Last Updated on December 13, 2022 by SERP Kingz
Well, we were one of the first to break it on Twitter—an experimental new feature called “Content Ideas” appears to be coming to Google Search Console.
Navigation
What is ‘Content Ideas’?
Content Ideas basically provides Search Console users with a list of topics that can be written about for specific properties—ones that are in high demand, but have low competition. Which is pretty damn useful for marketers, and works out pretty well for their clients as well. (Not to mention Google, as it helps create and promote better content.)
It’s very reminiscent of Google’s Question Hub, a feature that launched in the US back in January 2021.
What is ‘Question Hub’?
Question Hub essentially aggregates “unanswered” questions (in other words, question queries that Google thinks are not being sufficiently answered by the current search results) and provides them to content creators.
They can use the data to create better, more relevant content, that can in turn help them drive organic search visibility. It’s a win-win.
At first glance, Content Ideas appears to be a very similar tool. In fact, it seems to us to be more-or-less a bridge between Search Console and Question Hub, with Google’s AI gleaning data from Question Hub and associating it with specific properties in Search Console.
Is ‘Content Ideas’ Ready for Primetime?
Any content writer can tell you—and is telling you right now—that coming up with topic ideas for content can sometimes be the hardest part of the job.
And the less cross-referencing between keyword research and topic research you have to do, the easier that job is.
So being provided with a short list of topics that are high demand, and low competition?
Is this the content writer’s dream?
Nope, not yet. At least, not consistently.
For some of our clients, Content Ideas seems to do a fairly good job of providing content ideas, particularly for clients in “broader” industries. By that, I mean industries that are less specialized, generally easier to brainstorm ideas for, and generally have a broad range of topics. Examples might be coaching, travel, health and fitness, etc.
However, the same cannot currently be said for clients in more niche industries—like say, fishing guides. For them, the Content Ideas tool doesn’t seem to deliver too well.
For example:
In its current state, most of the topics Content Ideas suggests for one of our fishing guide clients’ sites are like the following:
- What to put on grouper?
- What does a grouper do?
- How to draw a mangrove tree step by step?
- How to check fishing power?
- Why does gon have a fishing rod?
And these are some of the top suggested ideas. Clicking on any of the “More Ideas” links will hit you with more suggestions of the same quality.
That said, it’s still an experimental feature, so we’re looking forward to the day when Content Ideas will hopefully be able to deliver high-quality content writing ideas for all types of businesses, no matter how “niche.”
But will Content Ideas eventually become the answer to all our content marketing woes?
Will rapidly improving AI make the human process of content ideation obsolete in a few years’ time?
Will we ever find out what a grouper does?
Time will tell. But in the meantime, we’ll continue testing this tool and pushing for more insights.
Content Ideas – The Bottom Line
Content Ideas may be a very useful tool—at times—but it definitely isn’t a complete replacement for good, old-fashioned research quite yet.
Then again, no one said it would be. It’s still labeled as experimental in Search Console, after all.
I think that sometime after it comes out of its experimental stage, however, Content Ideas could evolve into an invaluable tool for content writers and marketers alike. And it could already be if you’re writing for the “right” industries or the right topics.
If you haven’t yet, check your own Search Console to see if Google’s offering this tool for any of your properties yet. (If not, you can always use Question Hub until it makes its way to you.)
