There are over 2 billion websites on the internet that cover every topic under the sun thousands of times over. And after all that, we can still come up with questions that are unanswered on the internet with a quick google search.
Google is constantly trying to find ways to improve the content on Search Engine Results Pages for searchers and promote higher quality content from content creators. That’s why Google created Google Question Hub – a new Google offer that benefits both searchers and content creators. Searchers get their questions answered, and content creators have a new avenue of finding valuable content ideas that their audience wants to see.
This is the first time that Google is connecting individual searcher questions straight to the people and companies that can answer the question, instead of offering generalized query data. This new functionality is very new, but may prove to be a game-changer for content planning and publishing information that your audience explicitly stated they want to see, have, or understand.
What is Google Question Hub?
Google Search organizes information to find the most relevant, useful results for each user’s search. But what if the content just isn’t there?
First, Google collects unanswered questions directly from users to identify content gaps online. Next, Creators can use these insights to create better content for their audience. Finally, once it’s online, this better, richer content can benefit everyone.
Google Question Hub is currently available in India, Indonesia, and Nigeria. If you don’t own a business in one of these countries, there is a waitlist you can enter to be the first to try it when it rolls out in your area.
How does Google Question Hub work?
Google Question Hub was made with content creators in mind. It gives content creators the chance to look into individual searcher’s minds and understand exactly what they want to get out of potential content. While it may take time for Google to work out kinks within the functionalities, the more creators interact with the platform, the quicker the platform will be able to prioritize and only push through quality questions.
ON A BASIC LEVEL, HERE IS NOW CONTENT CREATORS CAN LEVERAGE GOOGLE QUESTIONS HUB:
- Within the Google search engine, searchers will have the option submit questions that they can’t find answers for
- Content creators can find relevant and valuable questions to answer by exploring relevant question topics and categories.
- Create your content around the question you want to answer, or if you already have content created that answers the question in part, update the content so it answers the question in full.
- Submit the content as an answer to the searcher question.
You have to sign up using a Gmail address connected to a Google Search Console for your website. Once you’ve signed up, you can sort through potential questions within your relevant topic for queries you can answer well. Because these questions come straight from searchers, so you are bound to see typos or questions that don’t make sense. The completely unhelpful questions you can reject, and if a question gets enough rejections it will be removed from question hub. That means over time, Google Question Hub will minimize the number of bad questions you have to search through and offer more golden nugget questions.
ONCE YOU FIND YOUR GOLDEN NUGGET QUESTION, YOU CAN CREATE THE PERFECT CONTENT TO ANSWER THE QUESTION.
This can be a YouTube video, landing page, blog post, website, whatever it takes to best answer the question. You can even submit already published content if you see some previous content you created accurately answers the question.
The only kicker is that if it’s not a YouTube video, you can only submit answers from a website that is verified through your search console. That means you can’t submit third party content or content from websites that you do not own.
Once you submit your content through Google Question Hub, you can track your impact on those specific questions in the performance view.
How you can use Google Question Hub to improve your content
It’s important to note that submitting your content through Google questions hub doesn’t give you a leg up on content not submitted through Google Question Hub. For example, a piece of content won’t rank better on certain queries just because it was submitted.
It’s also important to know that when you answer a question that someone posted on Google Question Hub, that doesn’t mean that Google will notify this person that you answered their question. Google Question Hub doesn’t connect the original question-asker with the newly published content. The original asker will only see the information if they research a second time. But, if it’s a good question and the content creator answers it well, it can benefit many more people than just the person that asked the question.
However, it can still help you with content creation ideas and better understanding your audience and their pain points. Consider Google Questions Hub as a telephone line that connects a searcher straight to you. They can share with you what industry information or solutions they haven’t been able to find so you know exactly what you need to write to offer valuable information that people are actively trying to learn.
While Google Questions Hub is still in the testing phase and has yet to be available in most countries. But, the quicker you pick up on this new update, the better footing you will have to answer the most valuable questions straight from your audience. To join the waitlist, go to this page. To discuss improving your content strategy using Google Question Hub and beyond, reach out to our team!
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