What is Google Question Hub?
Question Hub is, in a nutshell, a new tool that allows Google to show users that results for certain queries do not exactly match what they are looking for.
Incidentally, it collects these unanswered searches and offers them to those of us who have a Search Console account so that we can generate content that provides an appropriate response. And this is great news for content creators and those of us in SEO.
According to Google itself, this tool will allow us to:
- Explore questions for the topics in which we are interested in generating content.
- Use these questions to create more comprehensive content for our audience.
- And, track the impact of the content we have created thanks to Question Hub.
For some it may seem like a dream come true, but what exactly is the process that this tool uses and is it already available? Let's take a closer look.
How do I access Question Hub?
Unfortunately this tool is still in Beta phase. It was launched in 2018 in India, Indonesia and Nigeria, but since January 2021 it is now also available in the United States, which gives us wings to think that it will soon expand its functionality to more regions and it is always better to be prepared to make the most of it.
To access Questión Hub we will need a Google account and have verified at least one property in Search Console, if we meet these requirements we will be able to use the tool by accessing this URL: https://questionhub.withgoogle.com/
How does it work?
First Google collects those searches for which it believes it does not have a satisfactory result. According to their own FAQ they use different methods and do not detail exactly what the process is but we can get an idea thanks to the screenshots that some users have shared.
Source: help.gulshankumar.net
As we see in the image when a user makes a query for which the search engine does not have a good result, a form may appear where you can say exactly what is the question you are trying to answer with that search.
Maybe I'm venturing too far, but in my opinion (and it's one of the reasons why I'm so excited about this tool) it has a lot to do with the inclusion of BERT and I think with Question hub they also want to help the BERT engine to better understand what is the real search intent behind some queries where let's say the Deep Learning algorithm is not too clear.
Use of the platform
As I mentioned before, Question Hub is not yet available in Spain but we can see how it works thanks to the screenshots they are sharing on Twitter.
For those of us who access the platform as content creators , we will be able to see the queries and add the content that responds to those searches in the following way:
First: We look for the topic we are interested in.
Second: We add to the question tracking list the topic.
Third: We see user questions related to that topic.
Fourth: We add the URL of the piece of content where we give an answer to that question. And that's it.
Thanks to Twitter user @PRNsit for sharing these screenshots, we can also see the process on video thanks to @albertalbs
What can we do with Question Hub?
This is a tool that can be very useful for content creators and SEOs:
- It will allow us to identify the terms for which users search and do not find useful results, this will make it easier for us to generate content or modify the content we already have and adapt to the searches.
- Structure the content to easily solve users' doubts and answer their search intent based on the questions on each topic.
- Monitor the performance of the content we attach directly in Question Hub.
But of course, how useful the platform is will depend on how well implemented it is and whether Google is able to identify those searches that are not satisfactory.
It is also worth noting that Google mentions that just because we have content published on Question Hub does not mean that we will automatically rank for that query. But if we answer the user's search intent better than others and we have done our homework optimizing our page I am sure we should rank easily.
I am certainly looking forward to expand the locations where this tool is in operation and we can start working with it, I am convinced that if Google promotes it , it can become one of the first sites we consult before generating any piece of content.
If you want to be notified when Questión Hub is available you can join the waiting list here.
