AI & Blogging: Why you need to know prompting skill

A Robot is Prompting on a laptop.

Prompting should be your best companion in this AI-driven era for your blogging. It supercharges your creativity and productivity.

You often face the problem that you are staring at a blank screen, struggling to come up with blog ideas, and the clock is ticking, right?

What if there is a way to brainstorm 10 blog topics, draft an outline, and even write a meta description – all in under 10 minutes? Wouldn’t that be awesome?

You have the way – that is AI prompting or Prompt Engineering. Welcome to the world of AI prompting and the rise of AI in the content creation.

In today’s fast-paced digital age, AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini are no longer just for tech enthusiasts – they are essential tools for you.

What you need to understand here is AI isn’t here to replace your creativity, it is here to enhance it. You can make AI work for you rather than against you.

Whether you are a beginner or a seasoned writer, learning how to “prompt” AI effectively can save you hours of work. It helps you overcome writer’s block, and even improve your content’s quality.

In this blog post, you will explore why learning prompting is a game-changer for bloggers, especially in this AI-driven world. From brainstorming ideas to optimizing your content for SEO, AI can handle it all – If you know how to use it (prompting or prompt engineering).

So, if you have ever felt overwhelmed by the demands of blogging or wondered how to keep up with the competition, this is your time to dive into the world of prompt engineering.

Let’s start!!!

Prompting or Prompt engineering is an iterative process.

Prompt: A detailed set of guidelines given to an LLM tool (ChatGPT, Gemini) to do a task.

Engineering: Developing a task-specific prompt iteratively.

Prompting or Prompt Engineering

Prompt Engineering

In simple terms, a prompt is a question or instruction you type into an AI tool.

You can think of it like asking a search engine a question – the more specific and clear your question is, the better and more relevant the answer will be.

For example: Instead of typing vague commands like “write a blog post”, you can guide with a detailed prompt like, “Write a 1,000-word beginner-friendly blog post on how to start a blog, including step-by-step instruction and SEO tips.”

You can take it like this too, if AI is a powerful tool, prompting or prompt engineering is the skill that unlocks its potential.

It is a must-learn skill for you because AI tools don’t think like humans. They rely entirely on the input you provide.

A well-structured prompt helps AI understand exactly what you need, whether it is a blog outline, a compelling introduction, or even headline variations. Without clear instructions, AI-generated content may turn out too generic, off-topic, or lacking depth.

Therefore, Prompting is not just about making AI write for you. It is about using AI as a creative and smart assistant. AI follows your lead. By learning how to ask the right questions and refine your prompts, you can generate blog content faster, improve readability, and even maintain your unique writing style.

As you have already learned, AI can be an incredibly powerful tool for you, but the truth is AI is only as good as the instructions you give it.

If you don’t know how to prompt AI properly, you might end up with generic, low-quality content that lacks personality and depth. That is why learning how to write effective prompts is crucial for you to use AI and to take its advantage.

You should know that better prompts mean better content. Instead of getting vague or irrelevant text, a well-crafted prompt helps AI generate high-quality, structured, and engaging blog posts that match your niche and audience.

For example: Instead of prompting “Write about social media marketing.” Your stronger prompt would be, “Write a beginner-friendly guide on how bloggers can use Instagram to drive traffic, including three actionable tips and examples.”

Another thing is that prompting makes AI work faster and smarter for you. When you know how to guide AI, and how to ask in the right way, it can save time on research, brainstorming, and drafting.

Also, prompting helps maintain your unique voice and style. AI-generated content can sometimes sound robotic or generic, but with the right prompts, you can make AI produce text that aligns with your brand’s tone and personality.

Thus, learning prompting isn’t just about getting AI to write. It is about getting AI to write the way you want. Mastering this skill will help you create high-quality, engaging, and SEO-friendly blog posts effortlessly. This gives you an edge in today’s AI-driven world of blogging.

You don’t have to feel overwhelmed about where to begin AI prompting. It is easier than you think and it depends on your practice to master.

There are many AI tools you can choose from. However, you can start with free, user-friendly tools that don’t require technical expertise. ChatGPT and Gemini are a few examples of them.

Then you have to learn basic principles, components, and patterns of prompting to start.

Components of Prompt

Context: Additional context that can steer the AI tool to better responses.

Instruction: A specific task or instruction you want the AI tool to Perform

Input Data: The input or question that we are interested in finding a response for.

Output Indicator: The type of format of the output.

Here are the points to create the most effective prompt and get the best results. You should include all the points in one prompt and/or use the points needed as per your output.

  • Define the goal: Tell the AI tool what you exactly want it to do.
  • Detail out the format: Specify the format in which you want your output. For example tables/paragraphs/lists, with or without a heading, listed in priority order if any, etc.
  • Create a role: Assign the AI tool a role to let it process your request from that specific point of view. For example: Act as X.
  • Clarify who the audience is: Specify the demographics for the tool to help it tailor its responses appropriately.
  • Give Context: Provide every possible information to the AI tool to help it understand the purpose of your request.
  • Share examples: Share examples of the AI tool to learn from it and produce more accurate results.
  • Specify the style: Outline the tone, the communication style, the brand identity, and other details in your prompt for a suitable response.
  • Define the Scope: Outlining a scope with further specifications besides giving a context and examples, will help the tool to operate within those parameters.
  • Apply Restrictions: Constraints or restrictions applied in your prompt will create the right boundaries for the AI tool to produce more relevant responses.  
  • Persona Pattern: Act as X. Do the task Y. (E.g., As a Fitness Teacher, Create a beginner-friendly routine for warm-up)
  • Audience Persona Pattern: Explain X to me. Assume I’m Y. (E.g., Explain the importance of the backlinks. Assume I’m a beginner in SEO)
  • Visualization Generator Pattern: Generate X that can be provided to tool Y for visualization. (E.g., While talking about the data around user engagement metrics on certain websites, generate a CSV that I can use in Tableau to create a visualization.)
  • Recipe Pattern: To do X, I need to perform steps a, b, c. Provide a complete sequence of steps for me while filing in any missing steps and removing redundant steps. (E.g., I want to travel from Kathmandu to Mustang. I know I have to take a private vehicle or bus to Beni. Complete the itinerary for me.”
  • Template Pattern: I will provide a template, with placeholders for content. Fit the output with one or more placeholders that I list. E.g., Generate a day-wise travel itinerary for visiting New York.
  • My placeholders are:

# <Day> for the day of the travel plan

# <Location> for the place to visit

# <Activity> for what to do in that place

# <Time> for the best part of the day to visit

Template: For <Day> visit <Location> at <Time> for <Activity> 

After learning these basics of prompting, you have to practice, experiment, and refine your prompts.

Your key to mastering prompting is practice. You can start with one task, experiment with different prompts, and refine your approach based on the results.

In this way, before you know it, you will be using AI tools like a pro to save time, boost productivity, and grow your blog.

  • Being Too Vague

AI doesn’t know what you want, so the output will be generic and unhelpful.

For example:

“Write about fitness” – Mistake

“Generate a 300-word blog intro about home workouts for beginners.”—Correct

  • Ignoring Context

Without Context, AI tools might use overly complex language or miss the mark entirely

For example:

“Explain quantum physics.”—Mistake

“Explain quantum physics in simple terms for a high school student.” – Correct

  • Not Iterating

AI tool often needs refinement to deliver exactly what you need.

For example:

Giving up after the first output – Mistake

Refine your prompts. If the output is too formal, say, ‘Make the tone more casual and conversational.’ – Correct

  • Overloading the Prompt

Too many instructions can confuse the AI tool, leading to disjoint results.

For example:

“Write a blog post about travel, including tips, packing lists, and budget hacks, and make it SEO-friendly.” – Mistake

Break it into small prompts:

“Generate a list of 10 budget travel hacks.” Then

“Turn this into a 500-word blog post.” — Correct

  • Not Editing the Output

AI isn’t perfect. It can make errors or lack your unique voice.

For example:

Using AI-generated content as-is. – Mistake

Always review and tweak the output to match your style and accuracy standards. — Correct

  • Forgetting the Audience

Without specifying the audience, the content may not resonate.

For example:

“Write about blogging tips” – Mistake

“Generate 5 blogging tips for absolute beginners who want to start a food blog.” – Correct.

Example 1

Prompt: Generate 10 compelling and catchy headlines including the keyword “Free Blogging Course.”

    10 catchy headlines of the topics Free blogging course, generated by AI tool

    Example 2

    Prompt: As a blogging expert, you have provided great suggestions and explanations on the free blogging course for beginners. Now generate a compelling conclusion including all your suggestions and explanations you have given to give the final touch in the blog post on this topic. 

    A conclusion driven by AI tool with right prompting

    Example 3

    Prompt: “Turn this blog post about the “Free blogging course” into 4 Instagram captions.

    Instagram Captions generated by ChatGPT

    Because AI is emerging and spreading like wildfire, it won’t be difficult for to you find the free resources to learn prompt engineering.

    As it is said, where there is a will, there is a way.

    So, this section of this blog post is not too important.

    However, you are here.

    This section is included in this blog post considering you are a beginner in prompting and need some help in finding good resources to learn.

    Here are some free resources to learn prompting:

    Final Words

    Now, you have to understand AI tools are revolutionizing and powerful, and their power lies in how well you can guide it.

    Learning how to craft effective prompts isn’t just a helpful skill. You need to create high-quality, engaging, and SEO-friendly content efficiently.

    With the right prompts, AI can become your ultimate blogging assistant. By mastering prompting techniques, you can ensure that AI-generated content aligns with your goals, resonates with your audience, and saves you valuable time.

    You must avoid common mistakes, experiment with different prompts, and refine your approach to get the best result.

    It is an AI-driven era, and the bloggers who embrace and learn AI prompting will have a significant advantage.

    Therefore, you should start learning prompting and making AI work for you. The future of blogging isn’t about AI taking over – It is about bloggers who know how to use AI effectively.

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