Do not leave your customers wondering. Give them answers and clarity. If not, you will lose them.
That’s the basic rule of marketing and the motto of every marketer. They need to provide adequate answers and clarity to their customers and prospects. The golden rule is also applicable to SEO. Google will choose a brand that clearly answers questions about the products or services.
Will you let Google choose and feature your competitor? I bet not.
The only way to ensure that it won’t happen is to create a relevant and well-optimised FAQ page. FAQ pages are the key pages of every website. It provides customers and search engines the answers and clarity they need about your brand, products, or services.
Why do you need to create a FAQ Page?
Creating a FAQ page hits two birds in one stone– SEO and customer inquiry are the birds.
It answers the frequently asked questions of most customers. Having a FAQ page will decrease the workload of your customer support team. Instead of your customers asking you or your team directly, they can read the answers or solutions on your FAQ Page.
Other than shortening your customer’s purchasing journey, FAQ pages build trust. It covers your return policies, shipping processes, and it shows the transparency of your website. As it builds trust, then several users will trust your brand, and so will Google.
If Google will trust your brand and website, it gives you an edge over your competitors. You will have meaningful internal links and more search visibility opportunities.
FAQ helps you create a more effective sales funnel. So, why shouldn’t you learn how to create a FAQ page or learn how to optimise it?
Step 1: Find Questions to Answer
You have to do detailed research on what questions to answer. You can use a variety of tools that includes SEO-related ones or base the questions on People Also Ask on Google. These tools and SE section collect questions that are frequently asked on online discussion forums.
Aside from that, you can ask your customer support team. They are the most important resource for FAQs. Through your customer support team, you will know which questions your potential and loyal customers frequently ask. You can make use of these questions and create optimised content about them. You can expand your list of questions as time goes by.
Step 2: Create Clear, Concise, and Factual Answers
Write short answers to each question. Do not go over three paragraphs. If you can do it as short as 3 to 4 sentences, that’s good. Giving long answers will only make the FAQ page look cluttered.
If you want to provide more answers, you can add a video explanation or create a standalone article for the process.
A video explanation is mostly what web owners use to answer questions. Although it is a good promotional asset, as it allows your brand to be on other social media platforms, video marketing can be intimidating.
There are other ways to give shorter answers:
- Add instructional GIFs
- Create downloadable flowcharts and checklists
In short, use visual content to improve your audience engagement. Make things easier to understand and remember.
Step 3: Use FAQ Schema
Google features clear and concise answers! They put a separate schema type for FAQ content format: FAQPage Schema.
FAQPage Schema makes it easier for Google to understand your webpage. It allows you to stand out in SERP.
Quick Tip: If you include an internal link inside your answer, it will result in more organic SERPs!
Step 4: Internal Linking for Sitemap
Placing several links from your organic listing search is essential to your FAQ page. You have to remember that the FAQ page is an essential part of the marketing funnel. Thus, adding internal links helps ensure that your customer’s journey continues.
However, do not take this from an SEO standpoint. It is not as essential in creating keyword-optimised link text. The importance of internal links is for user intent.
It’s best to monitor your visitor’s paths and your FAQ page to give you more ideas on how to stitch the answers to make the information clearer.
Step 5: Page Structure Matters
You have to know that there are two different web users, those who search and those who browse. Your FAQ page should cater to the needs of both users.
Thus, your FAQ page should have:
- A search field suggestion to help users navigate through your website.
- Organised categories or subheads for page visitors to browse through. Users should have an idea about your site the moment they look into it. It will help them gather information faster.
Meanwhile, if you have a FAQ content structure set up, it’s best to have anchor links to allow your visitors to jump to the section they want to read more about.
Integrate, Analyse, Monitor with FAQ Page
If you have a well-optimised FAQ Page, it can address several types of user intent which ultimately helps several sales funnel steps. You can monitor the FAQ page closely to ensure it’s giving you positive results.
Here’s how you can do it:
1. Monitor in-FAQ search.
There are several FAQ plugins you can install that has advanced search functionality. This feature provides reports on the most popular searches and empty searches.
- Most popular searches: It shows which product, product feature, or site page makes your customer or users confused. It tells you that there may be navigation or usability issues.
- Empty searches: It shows which questions do not have the answers in your FAQ. It will give you an idea of what things need more clarification.
If you opt for a no-plugin, custom solution, you have to use Google Analytics to monitor your in-FAQ search. It allows you to monitor the search patterns of the users.
2. Track the user paths through the FAQ page.
You can track the users’ search paths– which page or off-site channel brought them to your FAQ page? After reading your FAQ page, where do the users go?
Knowing the user’s paths will help you understand more of the FAQ page’s role in your sales funnel. You can track the page’s effectiveness in sending conversions. Create an unlimited number of sales funnels to monitor and compare the paths different users take through your website.
3. Monitor rankings on “People Also Ask.”
Aside from monitoring the page traffic and page ranking, you have to monitor its position on “People Also Ask.”
The “People Also Ask” page covers the frequent questions from customers, and it’s pretty indicative of whether the page is getting positive results. Search engine ranking is the only tool to help you with the “People Also Ask” section. Track the questions that are most searched on Google.
If you do this right, you will have your PPA position growing.
4. Collect Customer Feedback
Lastly, collect the user feedback on each answer to your FAQs. It will help you create insightful answers and helpful guides. Most pre-build FAQ solutions have this feature. However, if yours doesn’t have one, you can download a standalone plugin.
Frequently Asked Questions about FAQs
Let’s answer a few questions about building a FAQ page. These are commonly asked on community forums.
1. Is having a FAQ section a good idea?
Yes, a FAQ page will bring you positive results if you take it seriously.
2. Should I apply the “collapsible” answers or accordion-style to save space?
Although there aren’t any issues using accordion-style for your FAQ page, SEO experts believe that immediately-visible content has better results than those behind tabs.
3. Is it acceptable to reuse a few answers on other pages where the question and answer make sense? Would Google see it as duplicate content?
Google will not penalise these types of duplicate content. However, it’s best to avoid doing this. It’s better to write a new one or paraphrase each page’s content to make it seem new for Google.
Key Takeaways
You have to create concise and factual answers to provide immediate help or guidelines to the readers. FAQ section can have animated GIFs, videos, or any visual content to make it more helpful.
Structure your FAQ page and make it more meaningful by linking them to your other pages. It will help accommodate user’s intent by giving them detailed answers.
It’s undeniable that FAQ pages are a crucial point for websites as it generates good organic search that helps develop and convert traffic. More so, it is a critical step for a customer’s purchasing journey. It’s proven as you can monitor their journey through your FAQ page.