How to Use AI for your Website

Affiliate Disclosure: This guide contains affiliate links. If you choose to purchase a tool through one of these links, I may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. I only recommend tools that I have personally vetted and believe provide genuine value to your business growth. These commissions help support my work and my mission to rescue and rehome dogs. Thank you for your support!

1. The Google Reality Check: Does AI Kill Your Ranking?

Let’s settle this once and for all: Google does not penalize AI content just because it’s AI. Google penalizes unhelpful content. If you ask a bot to “Write 500 words about plumbing” and paste it directly into your site, you will fail. Why? Because that content has no E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness).

AI doesn’t have a “voice,” and it certainly hasn’t spent twenty years fixing leaky pipes or designing logos. You have.

2. The “Human-in-the-Loop” Workflow

The secret isn’t if you use AI, it’s where you put the human (that’s you!) in the process.

Step A: The Human Idea (Start Here)

Never ask AI “What should I write about?” Instead, tell it: “I had a client today who was confused about X. I want to explain why Y is the solution. Give me an outline.”

• The Difference: You are providing the expertise; the AI is just providing the structure.

Step B: The “Personality Injection” (The Scruffy Dog Method)

Once the AI gives you a draft, it will be full of “robotic” filler. Delete these phrases immediately:

• “In today’s fast-paced digital world…”

• “It’s important to remember that…”

• “Unlock your potential…”

Instead, add a “Personal Story.” AI can’t tell the story about the time you dropped your coffee during a client meeting or the specific mistake you made when you started your business. Those “human moments” are what build trust.

3. The 3 “Never/Always” Rules for AI Writing

To keep your content from sounding like a manual, follow these Scruffy Dog guardrails:

4. The AI Tool Dilemma: Power vs. Price

When it comes to picking your AI “assistant,” don’t get blinded by the shiny landing pages. You have two main paths, and the right one depends entirely on whether you are building a content empire or just trying to get a blog post out before your coffee gets cold.

Option 1: The Marketing Powerhouse (Jasper.ai)

Jasper is built for people whose primary job is marketing. It’s a specialized platform that houses SEO tools, content templates, and a way to store your “Brand Voice” so it never forgets you hate the word “leverage.”

• The Pro: It’s an all-in-one shop. It creates social posts, emails, and blogs that all sound consistent. If you have a small team, the “Campaigns” feature is a massive time-saver.

• The Con (The Reality Check): It starts at $59/month per person. If you’re a solo business owner, that is a significant “subscription tax.” And watch out—once you grow, they’ll want you to “Get in touch for Business pricing,” which is code for “it’s about to get even more expensive.”

• Best For: Small teams who need to churn out high volumes of consistent marketing assets across multiple channels.

Option 2: The Sophisticated Thinker (Claude by Anthropic)

If Jasper is the “Marketing Manager,” Claude is the “Creative Writer.” Claude (specifically the 3.5 Sonnet model) is widely considered to have the most “human-like” writing style on the market. It understands nuance, humor, and complex instructions better than almost anything else.

• The Pro: The writing quality is exceptional and far less “robotic” out of the box. It’s also much more affordable, with a solid free tier and a Pro version at $20/month.

• The Con: It doesn’t have the “templates.” You have to talk to it like a person and give it good instructions (prompts) to get what you want. It’s a chat interface, not a marketing dashboard.

• Best For: The “Lean” business owner who wants high-quality, nuanced writing and doesn’t mind a bit more “hands-on” prompting to save $40 a month.

If you’re just starting to dip your toes into AI and you’re watching your budget, start with Claude. It’s cheaper, smarter, and easier to make sound like a human. If you find yourself spending 4 hours a day on marketing and you’re drowning in spreadsheets, then consider the jump to Jasper.

Keep your overhead low until your income forces you to raise it.

5. The Scruffy Dog “Human-in-the-Loop” Style Guide

To make your AI sound less like a manual and more like a person, you need a Style Guide. You can copy and paste the block below directly into Jasper’s “Brand Voice” settings or use it as a “System Prompt” in Claude.

The Style Guide Prompt

Voice Name: Scruffy Dog Design (The Honest Expert) Core Persona: You are a straight-talking, realistic web specialist who helps small businesses. You hate corporate jargon and robotic marketing fluff. You are a “Human Filter” who speaks plain English. You are helpful, slightly witty, and grounded.

The “Never” List (Words to Ban):

• “In today’s fast-paced digital landscape…”

• “Unlock your business’s potential…”

• “Leveraging innovative synergies…”

• “Delve into…” / “Explore the world of…”

The “Always” List (Writing Mechanics):

• Active Voice: Instead of “A website was built,” say “I built a website.”

• The “Bar Stool” Test: Write as if you are sitting on a bar stool explaining this to a friend who owns a local shop.

• Sentence Variety: Use short, punchy sentences. Don’t be afraid of one-word sentences. For impact.

• Address the Reader: Use “You” and “I.” We are in this together.

• Reality Check: If a tool has a flaw, mention it. Never be 100% positive; it sounds fake.

The Bottom Line

AI is a tool, not a replacement for your brain. Think of it as a junior intern: It can do the heavy lifting, but it needs a boss to make sure the work is actually good.

Keep your hand on the wheel. Keep your voice in the text.