Creating single articles
Single articles let you write one article at a time, without creating a cluster. They're a good choice when you need a one-off piece or want to test a keyword before committing to a full cluster.
When to use single articles vs clusters
The difference is scope, not quality.
| Single article | Cluster |
|---|---|
| One comprehensive piece on a subject | Covering a topic across many related keywords |
| A one-off topic, or testing a keyword | A set of articles planned and written together |
| Adding to content you already have | Articles that link to each other |
Creating a single article
- From your project, click Articles in the sidebar
- Click New article
- Fill in the required fields, adjust any advanced settings, and click Write article
The bottom of the panel shows roughly how long writing takes ("About 4 minutes") and how many of your remaining articles it uses.
Article settings
The basic settings are the only ones you need to fill in. Everything under Advanced settings starts from your project's writing defaults, so you only need to change what's different for this article.
Basic settings
Target keyword (required): the main keyword you want the article to rank for.
Target audience (required): who you're writing for. It's pre-filled from your project's Basic info settings, and you can edit it for this article. See Audience.
Country (required): the market you're writing for. Machined uses it for keyword data, research and SERP analysis. If your audience is global, choose the United States.
Language (required): the language the article will be written in. Choose a country first; the list then shows the languages available for that country. See Language.
Title (required): write your own or click Generate with AI to have Machined suggest one based on your keyword.
Content type: Machined picks the most suitable type once you've entered a keyword and title. You can choose a different one, and Reset to suggested puts Machined's choice back. See Content types.
Advanced settings
Advanced settings are grouped into sections. Each section shows a short summary of its current values, so you can see what will be used without opening it.
Model & output
- Model: the AI model that writes the article. See AI model.
- Length: from Auto (matches the top-ranking results) to Comprehensive. See Length.
- Heading case: sentence case or title case for all headings.
Research
- Research depth: how much research to do before writing.
- Include URLs (one per line): pages to always use as sources.
- Exclude domains (one per line): sites to leave out of research.
- Citation style: how sources are cited in the article.
See Research.
SEO enhancements
- FAQ section: adds a frequently asked questions section to the end of the article. See FAQ section.
Unique insights
Your own expertise, data or opinions for the article to include. Click Use from project settings to bring in the insight saved in your project's Brand identity settings. See Unique Insights.
Voice
Choose Use voice preset for a built-in voice, or Use custom brand voice for one of your own. Built-in voices let you adjust Tone and Perspective. See Voices.
Secondary keywords
Additional keywords to include alongside the target keyword.
Media
- Featured image: a hero image for the article.
- Article images: images placed throughout the article.
- Image settings: the image Provider and Style.
- YouTube videos: embeds relevant videos. See YouTube videos.
See Images. You can also add images after the article is written, in the editor.
Custom instructions
Additional instructions to guide how the article is written. See Custom instructions.
Single articles don't include internal links, because there's no cluster to link within. Use a cluster if you want articles that link to each other.
Write the article
Once you've checked your settings, click Write article. The article is written in the background, so you don't need to wait on the page.
The Articles page
The Articles page lists your single articles. Articles that belong to a cluster live on their cluster page instead.
Each article shows its status: New, Queued, Writing, Ready, Posted or Failed (or Stopped if you stopped it).
Each article's menu includes Edit article, Stop writing (while it's being written), Write article (to try a failed article again), Move to project, Republish and Unpublish (once it's been published), and Delete article.
Select several articles to Delete selected, Unpublish published articles, write failed articles again with Write failed, or Move to project.
To publish or export an article, open it in the editor.
Next steps
Once written: