How to use Google Question Hub for Keyword Research and SEO

Google Question Hub – Is it Useful for SEO?

February 10, 2021

Contents

What is Question Hub?

Google announced in January 2021 that it was launching QuestionHub in the United States, as a way for publishers to find users’ unanswered questions, enabling them to produce content that will solve these unanswered questions and bring them new visitors.

Results Update February 2023:

TL;DR: This is a screenshot from Google Search Console showing that the two pages I created to specifically answer questions identified on Google's Question Hub tool have generated nearly 10K organic visits for the site over the past 12 months. This could be a useful tool to help you grow traffic in your niche, assuming that you can identify enough unanswered questions and produce and submit high-quality results.

Is Google Question Hub useful for SEOs?

OK, that was the first thing that came to mind for me and I’m sure for many SEOs like me. Question Hub helps identify unanswered questions but doesn’t provide significantly different insights compared to established tools such as FAQ Explorer or Answer The Public.

Getting Access to Question Hub

This is not too straightforward, as currently it is only available in the United States, India, Indonesia and Nigeria. However, using a workaround like a VPN can allow access.

Using Google’s Question Hub

You can type a keyword phrase into the search bar or dive into the categorized lists.

Once you find an interesting topic, click ‘Add’ to add some questions to your list; however, retrieving only 10 questions at a time can be frustrating.

Let’s be clear what Google Question Hub is and is not.

OK – so why has Google gone to great lengths to build this tool then?

Google aims to make the web better and fulfill gaps in search queries. The questions presented often fall into various categories, such as poorly phrased questions, unfinished questions, or niche audience queries.

Limitations of Google Question Hub

Zero Unanswered Questions

Search experiences often yield 0 results for keyword searches, which can be ironic since unanswered questions should ideally be those that arise in Question Hub.

Poor coverage on some topics

Sometimes, there’s a lack of relevant questions available for specific SEO topics.

Lack of Query Refinement

Typographical errors and vague queries are prevalent, which complicates the response process.

How to submit your answers to Google’s QuestionHub

Submitting your content to Google involves clicking on the relevant question and entering your URL. Once submitted, you'll have to wait for Googlebot to assess the content.

SEO Experiments with QuestionHub from Google

Experiment 1 – Updating existing content

Goal: Determine if updating an existing page gives a particular page a boost across all its keywords.

Experiment 2 – Creating new content that is on-topic for your website

Goal: Determine if creating a new page accelerates indexing and ranking for related head terms.

Experiment 3 – Creating new content that is off-topic for your website

Goal: Determine if submitting an off-topic page is accepted.

Experiment 6 – Creating a YouTube Video

Goal: Assess video ranking based on unanswered questions.

Summary

In conclusion, the effectiveness of Google Question Hub may depend on user experimentation. Overall, its merits may not yet be fully realized in its current form but may have potential for improvement.

So, is Google Question Hub useful for SEOs?

In a word, “No” — but with potential.

What Should Google do if it really wanted to make the web a better place?

Google could show clusters of related topics and transparent quality scores, offering deeper insights into unanswered questions and definitive solutions for users.