Why most AI-generated web content fails
The organizations that get the least from AI writing tools are usually the ones prompting badly. "Write a blog post about accessibility" produces exactly the kind of generic, undifferentiated content that performs poorly because it doesn't match any specific search intent: accurate in the broadest sense, written to no one in particular, indistinguishable from the hundreds of similar posts already indexed.
The tools aren't the problem. The prompts are. (I've written a broader breakdown of AI content workflows covering the full production cycle; this post zooms in on the prompting stage.)
Prompting for web content isn't like prompting for a quick answer. You're asking a generalist tool to produce something that represents a specific organization's voice, meets specific structural requirements, and demonstrates genuine expertise in a specific field. That takes a structured prompt, not a casual request.
This post covers how to build prompts that actually work for web content production.
The three things every effective web content prompt needs
1. Role and context
Before you describe the task, tell the tool who is writing and for whom. This isn't asking it to roleplay. It's giving it the context it needs to calibrate tone, vocabulary, and depth.
Weak: "Write a blog post about plain language in government websites."
Better: "You are writing for Excelle Escalada, a Digital Experience Architect specializing in web governance, content strategy, and accessibility for Ontario municipalities. The audience is communications managers and digital leads at small-to-medium Ontario municipalities who manage their own CMS and have limited technical support."
The better version tells the tool the voice (expert, first-person practitioner), the audience (specific professional context), and the scope (Ontario-focused, specific organization type).
2. Task constraints
Constraints aren't limitations. They're guardrails that push the output toward what you actually need.
Useful constraints for web content:
Put all of these in the same prompt. A long, specific prompt for web content produces better output than a short vague one.
3. Source material or key messages
Don't ask the tool to invent your organization's perspective from scratch. Give it the raw material and ask it to work from what you provide.
This can be:
When you provide source material, you're directing the tool rather than hoping it arrives somewhere useful on its own. The result is content that reflects your organization's actual stance rather than a generic industry position.
Iterative prompting: why first drafts are starting points
No well-written web content comes from a single prompt. Build your process around iterations.
First prompt: Generate a structure or outline. Review and revise before proceeding to a full draft.
Second prompt (building on the first): "Using the structure above, write a full draft. Keep all formatting rules from my earlier instructions. Focus on [specific element] in the opening section."
Revision prompts: Target specific problems rather than asking for a full rewrite.
Each iteration is faster than the last because you're refining something concrete rather than starting over. Aim for two to three revision cycles before a human editor does a final pass.
Building EEAT into your prompts
Google's EEAT framework asks whether content demonstrates Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. None of these are things an AI tool provides natively. Each has to be designed into the prompt.
Experience: Tell the tool what specific experience to draw from. "Include a reference to the shift organizations typically face when moving from a single CMS administrator to a distributed publishing model." You're not fabricating experience; you're providing it and asking the tool to write from it.
Expertise: Supply the substance. Give the tool the specific knowledge (the stats, the framework names, the regulatory details) and ask it to explain them clearly rather than asking it to know them.
Authoritativeness: Link to real sources. Before finalizing any content, verify every claim and add links to authoritative references. The tool can suggest where references belong; you supply the actual sources. This is also where writing for both search engines and humans matters most, because linking to real sources builds EEAT and improves search visibility.
Trustworthiness: Review every AI draft for content that sounds plausible but isn't accurate. This is not optional. For any claim that you didn't supply in the prompt, verify it before publishing.
A prompt template for web content
Here's a reusable template structure for web content production:
You are [name], a [role] specializing in [areas of expertise] for [target audience description].
Write a [content type: blog post/service page/FAQ section] on the topic: "[topic]"
Target audience: [describe specific reader and their context]
Tone: [conversational/expert/formal] - [specific voice notes]
Length: approximately [X] words
Structure: H2 headings for major sections, no H1 in body, sentence case headings
Style rules: [any specific rules, e.g., no em dashes, active voice, plain language]
Key messages to cover:
- [message 1]
- [message 2]
- [message 3]
End with a CTA in this format: [your standard CTA format]
Do not include: [list of anything to avoid]This template takes five minutes to fill in for a specific piece of content. It produces output that requires significantly less editing than an undirected prompt.
If you want to build a prompting system that your whole content team can use consistently, get in touch and we can create templates tailored to your content types and brand voice.