November 11, 2024

ChatGPT announced the rollout of its API (GPT 3.5 Turbo) on March 1. 

I’m bullish on ChatGPT’s utility for a number of completely different Web optimization-related features like key phrase analysis, native Web optimization, content material, and hyperlink constructing. Having spent a lot time utilizing ChatGPT, I’m additionally painfully conscious of its limitations.

Whereas the API gained’t be a panacea (and the net interface is definitely significantly better for some duties), it could possibly assist deal with a number of the shortcomings of the net interface.

This text will present you maximize ChatGPT’s API with particular Web optimization use circumstances.

use the ChatGPT API

To leverage the ChatGPT API, you want to have the ability to entry the API within the first place. ChatGPT’s guardian firm OpenAI has in depth documentation for utilizing the API.

In the event you’re trying to be taught extra about constructing a software or interacting immediately with the API there’s additionally an excellent walk-through here.

You may also use AppsScript to question the ChatGPT API in Google Sheets, which we’ll stroll via right here step-by-step.

No matter your strategy, you’ll want to start out by getting an API key.

Getting your ChatGPT API key

After getting an OpenAI account, you possibly can generate your API key both by following this link whereas logged in or clicking View API keys within the profile dropdown:

ChatGPT - View API keys

Then click on Create new secret key.

ChatGPT - Create new secret key

Copy the API key you generated.

ChatGPT - API key generated

Connecting the ChatGPT API to Google Sheets

There’s an easy method to join ChatGPT to Google Sheets (h/t Keith Mint).

First, create a brand new Google Sheet, then click on on Extensions and select Apps Script:

ChatGPT API - Google Sheets extension

You then paste the next code (along with your API key rather than YOUR API KEY):

const SECRET_KEY = "YOUR API KEY";
const MAX_TOKENS = 800;
const TEMPERATURE = 0.9;

perform AI_ChatGPT(immediate, temperature = 0.4, mannequin = "gpt-3.5-turbo") 
  const url = "https://api.openai.com/v1/chat/completions";
  const payload = 
    mannequin: mannequin,
    messages: [
       role: "system", content: "You are a helpful assistant." ,
       role: "user", content: prompt ,
    ],
    temperature: TEMPERATURE,
    max_tokens: MAX_TOKENS,
  ;
  const choices = 
    contentType: "software/json",
    headers:  Authorization: "Bearer " + SECRET_KEY ,
    payload: JSON.stringify(payload),
  ;
  const res = JSON.parse(UrlFetchApp.fetch(url, choices).getContentText());
  return res.decisions[0].message.content material.trim();

Click on save inside Apps Script:

ChatGPT API - Apps Script

Then you need to use the next perform format to use a immediate to a cell:

=AI_ChatGPT("YOUR PROMPT HERE")

ChatGPT Google Sheet prompt formula

As Mint factors out in his article, you can too reference a cell if you wish to have a number of cells use prompts that refer again to 1 cell (just like the title or subject of a weblog submit):

ChatGPT - Google Sheet prompt formula with multiple cells

Within the instance above, I used easy prompts just like the one pictured, then created a second paragraph for this subject. (We’ll stroll via extra particular purposes for the API shortly.) 

ChatGPT API pricing

Earlier than you begin leveraging the ChatGPT API for Web optimization duties, it’s important to grasp the pricing.

The value for the gpt-3.5-turbo API (the ChatGPT API) is $0.002 per 1,000 tokens, which is 10x cheaper than the prevailing GPT-3.5 API.

To higher perceive what the pricing really winds up wanting like, you want to perceive how tokens work.

ChatGPT API tokens

OpenAI has a good breakdown and a useful free tokenizer tool that can assist you decide what number of tokens a selected textual content shall be and the way the textual content is damaged down (in case you want to cut back the variety of tokens for a immediate or response).

A couple of key issues to remember:

  • By default, the API can return a most of 4,096 tokens.
  • Tokens are a illustration of how a lot textual content your immediate and response are. It is a key issue, as longer prompts can shorten your response output.
  • Textual content is translated into tokens and roughly breaks right down to round 4 characters in English.

OpenAI additionally offered this beneficial breakdown of how tokens are calculated from textual content:

  • 1 token ~= 4 chars in English
  • 1 token ~= ¾ phrases
  • 100 tokens ~= 75 phrases

Or

  • 1-2 sentence ~= 30 tokens
  • 1 paragraph ~= 100 tokens
  • 1,500 phrases ~= 2048 tokens

To get extra context on how tokens stack up, contemplate this:

  • Wayne Gretzky’s quote, “You miss 100% of the photographs you don’t take,” accommodates 11 tokens.
  • OpenAI’s charter accommodates 476 tokens.
  • The transcript of the U.S. Declaration of Independence accommodates 1,695 tokens.

So when you used a brief immediate to generate a 1,500-word article, it could be lower than half a cent.


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Particular API use circumstances for Web optimization

The API will help with quite a lot of the identical Web optimization-related duties because the ChatGPT internet interface, however the two have some important variations, making some duties higher for one than the opposite.

Understanding that can enable you to decide which to make use of for Web optimization duties.

ChatGPT API vs. internet interface

The largest variations embrace the next:

Scale and bulk duties

If you wish to combine ChatGPT with an current software or spreadsheet, you may want to make use of the API. 

Moreover, the API shall be your good friend if you wish to carry out a selected perform utilized throughout a number of cases (e.g., generate meta descriptions for a number of key phrases).

Nice-tuning and relationship between prompts

At present, ChatGPT’s API doesn’t help fine-tuning. In the event you create a number of prompts via the API, they will not have a relationship. 

You may create a system message to use to a number of prompts and responses, however OpenAI has stated that these are steadily presently ignored by the gpt-3.5-turbo API. 

This implies if in case you have a process that requires a number of prompts and for ChatGPT to maintain the context of a complete dialog, you may need to use the net interface.

Character limits

The API has a token restrict of 4,096 which interprets to round 16,384 characters per interplay for every immediate and response

Character limits for the net interface can differ, however typically, the immediate and response are restricted to round 2,048 characters, or 4,096. 

So for duties that require extra in depth prompts or extra important responses, the API shall be a greater possibility. 

There are additionally extra choices for structuring prompts and duties in a method that offers you a lengthier mixed output when you’re utilizing code slightly than one thing just like the Google Sheets integration.

Pricing 

Once more, the API is priced by utilization (and provides a free trial with $18 value of tokens), and the net interface presently provides a free model and a $20/mo. paid model. 

Instance ChatGPT API prompts

Let’s take a look at particular use circumstances the place you’d need to contemplate the API over the net interface.

Title tags and meta descriptions

An apparent use case the place the API is sensible is having ChatGPT generate title tags or meta descriptions at scale.

You need to use related prompts to people who work within the internet interface right here, however when you construction them correctly and lay out your spreadsheet proper, you possibly can take the primary immediate after which rapidly apply that to a number of URLs or key phrases: 

ChatGPT API - Title tags and meta descriptions

Word that the free plan notably is charge restricted, so you could have errors the place the cells trip, by which case you want to delete and re-paste:

ChatGPT API - Google Sheets errors

And as at all times, remember that:

  • ChatGPT cannot crawl the net, so it is both utilizing prior information of a URL from the coaching interval or an assumption concerning the URL primarily based on phrases within the URL to generate recommendations
  • ChatGPT’s output can typically be flawed or deceptive and must be edited.

You need to use this similar format for title tags. (I will have an article focusing particularly on utilizing ChatGPT to generate and replace title tags popping out quickly).

Longer content material and submit outlines

You need to use the net interface in ChatGPT to create chunks of content material and descriptions fairly simply.

If you wish to make an extended article or if you are going to create a sequence of outlines on completely different matters, nevertheless, it may be a clunky expertise.

The API is smoother for these duties.

First, you possibly can chunk off a submit you wrote into sections. Then line up the sections and pull your immediate down:

ChatGPT API - longer content and post outlines

Alternatively, you might have ChatGPT generate a number of outlines that you just then have a author (or writers) fill in:

ChatGPT API - article outlines

Then, you might have the API write the content material one part at a time:

ChatGPT API - write article sections

Once more, right here you might take these prompts, load them one after the other throughout the define (altering every immediate for the suitable part), after which simply pull the identical formulation throughout a number of outlines and have quite a lot of textual content particular to the subsections of every submit generated.

My expertise is that this helps you avoid token limits, and even pedestrian prompts just like the one above mixed with having ChatGPT create a top level view will generate higher content material than when you ask the software to “write a weblog submit.” 

Past that, you possibly can additional enhance content material high quality by doing issues like:

  • Ask it to incorporate particular phrases (both since you need them on the web page otherwise you need to add inside hyperlinks for that phrase).
  • Feed it statistics or quotes to work into particular sections of the submit. (That is notably useful if in case you have a subject that requires up-to-date ways and statistics, provided that GPT-3 was not skilled on latest knowledge.)
  • Tweak your prompts to output the tone and formatting you need (extra on this shortly).

And, as at all times, layer on human modifying.

FAQs

There are a number of FAQ-related features the API will help with.

First off, you possibly can generate an inventory of FAQ inquiries to be related to a weblog submit:

ChatGPT API - FAQs

Subsequent, you possibly can have the ChatGPT API reply these (once more: proceed with warning on the subject of output high quality and accuracy):

ChatGPT API - FAQs - answers

Schema

You may also have ChatGPT generate schemas for you throughout a number of pages. 

On this case, we are able to apply FAQ schema to the FAQs it created for us:

ChatGPT API - Schema

Convert content material to HTML

One other cool use case for ChatGPT is to transform textual content to HTML. 

First, let’s convert our submit from textual content to HTML:

ChatGPT API - Convert content to HTML

A couple of issues to notice right here:

  • As you possibly can see, the headers in every part had been initially formatted with paragraph tags. I fastened this within the immediate by including, “Format the header of the part as an h2, and some other headlines on this part as an h3.”
  • I wasn’t capable of mix the whole submit (which was round 1100 phrases) into one cell to be transformed to HTML, so I needed to chunk it off and gave particular directions in my immediate for every cell to ensure ChatGPT did not layer within the formatting for a complete HTML doc in each cell.
  • You may additionally get some wonky formatting, like extra quotes you did not anticipate within the output. 

As with all elements of ChatGPT, preserve refining your prompts and at all times examine the output.

Now that we have now our submit in HTML, we are able to begin to do some cool issues with inside linking.

We are able to inform ChatGPT so as to add inside hyperlinks from particular phrases to particular pages wherever within the HTML we simply generated:

ChatGPT API - Add internal links

If we had been making a cluster of pages, we may create guidelines particular to every web page and apply them to the related HTML.

This manner, all the things we generate is interlinked the way in which we would like, the HTML is able to go, and the FAQ schema is added appropriately.

I attempted to create a rule that was a bit extra sophisticated, asking ChatGPT to hyperlink phrases. Here’s what I added to my immediate:

  • “Any time you see the phrases making and giggle inside 5 phrases of one another, create a hyperlink with these two phrases and all the phrases in between them to standupexperience.com/make-them-laugh.”

Right here is the hyperlink that was added:

ChatGPT API - Wrong hyperlinks

That is not what I requested for, and in addition, it did not hyperlink each occasion of stand-up as I requested it to.

I will have to refine my prompts and examine my outputs.

Outreach templates

In the event you’re reaching out to a number of locations for hyperlink outreach or visitor submit placements, you need to use the ChatGPT API to create a number of outreach templates for you:

ChatGPT API - Outreach templates

When you’ve got completely different sorts of templates, get artistic with making use of these prompts throughout completely different outreach targets.

Utilizing the net interface and the API in tandem (a.ok.a., convey your prompts)

Two issues are true:

  • The API is best for bigger initiatives and performs many prompts concurrently.
  • The online interface is steadily higher at getting you to a wonderful output since you possibly can travel with ChatGPT to provide context, assessment the output, present suggestions, and many others.

One method to get the very best of each worlds is to create your immediate within the internet interface after which apply it to a number of objects by way of the API.

Let’s take a look at a selected instance from this submit. My inside linking immediate did not work by way of the API. It is difficult to troubleshoot by way of the API as a result of you possibly can’t give ChatGPT suggestions or ask why the immediate failed.

Enter, immediate technology by way of the net!

My typical ChatGPT course of is to: 

  • Give it chunks of context.
  • Examine for understanding. 
  • Evaluation the output for errors and provides it extra suggestions to realize my desired consequence.

To have the ability to do that for inside linking guidelines, let’s begin with the net interface to wash up our ChatGPT immediate.

First, I need to give ChatGPT some context. (Keep in mind: ChatGPT would not learn about its personal API!) 

I need to give it details about the API, share the HTML I am beginning with, share the immediate I used, and share the output I bought after which ask ChatGPT to diagnose the problem and rewrite the immediate for me.

Let’s have a look at the way it goes:

ChatGPT web - Prompt creation

In the event you do not pre-empt it, ChatGPT will repeatedly interrupt you to fireside (steadily irrelevant) solutions and recommendations (like an keen pupil who did not do the studying).

I copied and pasted the textual content from this page in 4 prompts, the HTML I used to be making an attempt so as to add hyperlinks to, the total Sheets perform I might used, and the output I might gotten.

Subsequent, I lastly shared the problem with the output:

ChatGPT web - Prompt creation for Google Sheets

After which ChatGPT fastened the immediate for me.

ChatGPT web - Fixed prompt Google Sheets

Properly, it wasn’t really fastened.

ChatGPT web - Prompt syntax error

ChatGPT is relentlessly well mannered even when you’re getting a bit testy, and once I shared the immediate, it analyzed it for me:

ChatGPT Web Prompt Feedback 800x557

The recommendations on HTML measurement are good ones, however I used to be nonetheless getting the error:

ChatGPT web - Google Sheet max character limit

This time, the immediate labored!

To handle the max tokens challenge, I can go to Apps Script to regulate that quantity:

ChatGPT API - Google Sheet fix character limit

Or clearly, if I am not utilizing Sheets, it is not prone to be a difficulty (till I hit the 4096 tokens).

Get artistic and search for options

Web optimization purposes for the ChatGPT API go properly past what’s listed right here. 

In the event you’re looking out for methods to make use of the platform and might get artistic you may discover many extra purposes like:

  • Programmatic options: You may transcend Google Sheets to search out thrilling and scalable makes use of for the ChatGPT API.
  • Combining a number of APIs: Take into consideration the way you would possibly be capable to use the ChatGPT API in unison with APIs like Google Search Console, Ahrefs, Semrush or related. What issues do you need to resolve? 
  • Extra environment friendly or higher workflows: Take inventory of the duties you and your staff full every day. Are there objects that ChatGPT’s API could possibly both can help you just do as properly however extra effectively, or to enhance your work product round?

With the latest launch of GPT-4, extra alternatives for leveraging the platform will possible proceed to crop up.

Opinions expressed on this article are these of the visitor writer and never essentially Search Engine Land. Employees authors are listed right here.