Article Forge Review 2.0: Using AI for Low Cost Content (Updated 9/26/20)

Humans content writers beware: AI writing software is finally generating legitimate-looking content. As part of this Article Forge 2.0 review, we’re going to ask the software to pitch itself to you. I’ll let you judge just how close the results are to a human writer; the text was certainly better written than the last cheap article I bought.

Disclaimer: This post may contain links to products, software and services. Please assume all such links are affiliate links which may result in my earning commissions and fees.

What’s Changed Since The Last Version?

The team at Article Forge has spent the last three years rebuilding the core of their product. Their technology has advanced far beyond the traditional “scrape and spin” approach used by black hat SEO. Their platform uses artificial intelligence to mimic human speech.

The text finally sounds and looks like natural English. With verbal quality similar to a native writer. Paragraph topics are selected and respected. The article flows well. The phrasing is solid and confident. At a distance, the vocabulary and grammar can pass as the work of an American college graduate. (Want a closer look at the text quality? They offer our readers a free trial)

The articles aren’t perfect. While the text quality is very high, the topic research process sometimes parrots back half-baked ideas or plays buzzword bingo. The good news? This is usually trivial to correct so the final copy looks human created. Generated in 80% – 95% less time than writing from scratch.

Why Does This Matter? 80/20 Rule of Writing

Here’s reality: nobody reads most of that stuff you’re writing. People look at headlines, first paragraphs, call outs, images, and “Hero Content”. They don’t care about stuff you bury at the bottom of the page. The typical business website or blog includes thousands of words of irrelevant content which nobody reads.

The same applies to your website. People read the home page, authority articles, good case studies, and product materials. The rest? Filler to bulk up authority. You are literally writing for search engine robots.

Isn’t it time to look at having robots write stuff for robots?

How Article Forge Works

We are the first article forge review written after version 2.0 was launched. The features we describe below aren’t covered by other reviewers out there. These recent changes are a major improvement.

Article Forge 2.0 went through a major redesign in the past several years. The system was rebuilt to polish the structure and style of articles. Unlike lower end software, it doesn’t used scraped and pasted text. The top ranking sites on Google are mined for ideas and insights. These are fed into an AI to spin these into natural sounding articles.

This is structurally similar to how humans write. Research the topic and write down the key points. When you’re ready to write, you spin each of your points into a paragraph or two, fluffing it out with some color commentary as you go. A human writer can work across topics, using what they know about one topic to create an article for another. If I’m creating content on ferret diets, I don’t need to scrape the top 10 results to write text. I use what I know about otters and weasel diets to write unique content about ferrets. In fact, my ability to “cross topics” increases the uniqueness of the content.

Which brings me to my favorite feature about Article Forge: it consistently sounds like natural native English. Even if the system gets the research slightly wrong or the topic drifts a bit, I can generally figure out what Article Forge was trying to say. That makes these errors very easy to edit and correct.

Article Forge: Example of Generated Text

Since we’re talking about article writing software here, the best proof is in the text. Let’s look at the article forge articles! I’ll pass the pen to Article Forge and ask it to say a few words about why you should buy the program. (The writing AI acid test. Can it sell itself?)

The Article Forge process starts with identifying the topic of the article and suggesting some related keywords. These additional keywords are very important in the process, since they help sculpt the flow of the article. This means you can take a broad topic and guide it towards pitching your product or key benefits. We’re going to do that with the topic: “why should I buy article forge?”

We hit the button and get our article back. Here’s the text…

/* AI Generated Text From Article Forge */

Why should I buy article forge? There are a lot of questions that people have after they heard about this tool, and the most commonly asked question is the “why should I buy article forge?” For those who are interested in this type of technology, this is a must. Let’s take a look at how it works.

Article writing software can be easily downloaded and it can help generate fresh content for your website or blog. Most people usually prefer to write articles, and this makes the article writing software really worth to consider. The software is extremely user friendly and easy to use. It allows you to search the content you want to put in your articles, edit the content as well as re-format it, and insert keywords list into the text that you have just written. As you can see, the whole process of developing your own content is actually quite easy, and if you are really intent on optimizing your websites or blogs, you need to think of this tool.

At first you may think that it is expensive, but it is actually cheaper than human writers. If you are willing to invest a little bit of money, I am sure that you will be able to pay for the software itself within the first month or so. It has a money back guarantee, so you do not have to worry about the price after you buy it.

Not bad, for a computer…

• Definitely has the look and feel of natural English text
• Hits a lot of relevant keywords from a SEO perspective
• Came up with ideas beyond what I guided it toward
• It didn’t quite understand the money back guarantee
• Slight tendency to fluff and repeat similar topics

I’m probably not going to post it on LinkedIn but it doesn’t scream SPAM like spinner content or the work of a one-star writer. Despite the fact it is twenty times cheaper than a one star writer (under $.25 per 1000 words).

That’s an actual text by the way. I haven’t edited it. Here’s the tracking code.

Close Enough to Easily Edit

The other thing I’m loving about this new version of Article Forge?

The initial copy is of sufficient quality that editing it into final form is a breeze.

I took the sample text above and edited it for about 5 minutes.

/* Final version – Article Forge + 5 minutes of editing */

You may be wondering why should I buy article forge? The answer is simple: it is one of the best automated writing packages on the market. If you’re serious about automating content creation, this software package is a must. Let’s take a look at how it works.

Article writing software can help generate fresh content for your website or blog. While the software may appear expensive, it is actually cheaper than human writers. Since text articles are a common form of content, so you will likely get plenty of use from the software. If you are willing to invest a little bit of money, I am sure that you will be able to pay for the software itself within the first month or so.

Article Forge is very user friendly and easy to use. You can identify the topics and keywords you want to cover in an article. It gives you options to edit and reformat content as well. It makes the process of developing your own content easy.

Their last software redesign substantially improved article quality. We are currently getting better articles from Article Forge than we do from most international writers. Editing is a breeze, since most articles have good topic structure and proper phrasing.

The software has a money back guarantee, so you can get your money back if you’re not happy with the quality of the content. If you are intent on expanding the content on your websites or blogs, you need to think of this tool.

Total editing time was about 5 minutes. Specific changes ranged from editing a few research errors (the guarantee), pruning repetition, and adjusting the order of the text.

That could certainly be published as a guest post or on a corporate blog. It’s not “powerhouse” sales copy but it represents the brand and makes key points about the product’s value. It is better than 50% of the articles out there.

Editing: Tactical Details vs. Bad English

One thing I like about this is that most edits are tactical details: slightly muddy research inserted into an otherwise good essay design. That makes them very easy to fix. You may need to add a topic that Article Forge couldn’t insert into the article. Or gently adjust the phrasing of something like the money back guarantee. The software does have slight love of redundant explanations and word play that you may need to prune. Their default topic flow is solid, although it is an area I like to tweak (as you can see).

The edits we didn’t have to make here? Fixing hopelessly broken sentences because the computer pasted stuff together or it grabbed an already spun article. Removing weird phrasing that no real person ever uses. The actual writing is very high quality.

Where and How to Use Article Forge

Reality check: you’re not going to use this for high end landing pages. Nor would I entrust the software with a deep research article like this one. Those still require human guidance and creativity.

Everything else is fair game.

The harsh and bitter truth? Most people don’t read web content. They read your titles and headings. Look at images. The first paragraph gets read. The rest is filler. Why pay for high quality content that doesn’t get read? Put your time where it counts!

Need to pound out boring repetitive content for money sites? Or fluff out a bunch of web-pages with strong “hero content” at the top with some below-the-fold word count to keep Google happy? This tool works wonders, especially if you do some judicious copy-editing along the way. This is particularly true if you’re guiding someone through a multi-page site such as a slide show or interactive experience.

Article Forge is also a great way to explore. Do you suspect that Google is unhappy with the current web content for a topic and wants to give new voices a chance? You can always write an epic article, in which case you’re out $100 – $250 if you’re wrong. Alternatively, use Article Forge to write a cheap article with a catchy headline in five minutes. Save the five star writer for when you know you have an audience.

This tool reduces your investment on low impact filler content. This can save you thousands of dollars.

Systematic Usage – API’s & Integration

Managing a network of sites? Article Forge gets the team player award for multi-site capabilities.

• Integration with WordPress Blogs (including a post scheduler)
• Integrates with WordAI (same company) for greater content uniqueness
• API access available, for more advanced integration with other software

Not to mention the fact the text looks like good high quality native English writing.

This unique content writing software is bad news for content mills on the low end of the writing market. Article Forge content is higher quality and requires less editing than low end articles (< 30 ppw writers). Not to mention the text quality absolutely clobbers the junk you get from “scrape and spin” software.

Free Trial

Want to give Article Forge a try? They’re offering a 5 day free trial. Is the content good enough to meet your needs and save you money? Put it to the test, on their dime. Sign up for your free trial [affiliate link]

Article Forge Review – FAQ (Updated 4/26/2020):

How Does This Differ From A Content Spinner?

Simple. Most article spinner software uses advanced “search and replace” techniques, comparing an existing text to a massive synonym dictionary and using that to flip words to similar phrases. While this can frequently pass Copyscape, there are some fundamental gaps:

• Garbage In, Garbage Out – the style and content of the article is limited to the original source material. Pick a bad article and you’re cooked.
• Frankenposts – Some people try to solve the “lack of content” problem by using multiple articles to feed the content generator. Great – now the resulting article will speak in multiple voices and styles…
• Robotic Text – “Salt Lake City” => “Sodium Pond Town”. Yeah, no human touched it.
• Dangerous overuse of featured keyword selections

Google can spot this stuff in an instant. You’re not fooling anyone with this. You may be able to fake out Copyscape but you’ll never convince a human on Google’s search review team that this wasn’t robot generated text. That Banhammer is landing in 3, 2, 1…

Article Forge takes a very different approach. Their system examines the topic to identify the general “type” of content you’re attempting to create. For example, there are a couple of basic styles for an article about pets. Self help pieces generally have a very different look and feel. Business articles would be yet another category. Their AI system tries to figure this out.

Once the system knows the general type of article we’re trying to create, it scans the web to extract some key points about the topic from existing material. This is a higher level of research than most content spinners, seeking to extract the idea rather than the raw text.

Finally, once Article Forge has identified an appropriate writing style and key points, it assembles an appropriate template for that style to recap the key points. Using language appropriate to the type of article being written. Without duplicate content or the absurd sentence variations you get from most article writer software. It looks like an English native human wrote the text. Because, in a way… they did… (during template creation)

In fairness, the research isn’t perfect. But it doesn’t really need to be – we’re not trying to publish peer-reviewed content here. Furthermore, you’ve probably already done a lot of the research already as a publisher or affiliating marketing manager. You have researched product features, buying triggers, competitive differences, and other key information as part of your planning process. Weave this into your final edits during article review and you should be good to go.

For advanced users, it’s a fun system to hack on, by the way.. if you’re into understanding algorithms and their impact on the text. One of these days I’ll assemble a more advanced Article Forge review around developing good writing prompts.

Your best starting point: any content writing task where you know the topic well but are attempting to draft a “fresh article” for the 67th time. Or padding out a FAQ section way below the fold when most readers have already made their decision about 1500 words ago.

Sure, I’m using it to write filler content. That’s not a bug, it’s a feature! The truth of the matter is about 95% of the web is basically filler content! Ask any affiliate marketing expert – what gets people to convert?

• The Angle – “How” You pitch a product to them
• The Offer – Because the deal does have to make some sense
• The Headline – You’re never going to convert anyone that doesn’t click
• The Image – because humans are visual animals
• Call To Action – A tiny piece of text that says free trial

You know what’s missing from that list? 2500 words of text explaining how some dating offer is different than the other 503 dating offers currently being promoted. Or a unique 200 word blurb in your product review pitching the benefits of free shipping. Or a 300 word explanation of why self-actualization (or leafy green vegetables) is good for your health.

Take Keyword. Put It Into Article Forge. Tweak Results & Post. Done. Boom.

Seriously, this thing has LIBERATED me from soul-crushing low end content writing. Without the additional cost and drama you get from trying to get cheap writers to produce coherent prose. From the privacy of my basement.

Without having to explain what a credit check or pizza delivery is…

Liberating.

Looking beyond that, article forge is a great SEO content machine. If you’re using PBN sites for link building, the content should work well there. Given the average text quality, you’re publishing better looking articles at a large discount to the typical cost of filler content ($.25 vs. $5.00 per 1000 words).

Article Forge Alternative: Quality vs. Cost (updated 9/26/20!)

Article Forge actually hits a sweet spot in the market for generated content in terms of quality vs. cost. This wasn’t the only AI writing tool we’ve looked at: we tested many article forge alternative packages. We also looked at using article spinner software, content curation, bulk articles, and content curation techniques to generate cheap content.

With the release of version 2.5, article forge has taken a major step towards making automated content effective. Their most recent version includes a “deep understanding algorithm” which gives it a better grasp of topics and ideas that prior versions, bringing it within reach of high end corporate content writing systems. The difference? Those guys wanted to charge me $50 – $100 per article (I’m not kidding – and apparently corporate buyers actually pay this) vs. unlimited web use for a low monthly rate. Article Forge is $57 per month, $27 if you buy the annual plan. Which makes them a lot more affordable than many of the high end corporate content marketing packages.

From a quality perspective, they are way ahead of other tier 2 content options. Article spinner tools were obsolete a decade ago, once Google started watching how consumers react. If your copy won’t scan well, you’re not going to rank or convert. No matter how much nested spintax you inject. Bulk articles? I’ve bought them once and it was a total failure: nothing ranked, way too many people had already written about the topic, the content was barely a unique article. You will not rank in today’s search term without a high quality article that is well integrated with your seo efforts. If your entire seo empire is built on spam and old school article marketing, your days are numbered.

What I like about article forge is it gives you a highly controllable way to generate tier 2 content for a blog site. The content is written like a native English speaker, without grammatical errors. The essay structure is solid, based on similar pieces. You can identify the keywords you want woven into the piece, both a primary keyword and several secondary keywords to sculpt the article. This entire process is far more efficient than trying to manage a cheap content writer.

I do like to run the articles through an editing process. This gives you a way to tweak some of the more visible pieces of the article: adding a relevant title, inserting images, getting good captions on the images. People tend to scan a blog post rather than read it – invest your time in visuals, layout, and a good call to action. Drop in a video tutorial or a link to a relevant Facebook group if you can. The 20% of a web page that generates 80% of the results.

Article Forge actually works very well with a content curation model. Material curation involves collecting the best content on a topic from around the web and building it into an authority website. The good news, from Google’s perspective, is you can offer a lot of value to visitors. The bad news about curated material? There is a very high risk of duplicate content, since curated material is collected from other websites. Article Forge gives you a way to pad this content out with automated content and some judicious editing (see above). The content curation process gives a new article a good base of research, article forge gives you a large body of unique text, and your editing process can polish things up for the use. As a group, these tools are a very fast and affordable way to build a deep WordPress site on a topic.

How to Use Article Forge for a Money Site

Moving up from there, here how I’ve used Article Forge to create content which is good enough to publish on a money website or social media:

• Do some basic research to focus the article:
  • Target SEO keyword (you need to do this anyhow)
  • Top 3 – 5 questions or topics the article should address
  • Deeper analysis of any key selling points or unique features
• Use Article Forge to create a 200 word first draft for each key topic
• Consolidate into a single file, add your personal touches:
  • A quick introduction (tell the reader why they should read it)
  • Add a catchy headline and subheadings
  • Scan and tweak each section; weave in other ideas if you wish
  • Drop some images into the article – and sharpen the captions!
  • Write closing and call to action (pitch offer or related content)

As an affiliate marketing copywriter who earns by the article, I love this model. Here’s the thing: most of the reader’s attention is on a few areas:

• The Headline
• The first paragraph
• The image and the snarky little comment I added below it
• My closing summation
• The artfully bolded text that says buy here [affiliate link]

And with this approach, I focus 90% of my time on those money-making areas rather than grinding out repetitive filler to cover every topic and meet some word count objectives.

Bonus: Sometimes Article Forge hands you a weird comment. Have some fun with this. Don’t be afraid to spin this into a little humor to spice up your copy. I’ve gotten nice copy tweaks by making fun of Article Forge’s mistakes, since they often mimic the thought process of a very clueless new buyer…

Automating WordPress Sites

The Articleforge platform is designed to integrate with WordPress sites. You can automatically send Article Forge’s results straight to your blog. Article length options include 50, 200, 500, or 750 word pieces. You’ve got the option of asking for titles as part of the article.

There is also a scheduled content option for the article generator that creates new articles on a regular basis. The process is automated and seamless. You’ve got the ability to set up multiple prompts addressing different categories or takes on a topic.

While you can automatically publish new articles, my recommendation is to set it in draft mode and do a quick skim & edit before you hit publish. This is also a task you can easily outsource to a virtual assistant.

Want to do a little bit of additional optimization? There are beginner WordPress SEO plugins that you can use to polish filler content into effective SEO content. Use the SEO tool to tweak the content until the quality indicators are at an acceptable level (most of these have some kind of dashboard that rates your article). This is a task you can probably easily outsource to a virtual assistant with careful instructions.

In any event, Article Forge’s content machine is far better than using a spin rewriter to fill in the gaps in your content. Used correctly, it can reduce the amount you spend on content writer projects and allow you to focus your time on the highest impact areas of your website content.

That concludes our article forge review. Want to give Article Forge a try? They’re offering a 5 day free trial. Is the content good enough to meet your needs and save you money? Give it a test, on their dime. Sign up for your free trial