AnswerThePublic is a free tool that every content marketer needs to take advantage of.
It will give you non-stop ideas for content so you will never have to face writers block again.
Don’t you hate it when you’re trying to fill out a content calendar or come up with a content idea on the fly and your head is emptier than the Sahara desert?
I’ve been there, too.
That’s why I’m going to guide you through AnswerThePublic so you can improve your content marketing workflow and speed.
Follow along 🙂
How to use AnswerThePublic
Step 1: Enter a keyword
Navigate to the homepage of AnswerThePublic.
Don’t ask me about the weird guy in the background. I don’t know, either.
Enter a keyword into the search bar and click the “Get Questions” button afterwards.
You can change the language and region to the left, as well.
Step 2: Study the results
AnswerThePublic breaks down the results into the following five different sections.
Questions
Answering questions is at the heart of good content marketing.
Whether it’s a blog post or podcast episode, one of the main reasons that users consume your content is to learn something.
This often manifests in the form of seeking an answer.
That’s why the questions section of AnswerThePublic can be a goldmine for long tail keywords, content ideas, and inspiration for different sections you write about.
Furthermore, the questions are broken down into:
- How
- Will
- Can
- Where
- Which
- What
- Who
- When
- Why
- Are
Alternatively you can click the “Data” tab on the top left to view it in a different form.
I’d also like to note that Keywords Everywhere connects with AnswerThePublic to give you further insight into keywords.
If you don’t already have the free Chrome extension, make sure to go download it today.
Prepositions
Don’t worry if you flunked English class and don’t know what a preposition is.
It’s the relationship between two or more words in a sentence.
As you can see from the above image, AnswerThePublic breaks preposition results into:
- Is
- Can
- Without
- With
- To
- Near
- For
I recommend using this section to come up with entirely new topics to cover.
I searched “content marketing” for example, and results like “content marketing to generate leads” and “content marketing to drive sales” could be articles in themselves.
Comparisons
Let me test your marketing knowledge…
What’s one of the middle to last steps in the typical buyers journey?
Comparison.
Congratulations if you answered correctly!
This is precisely why the comparison keyword section of AnswerThePublic is so valuable.
After consumers have realized they have a problem to be solved and performed their research, they will normally compare their options.
This implies that they are trying to make a final decision and are near the edge of converting.
It creates a fantastic opportunity to produce valuable content helping them make a decision.
For example, you may compare two different products, services, or businesses covering what makes them better and similar.
I personally notice that comparison keywords tend to have less competition, as well.
Try mixing more of them into your content and SEO strategy to boost organic traffic.
Alphabeticals
The alphabetical area of AnswerThePublic lists search terms related to what you entered from A-Z.
Use this to discover more content and keyword ideas.
Pass it onto your team to see what they come up with, as well.
Related
Brainstorming is great, but our brains are slow as a snail compared to computers.
Hence why you should let AnswerThePublic do all of the hard work for you 🙂
The related section will brainstorm related topics and keywords based on what you searched.
There will also be little niches and angles that you will gloss over, and AnswerThePublic ensures that you don’t miss any.
I like using this section to find low competition topics and search terms to target.
Step 3: Save images and export CSV files
AnswerThePublic allows you to save the visualization charts by clicking the save image button in the top right corner.
You can also download the data as a CSV file if you wish to organize it in a spreadsheet or import it into another software.
AnswerwThePublic alternatives
Maybe AnswerThePublic isn’t for you.
Perhaps you want to use a few tools at once like myself.
Either way, here are some alternatives to enhance your content marketing strategy.
BuzzSumo
Do you want to find what topics are trending in your industry? Want to connect with influencers in the snap of a finger?
Then you need BuzzSumo.
This tool is priceless for any business serious about content marketing.
Give the free version a shot to see if it’s right for you.
You can look forward to features like:
- Discover new content ideas, what your competitor’s are producing, and angles to make your business stand out from the crowd.
- Connect with influencers directly through BuzzSumo to create powerful connections.
- Analyze content by format, network, length, domain, and more.
SEMrush
Content and SEO go hand in hand.
This is why if you produce content and perform SEO on behalf of your company, then you need to try SEMrush.
It’s a full SEO suite that offers keyword analytics, content insights, site audits, and more.
Their free version gives you up to ten searches per day, as well.
I find with a lot of these freemium tools that you don’t need a paid plan to get a ton of value out of them.
Read my straightforward SEMrush guide here to learn more about this web app.
Keyword Shitter
Yeah, it has a weird name.
But damn is it good.
It works very similar to AnswerThePublic in the sense it will give you practically infinite ideas for content and search terms except it’s bare-bones.
You simply enter in a single or several keyword ideas, and let it rip.
It will scrape up to thousands of results for you in minutes.
Copy and paste them into another tool or export as a CSV.
AnswerThePublic pro
The free version of AnswerThePublic is awesome, but it does have limitations.
If you wish to have access to unlimited searches, more detailed data, unlimited team members and more, consider upgrading to the pro version.
$99/month is a worthwhile investment for any business that wants to scale their content marketing and SEO.
Considering that you will generate more leads and customers thanks to this tool, there will be a drastic ROI.
What has your experience with AnswerThePublic been like?
