What is Answer the Public?
Answer the Public is a tool that shows real questions people search on Google and Bing. It helps you find content ideas by grouping these questions into simple categories like what, how, and why. This lets you create content that answers your audience’s actual queries.
Why Use Answer the Public for Content Planning?
Creating content without thorough research is like aiming without a target ineffective and uncertain. You might get lucky, but most of the time, you’ll miss. Using a tool like Answer the Public can guide your content efforts by showing what people are already searching for. This means you’re not just creating content you’re creating valuable content that has a higher chance of ranking and bringing in traffic.
Here’s why Answer the Public is great for content planning:
- Saves time: You get hundreds of ideas from one keyword.
- Audience insight: Understand your audience’s thoughts and pain points.
- SEO-friendly: Helps you find long-tail keywords that are easier to rank.
- Builds authority: You answer real questions, showing expertise.
- Boosts traffic: Ranking for relevant questions increases organic visits.
How to Use Answer the Public: Step-by-Step
Using Answer the Public is simple. Follow these steps to get started:
1. Go to the Website
Visit answerthepublic.com. You can start for free with limited daily searches or subscribe for more features.
2. Type Your Main Topic
In the search bar, enter a keyword related to your niche or business. For example, if you’re in the fitness niche, you could enter “weight loss.”
3. Explore the Results
The tool gives you results in several formats:
- Questions: What, how, why, when, who, where.
- Prepositions: Like “diet for weight loss,” “exercise with weight loss.”
- Comparisons: Such as “weight loss vs fat loss.”
All this data is shown in a wheel or a list. You have the option to either download the results as a CSV file or capture them with a screenshot.
4. Pick the Best Questions
Look for questions that are:
- Relevant to your audience
- Not too broad or too narrow
- Easy to understand
- Useful to answer with your product, service, or knowledge
For example, “How to lose weight without exercise?” It can be repurposed as a blog post title or a YouTube video headline.
5. Organize Content Ideas into Clusters
Once you have a list of good questions, organize them into content clusters. A content cluster refers to a central topic that is supported by multiple related subtopics.
Example Cluster:
- Main topic: Weight loss tips
- How to lose weight naturally?
- Can walking help in weight loss?
- What foods help burn belly fat?
- Why is water important for weight loss?
This helps you cover a topic in-depth and improves your chances of ranking on search engines.
Best Practices for Content Planning with Answer the Public
To get the most out of this tool, follow these smart tips:
- Use multiple seed keywords: Try different variations to discover more angles.
- Check search trends: Use Google Trends to confirm what’s trending.
- Combine with other tools: Tools like Google Keyword Planner, Ubersuggest, or SEMrush can give keyword volume data.
- Update your content: If you already have content on a topic, use Answer the Public to find more related questions and update your post.
- Build content calendars: Turn your question list into a weekly or monthly publishing schedule.
Example: Planning Content for a Travel Blog
Let’s say you run a travel blog. Type “solo travel” into Answer the Public. You might find questions like:
- Is solo travel safe?
- How to plan a solo trip?
- Why travel alone?
You can now create:
- A blog titled “Is Solo Travel Safe for Women?”
- A YouTube video on “How to Plan a Solo Trip in 2025”
- An Instagram Reel titled “Top 5 Benefits of Solo Travel”
By matching these questions to content formats, you’re giving your audience exactly what they need and boosting your visibility at the same time.
Benefits for SEO and Marketing
Utilizing Answer the Public enhances both your SEO efforts and overall content marketing strategy. Here’s how:
- Rank for long-tail keywords: These are less competitive and highly specific.
- Voice search optimization: People use full questions in voice search, and these are the same questions the tool provides.
- Higher engagement: People stay longer on your site when your content matches their exact query.
- Better CTRs: When your blog or video title matches a user’s search, they’re more likely to click.
Limitations to Keep in Mind
While it’s an excellent tool, Answer the Public isn’t perfect. Here are a few things to consider:
- It does not provide search volume data, so you’ll need to use a separate tool for that information.
- Daily free searches are limited.
- Some questions may be outdated or too similar.
- It requires human judgment to filter out useful ideas from the noise.
Still, when used smartly with other tools, it remains one of the most helpful platforms for brainstorming content.
Conclusion
Answer the Public makes content planning easier by showing real questions people search online. It helps you create useful, SEO-friendly content that meets audience needs. Whether you’re a blogger or marketer, using this tool saves time, boosts traffic, and builds trust. Start planning smarter with real insights today.
