When your potential customers have questions, your website is the first place they’ll turn. Every business needs a website these days because most of your new prospects will find you online. But chances are, they’ll have questions they want answered before they commit to a purchase. While service pages, blogs and your ‘about’ page can be rich sources of information, a frequently asked questions (FAQ) page is an invaluable resource too. It can give your site’s visitors all the information they need to assess whether your product is right for them, increasing your conversions and sales.
Are FAQs good for SEO? They are, but they’re just as good for your web users and your staff. They spare potential customers the effort of contacting you for information, which frees your team up to focus on other areas. While its SEO benefits are significant, one of the biggest advantages of an FAQ page is its impact on user experience (UX).
FAQ pages and homepages share similarities: both can answer important questions about your brand, your service, and your product lines. Yet FAQ pages definitely have their own unique role to play in improving the quality of your site and building your business.
Why Having FAQs on Particular Pages Is a Good Idea
An FAQ page can be a dedicated stand-alone page on your website that features frequently asked questions and answers regarding several different areas of your business. These can include operating hours, return policies, shipping information, payment options, and contact details, among other information. FAQs can also be featured on product or service pages to answer questions specific to what that page advertises.
Why are FAQs important? They can benefit your business in many ways. Here are some of the reasons why.
Address reader’s needs
By meeting users' needs, FAQs build your brand authority and credibility, enhance your site’s usability, and garner more conversions. When done right, your FAQ page becomes the main hub your customers go to for their queries and concerns. The best way to relieve them of their doubts and overcome purchasing objections is to provide straightforward answers to their questions.
Build brand authority and expertise
Your FAQs are a chance to demonstrate your wealth of knowledge on a given topic. The more useful, workable information you provide your customers with, the more they’ll come to see you as an expert and authority in your field. Along with a good website and strong organic search and pay-per-click (PPC) measures, FAQs help build brand authority, which some say is the most important factor in growing your business’s reputation.
Increase conversions and sales
A good FAQ section answers customers’ most burning questions and dispels their doubts, increasing the likelihood that they’ll make a purchase. However, putting customers’ minds at ease isn’t enough. You should also include links to the relevant product pages in your FAQ (if it isn’t already on the product page) so that customers can click through and instantly make a purchase.
How FAQs Impact SEO
Are FAQs good for SEO? The answer is yes, as long as they’re done well. There are several reasons why FAQs should be part of your SEO strategy.
Search engines prefer informative, easy-to-read, and well-structured content. When you create detailed FAQs, you provide valuable information to web users, which boosts your perceived authority and visibility to search engines. Your FAQ page is a place where you can publish a lot of facts and information about your products and services and leverage the long-tail keywords your customers are searching for.
FAQ pages can include many keywords and search phrases, demonstrate your website’s relevance to search engine queries, provide concise snippets of information search engines can use on SERPs and, most importantly, provide value to the user.
The Best Way to Create FAQs
Your FAQ should complement the information on the rest of your website rather than restating it. It should be easy to find rather than hidden away, and it should be informed by real-life information and actual questions your target demographics are asking. Some strategies you can use to create FAQs that are good for SEO and user experience include:
Put yourself in your customer’s shoes
Imagine yourself in the position of your customers. What questions would you ask if you were looking for a product like yours? How would you prefer an FAQ to explain the answers to you? Read through contact forms, listen to voicemail messages, read message boards and look at review sites to discover the kinds of questions your target demographics are asking. Think back to when you’ve been searching for information and found a resource that not only gave you the answers but broke them down in a helpful way. What did that look like?
Make your FAQs easy to read and scan
An FAQ should be laid out in an easy-to-read way with short paragraphs and bullet points so that readers can easily find the information they’re looking for. Walls of text and disjointed information just create confusion, so make sure everything is clear-cut and neatly laid out.
Double-check your information
People trust the answers they find in FAQs, and inaccurate information will damage your credibility and brand authority. Your FAQ should contain well-researched and fact-checked answers. Turning to experts for their insights on the topic can take it to the next level.
Organise your questions and answers according to similarity
If your FAQ isn’t on the specific product or service pages, grouping questions into sub-categories (e.g., pricing, safety, shipping options, payment, etc.) is a good idea. Some questions naturally follow on from one another, e.g. ‘Is the event all ages?’, ‘Do under-18s need to be accompanied by a parent or guardian?’ Organising these questions into groups makes it easier for users to find the information they’re looking for without going hunting all over the page.
Some common mistakes when constructing your FAQ page are not researching your target audience enough, including overly complex terminology or too much information and neglecting to update your page when it’s necessary.
Multifaceted Digital Marketing Strategies with Anchor
FAQs are just one of many marketing strategies Anchor Digital can use to grow your brand and increase conversions.
Anchor can help you discover your potential customers' questions and how you can best answer them. Our approach to SEO is uniquely integrated and incorporates social media, link building, content marketing, and a deep level of keyword research. Our content and copywriting services will provide you not just with sweet-sounding words but with answers that will position you as a credible source of information in your field.
Whether you need the perfect FAQ or any other form of content for your website, Anchor can help. Drop us a line to find out more on how we can help.
