months without getting kicked in the face by circumstances.

Hey why did Tumblr delete your account

i went to costco and did such a bad job that tumblr nuked the one social media platform i use for my job as an author.

[cloverjgardener]

I think I have regained most of the people I spoke to the most on here but there are definitely a few more with usernames I can't spell for the life of me.

If you think that's you it probably is. Come back, friend. Let's play rocks (that's where we pretend to be rocks).

[cloverjgardener]

i am so busy being made of flesh and veins and breakable cells

Oh my god @cloverjgardener is in such a hurry to rebuild their account they keep fucking up the captcha. Babe, do you know what a bus is???

[cloverjgardener]

hi it is me the clove. tumblr wants me gone but my desire not to seriously devote time to instagram or tiktok is stronger.

really though i have no clue what the fuck i did but i'll either stop doing it or keep doing it, depending on what it is.

[cloverjgardener]

Hey why did Tumblr delete your account

i went to costco and did such a bad job that tumblr nuked the one social media platform i use for my job as an author.