Project Overview

These articles were part of a long-form SEO strategy for a client in the mental health space.

Due to budget constraints, they asked for AI-assisted content but I refused to let that mean flat, robotic writing.

Each article was made with a 3-hour workflow: research, prompt buildout, AI drafting, heavy editing, and SEO layering.

Definitely not my most creative work, but I still gave it my best despite time and budget limits. Today, these articles drive nearly 70% of the site’s total traffic and continue to rank on page one for several high-intent keywords.

The Details

Their goals:

↠ Increase discoverability for core mental health topics

↠ Sound human (not like a weird keyword machine)

↠ Keep the tone emotionally safe and conversational

The problem:

They had a tight budget and needed articles at scale. This meant AI was part of the equation. But instead of slapping ChatGPT outputs into a doc and calling it a day, I put in the work to make sure the content felt real and not just AI garb. 

What I did:

1. Trained the AI before using it

I knew I couldn’t get good results out of AI without giving it real, useful context. So I:

↠ Watched hours of the client’s YouTube videos to understand her voice and delivery

↠ Pulled phrasing from Reddit threads and grief support communities to humanize the tone

↠ Created a mini voice-and-style guide that I added to every prompt to keep things warm, clear, and safe

2.  Centered real-life experiences

All examples used in the articles (from what it feels like to grieve someone who’s still alive to what to say to someone who’s lost a parent) were built from true stories.

3. Took my time (even though I wasn’t paid for it)

I could’ve delivered these in 1 hour per piece. But instead, I spent 2–3 hours on each: refining tone, fact-checking medical information, and restructuring AI outputs to make them read like thoughtful human content.

Sweet sweet results:

↠ These SEO articles now drive 70%+ of the site’s total traffic

↠ Multiple pieces are ranking #1 on Google for highly competitive grief-related keywords

↠ Content strategy helped increase total organic traffic from ~2.5k to 10k+ monthly in just a few months

↠ Client was able to show quick traction and clarity to potential partners and users — despite a modest content budget

Selected Articles:

6 signs you’re low on emotional resilience (and 5 ways to build it)

What to say (and what not to say) to someone who lost a parent

How can you grieve someone who is still alive?