To write AI-friendly content for your articles, it's important to structure your information in a way that improves clarity, readability, and searchability. Here are some best practices to follow:
1. Use clear and concise headings
Headings (H1, H2, H3): Organize content using clear and descriptive headings. This helps AI understand the hierarchy and structure of your article.
Keyword-rich headings: Ensure your headings reflect the content of the section. For example, instead of "Introduction," use "Introduction to Cloud Storage Solutions."
2. Write short and focused paragraphs
Keep sentences short: Aim for sentences of 15-20 words. Avoid complex sentences as they can confuse AI processing.
One idea per paragraph: Ensure each paragraph covers one idea to make it easy for AI to extract key information.
Maintain article length: Aim to keep the article within 375 words or 2000 characters or 500 tokens. Concise content ensures quicker information retrieval and improves readability.
3. Include tables for structured data
Well-labeled tables: Use tables to present structured data, making it easier for AI to scan and interpret. Clearly label rows and columns with descriptive headers.
Consistent formatting: Ensure the table is formatted consistently for better AI recognition (e.g., avoid merged cells or irregular formatting).
Filled-in tables: To ensure Eddy retrieves the correct content from tables, make sure all cells are filled and none are left empty. Avoid inserting symbols, images, or single letters like 'Y' or 'N' within table cells.
4. Incorporate code snippets carefully
Use clean and well-commented code: When including code snippets, use standard formatting and comment on key sections. AI can use comments to understand the context.
Use appropriate syntax highlighting: This helps AI differentiate code from regular text.
5. Use bullet points and numbered lists
Break up information: Bullet points and lists help organize content and make it easier for AI to break down and extract key points.
Limit list length: Keep lists concise, ideally under 5-7 points, to avoid overwhelming the AI and readers.
6. Include descriptive alt text for images
Alt text and captions: Always include descriptive alt text and captions for images. This allows AI to understand and process the context of the image.
7. Provide clear, contextual links
Internal links: Link to relevant internal articles using clear anchor text. Avoid generic phrases like “click here.”
Anchor text: Use descriptive anchor text that informs AI of the linked content, such as “Read more about cloud storage security best practices.”
8. Ensure SEO best practices
Keyword optimization: Use keywords naturally within headings, subheadings, and content. Avoid keyword stuffing.
Meta descriptions: Write clear, relevant meta descriptions with keywords to help AI rank the content effectively.
9. Use business glossary terms consistently
Consistent terminology: Consistently use terms from your business glossary throughout your articles to help the AI recognize and relate key concepts, enhancing searchability and understanding. Avoid using synonyms for any glossary terms.
Define key terms: If a term might be unfamiliar to readers, include a brief definition or link to your business glossary. This ensures both AI and users understand the context of specialized terms.
Standardize abbreviations: Always use standardized abbreviations or acronyms from your business glossary. This ensures AI correctly identifies and categorizes key terms.
10. Write for humans first
Conversational tone: AI tends to perform better with content that is written in a human-friendly tone, as it improves engagement and contextual understanding.
Natural language: Use natural, everyday language. Avoid jargon or overly complex terms unless absolutely necessary, and provide definitions for technical terms.
11. Monitor AI-generated content
Review and revise: If you're using AI tools like AI writers or content generators, always review the output to ensure it meets your quality standards and reads naturally.
12. Create and use FAQs
Write at least 5-10 FAQs for each article. Questions can be sourced from customer support team, customer success team, sales team, and product management team.
FAQs help AI in retrieving information from content quickly and efficiently.
Recommendations for optimizing your experience as a contributor with Eddy AI
Writing documentation that is easily understood by AI (Eddy AI) involves incorporating clear language, structured formatting, and adherence to specific guidelines.
Use clear and focused language
Express ideas in a straightforward manner, avoiding unnecessary complexity.
Break down complex concepts into simpler, digestible parts.
Define technical terms or provide links to detailed explanations.
Structured formatting
Use clear headings and subheadings to organize information.
Employ bullet points and numbered lists to present step-by-step instructions.
Highlight key points using bold or italics for better parsing by bots.
Consistent terminology
Maintain consistency in the use of terminology to facilitate understanding.
Use the Glossary feature in Document360 to achieve this.
Avoid ambiguity by using specific and standardized terms.
Avoid jargon overload
Minimize the use of industry-specific jargon unless essential.
If technical terms are necessary, provide brief explanations or context.
Elaborative text content
Elaborate the content and clearly specify the content's intent.
If you use multimedia content, ensure that you provide a text explanation of what the media is trying to convey.
Break down information into shorter paragraphs for better readability.
Provide explicit answers to questions in the form of FAQs to minimize inaccurate answers by "Eddy AI." AI bots tend to hallucinate when the content is not elaborate or explicitly mentioned.
Provide context and example
Offer real-world examples to illustrate technical concepts.
Provide context to help the reader understand the purpose and application of the information.
Use descriptive headings
Craft descriptive headings that accurately represent the content.
Headings should act as a guide, summarizing the content beneath.
Avoid repetitive heading text in the same article.
Test with "Eddy AI"
Utilize "Eddy AI" to analyze your content for clarity and coherence.
Make adjustments based on feedback from these tools.
By implementing these recommendations, you can create and manage documentation that is not only comprehensible to humans but also easily processed and understood by AI and NLP bots like "Eddy AI".