The Importance of the FAQ Post
Frequently asked questions have long been a staple of a successful website. They’re a helpful way of expanding on topics or certain points mentioned across your site.
Whether you’re creating a dedicated FAQ page or devoting a section of your important pages to the questions, your site will be better off with their presence.
Benefits of FAQ posts
FAQs can mean that your prospective clients aren’t left wandering around your site looking for a piece of information that could ultimately mean they convert. If someone is right at the point of conversion and just need one question answered, your FAQs could seal the deal.
It can also show that you’re interested in helping your site users. And that sense that your firm cares about helping people can be the push that someone needs to convert.
Making information easy to locate contributes to a positive page experience for a user. And search engines are increasingly prioritising user experience in how they rank pages. So enhancing the journey through your site can lead to positive ranking results.
By providing this extra information, you could also reduce the amount of time your call handlers need to spend on certain topics – whether it’s how No Win No Fee works or how long a claim takes. Of course, this won’t completely eliminate your handlers being asked the same questions over and over, but it could certainly go some way towards making their lives easier.
FAQs are about more than just providing some extra info for users. They’re valuable real estate to target important keywords. The more search engines understand about your site and what your specific pages offer to users, the better they can sort you into their rankings. This makes FAQs hugely beneficial when it comes to your online presence.
As always with keywords, it’s vital not to stuff your page with them. Keyword stuffing is a punishable offence – and the worst sanction search engines can dish administer is to block your site from the search engine results page (SERP). Include your keywords naturally and your site will be fine.
Where to find FAQ content
It should go without saying that you shouldn’t just be coming up with FAQs without looking into whether they really are questions. Just because you might want to address a certain matter, doesn’t mean it needs addressing.
Carry out the necessary keyword research and find out what people are looking for. There are many free tools you can use to identify questions and whether they’re going to be relevant, from Answer the Public to Google Trends.
Google itself can also be a good source of content for FAQs. Search for a term relevant to your page and look under the top result for the ‘People Also Ask’ (PAA) section. This offers up a few suggestions for other searches – things other users have looked for.
Chances are if they looked for the term you searched for, they’re also looking for information on the terms in the PAA section.
You should also tap into one of your best resources: your call handlers. Find out what kinds of questions are asked most often and include them in your FAQs. After a certain period has passed, ask your handlers whether these questions are still being asked. Their answers could inform you whether you need to be more comprehensive or even re-examine where you’ve posted them.
Your social media accounts can also provide quality insights into what people want to know. What are users asking you? Even their grievances may inspire a piece of content addressing them, so don’t immediately discount those.
Tips for your FAQs
FAQs can offer an array of benefits to a website, making them a significant part of its presence. Get yours right and you can satisfy your users, impress Google and reduce the time your call handlers spend on the phone.
Here are some of our tips for FAQ quick wins:
- Check where your competitors house their FAQs – users might be used to this location so it could be worth emulating
- Don’t set and forget them – FAQs need to be updated for relevancy over time, just like your other pages
- FAQs don’t have to be novels; be succinct and link out to other pages holding more information
- If you have a lot of FAQs, separate them out by category – it makes it easier for users to find what they’re looking for
- Track performance through your analytics tools to identify whether people are visiting or engaging with your FAQs – use this as a basis for future decisions
