By creating a solid FAQ page, you can assure that customers are receiving the correct answers. Answers to their questions are everything. Who would want to purchase a product or service being unsure about something? This is likely to result in a lost customer. By leading someone through this FAQ, it reassures them that your website is the solution to their problem. And in some instances, an FAQ can result in the sale of a product. So stay tuned and find out how an SEO FAQ page is made.
The purpose of creating this type of FAQ page is to get traffic from search engines. There are endless amounts of questions being asked by people all over the world. Many of these questions are asked through search engines. Someone might type a question into Google in hope of finding an answer. This is the type of person you want landing on your website’s FAQ. By creating SEO FAQ pages, you are merely producing a better chance of getting potential customers onto your website. In order to create a page that is SEO-friendly, you need to keep the search engines in mind during the creation process. In other words, you need to create a page that will answer questions to a broad audience of people, while maintaining keyword-rich content.
An FAQ page is essentially a database of answers to simple and complex questions. These questions can be about a product, a service, or a topic that’s related to your website. Creating an FAQ page is a relatively simple process. You compile a list of questions that you feel will be asked by potential customers, and you answer them. But the process of creating an “SEO-friendly” FAQ page is a bit more elaborate.
A well-crafted FAQ page is a great way to provide value to your website visitors. It’s a frequently overlooked page that can serve a lot of purposes. SEO-friendly FAQ pages are a much-needed asset. Think about the last time you were on a website and you had a simple question. But the answer was nowhere to be found. Or worse, you asked a staff member and received a wrong explanation. Because you couldn’t find an answer on your own, you likely left the website. This happens all of the time with websites that lack a good FAQ page.
Benefits of an SEO-Friendly FAQ Page
SEO FAQ pages can also use FAQ rich snippets to improve the listing from your site in SERPs. This is a new feature for webmasters to markup content and have it appear in a rich format, organized in a hierarchical, categorized manner. A FAQ rich snippet will help searchers more quickly understand the page has the likely information they are looking for, provided the possibility to increase more relevant organic traffic.
Enhanced user experience FAQ pages provide quick access to answers. This can be an efficient way to handle customer service issues and relieve the inquiries of overloaded call centers. This is particularly useful for companies that have complex products and services that require explanation and many customers who do not have time to read full pages. Site owners who make it easy for their users to get answers and resolve problems are more likely to build lasting user confidence and convert a sale. Easier issue resolution and increased user satisfaction can also reduce the rate of product return and customer chargeback incidents. This will save money on customer service and increase your company’s ROI.
Increased organic traffic If a site has a great FAQ resource, chances are that it has already done a good job with site architecture and page rank distribution. By linking FAQ content to relevant sections of the site and vice versa, site owners can guide visitors around their site and push them to conversion funnel pages. This approach tries to preset the visitor’s path around the site and push them deeper, not just stick and move from landing to exit via the same path.
Improved search engine rankings By creating an FAQ page rich in targeted keywords and by providing links to and from other relevant pages on the site, site owners can improve search engine rankings for those keywords and landing pages. SEO FAQ pages help to create an internal network of deep content pages linking to authoritative sources. Each question and answer acts as a new entry page and provides the opportunity to increase keyword density for targeted search terms.
An FAQ page is a single page on your site that provides answers to the questions most frequently asked by customers. An SEO-friendly FAQ page can be used to provide valuable content and internal links. This can improve search engine rankings, increase organic website traffic, and enhance user experience.
Improved Search Engine Rankings
There are a number of things that you can integrate into your FAQ page and various ways you can optimize the entire page for SEO. I’ll start by explaining the different elements that make up an FAQ page and then move into on-page optimization and two off-page strategies that utilize FAQ content.
Search engine rankings are obviously crucial when your aim is to attract users to your website. You would like your website to be shown in the top 10 results for search in keywords that are related. Creating an FAQ page will generate an increased number of target keywords, meaning that the content on your website is rich in keywords. This is vital for search engine rankings. Also, the chance to employ anchor text in your questions should lead to planned keyword relevance and improve keyword ranking for inside pages. Using anchor text to link FAQ questions to relevant pages on your website will also increase Page Rank for these pages. (Page Rank [PR] is a link analysis algorithm used by Google to assign a value of importance to every element of a hyperlinked set of documents with the purpose of assessing its relative importance within the set.) Finally, the captured search engine results from FAQ content will be a good way to measure the effectiveness of FAQ content in relation to your SEO strategy.
Increased Organic Traffic
The one downside to implementing a FAQ content strategy is that it can be difficult to create tracking KPIs since the behavior of a FAQ user will be spread across the different question pages and the primary knowledge page. Tracking of individual question page performance will generally involve filtering by the /faq/ subdirectory in your analytics platform. FAQ content should also be treated as supplementary to the main knowledge content. As such, one should avoid trying to rank the same content for the same query in a traditional search and a FAQ content search, in order to avoid keyword cannibalization. With the right approach, FAQ content can be a highly effective method of capturing search traffic.
The same best practices one would use for executing any content strategy can be applied to FAQ content. All content should match the searcher’s query with satisfying information. And information needs are best satisfied with the effective use of text, supplemented with visuals and multimedia where necessary. Always consider the search intent behind the user’s query. If the intent is to learn how to do something, it may be best answered with a step-by-step guide, which can be hosted on a single page and linked from the FAQ if the query is common enough. Lastly, any content should be periodically reviewed and optimized for improved performance.
Opportunistic content strategy – Are there broad, answering-based content topics that your competitors are not serving well? Consider the FAQ approach as a way to create different content that can help capture organic traffic.
FAQ rich snippets – While the impact appears to be limited, adding FAQ Page Schema can lead to rich snippet treatment in the SERPS.
Implementing an SEO-friendly FAQ content strategy can have a positive impact on organic search traffic. When people have questions about niche topics, there’s a good chance they want concrete answers, and that they’ll search Google to find them. By developing content that helps people satisfy their informational needs, you can work to capture traffic from users who are asking questions related to your space. You can utilize tools like the Google AdWords Keyword Planner to identify which queries are popular in your space, and only include those with search volume that makes it worth creating content around. From there, you can optimize that content to target the question at hand and watch the traffic roll in.
Enhanced User Experience
An FAQ page doesn’t just provide search-engine fuel and internal website value, it can also enhance the user experience, improve search engine rankings, and increase organic traffic. Let’s start with the users themselves: more and more people are turning to the web for quick information. FAQ pages deliver this, and deliver it in a quick and efficient manner. This is especially true for e-commerce sites, on which customers are often looking to answer a specific question before making a purchase. This type of customer is looking for a product or company-specific answer and doesn’t want to wade through extraneous details or navigate through other portions of the site to find what they are looking for. This creates a poor user experience and often means the difference between a customer abandoning the site in frustration or quickly finding what they are looking for and making a purchase. This quick question/quick answer and purchase scenario is also quite relevant to the growing population of mobile internet users who want to quickly find the information they are seeking. The organizational function of FAQ pages also helps tailor and enhance the user experience. FAQ pages can prevent user confusion on complex sites or sites offering a large array of services. Too much or poorly presented information can often confuse the visitor and provoke a negative experience. If these visitors can be directed to an FAQ page with their specific questions, they will appreciate it. It will save them time and further frustration and can guide them back to the original task they were trying to accomplish on your site. If a user knows a site offers a helpful FAQ service, they may even start at the FAQ when trying to find information. An organized pool of information is an attractive thing for a user, it’s the equivalent of a storefront that is clean and easy to navigate. This will result in repeat visitors specifically seeking to use the FAQ, and repeat visits are the building block for customer retention.
Steps to Create an SEO-Friendly FAQ Page
Optimize FAQ content for keywords. Next, you will want to optimize the content of each FAQ. Identify the main keyword for each FAQ and use it in the content. However, make sure not to overuse the keywords. The content should sound natural and not forced. You do not need to create new content for the FAQ if there is existing content that is directly tied to the FAQ. If the content is adequate, simply link the FAQ to the existing content. This will prevent any duplicate content issues. Duplicate meta tag issues can be avoided by using portions of the existing content as long as they are relevant to the FAQ. In this case, you can use the same meta tags that are on the existing content page.
Identify relevant FAQs. First, identify the frequently asked questions on your website that may be potential search queries. You will want the FAQ content to be based on keyword research and the existing content of your website. Create a list of the FAQs that you can refer to when writing the content. This will help you stay on track and ensure that the FAQs are directly tied to the content on your website. As you write the FAQs, it’s important to keep the language simple and concise while accurately representing the content. FAQ content should be straightforward and easy to understand.
Identify Relevant FAQs
Failing all this, you can do educated guesswork based on your industry. What questions do you think people should be asking about your product or industry? What kinds of things do they need to know before making a purchase? What knowledge might help them have a better experience with your site in the future? Brainstorm between yourself and coworkers, or even ask friends or family members who are unfamiliar with your industry what questions they’d ask.
There’s a few ways you can identify relevant FAQ for on your site. First, you can check your site’s search data. What are people already looking for on your site? What questions are they asking customer service? What words are they using to find your site in the first place? Any kind of feedback, whether it’s from your own site or others, is a gold mine of user questions about your industry. If you’re getting questions in person, at events or on social media, you could note common questions and see if any are worth addressing on your FAQ. If you have a popular email newsletter, blog or video series, it’s possible you’ve already answered user questions somewhere – these could be turned into new content on your FAQ.
An FAQ page is only useful if it contains information users actually want to know. But for SEO service, you want to go beyond just satisfying the user – you want to attract more users to the page in the first place. To do this, you’ll want to find out what questions people are asking in your industry, and choose the ones you can best answer.
Optimize FAQ Content for Keywords
Identify a list of keywords that you would like to target with the FAQ content in hand. Keywords should be based on what you believe to be the most common phrases used to find your type of products or services. In some cases, this will just be the product or service name itself. Using the Google AdWords Keyword Tool, compare the search volume and competition levels for these keywords and identify phrases that will be easiest to rank for. Check the search volume and competition levels for the various phrases to identify which will be the most profitable to optimize for. If you’re aiming to rank for a particular phrase, doing this helps to set realistic expectations based on how much traffic you’re likely to get from a successful ranking. If the phrase is brand new and you don’t already have a page targeting it, you can also use this information to help choose between similar phrases to decide which one to target.
Structure FAQs with Headers and Subheadings
A user who is seeking information on a particular topic may be more immediately drawn to an FAQ that is organized into clearly delineated topics with corresponding subtopics. This is superior to a page that just is a long list of questions and answers. This may increase clickthrough rates and reduce bounce rates. It may also improve the likelihood that a customer will return to the site in the future.
You can make your FAQ page even more SEO friendly by using headers and subheaders to organize the content. This makes the FAQ page even more user-friendly, which is likely to improve its search engine ranking. Essentially, anything that makes it easier for a user to find the information they want may have a positive impact on search engine rankings. Headings don’t have a huge impact on rankings but they’re still a good SEO practice.
Use Schema Markup for FAQs
Schema markup tags are a new thing in SEO. They help search engines understand the context of the page better. If we mark up our FAQ page using schema, there is a chance that our FAQ will appear as a rich result in the search results. This is great news as it will increase the real estate of your search result and give a higher chance for people to click through. Usually, there are general types of schema that people can use for FAQ pages, but make sure you refer to the newly updated developer guidelines from schema.org. Google recently only recognizes a FAQPage markup with a mainEntity that is a Question type. Yes, you read that right, only the question type is eligible to be in the FAQ schema. Even though this might be a little bit technical for some of you, consulting with your webmaster to apply this will give a significant change to your search result appearance.
Include Internal Links to Relevant Pages
Including internal links is an excellent way to create an SEO-friendly FAQ page. However, you must be careful that your links are relevant to the questions being asked. Too often we see FAQ pages that are overly focused on driving users to a particular landing page. While there is benefit in leading a user towards a conversion, this can detract from the user experience if the answers are too shallow. If a user feels that their question has not been fully answered because the page is encouraging them to go elsewhere, there is a good chance they will just find another website. This is the opposite of what we want to achieve with a FAQ page. By all means link to product pages where a purchase is referenced, but also consider whether the question has been fully answered on the landing page. If it hasn’t, it’s probably not a good idea to link to this page. Always prioritize the user’s need for information.
Best Practices for an SEO-Friendly FAQ Page
Keep FAQs Concise and Clear
Also, when possible, anticipate the follow-up questions that users are likely to have. This will provide more thorough information without requiring users to leave your site. An added bonus of using natural language and anticipating follow-up questions is that both of these tactics will help you make your content more conversational. In short, it’s easier to keep your content concise when you clearly understand what you’re trying to say. Squeezing in keywords artificially to boost SEO has obvious drawbacks. But naturally integrating long-tail keywords into your content will establish your page as an authority on the given topic and enhance the likelihood of high search rankings.
The simpler the language, the easier users will understand information. Keyword-rich sentences are incredibly valuable, but Google’s recent focus on natural language search means that you should use keywords in full sentences and questions. This will help push the focus onto your long-tail keywords and enhance the likelihood of ranking well for those search terms. A great way to do this is with a semantically-focused content optimization strategy.
Regularly Update and Expand FAQs
FAQ pages with content that never changes are less likely to be crawled by Google on a regular basis. This is a considerable problem since it is rare to see FAQ pages on commercial websites that never change their content. More often than not, after developing an FAQ, people will just forget about it. Adding new content can lead to a higher frequency of changes to a web page. This can be done in a number of ways and basically depends on the whole CMS being used. Some people like to add a “FAQ of the week” to their index page, with a link to the new content. This can be a good way to attempt to get frequently changing spider activity on the new content; however, there is no point in having a FAQ of the week if it’s only going to take 20 minutes to read. The best result can usually be obtained by making minor changes to existing FAQs or adding new FAQs that are more likely to generate traffic from search engines. Adding internal site linking can also help; however, one should be cautious not to overdo it.
Optimize FAQ Page Loading Speed
– Limit the number of questions per page: For large FAQs, limit the number of questions visible and have a “see more questions” link which will load more questions. This will decrease the overall page load time.
– Use Pagination: If you have a large FAQ, split them into different categories with pagination. This will split your FAQs into smaller parts resulting in quicker loading times.
– Use simple HTML and CSS: Complex tables and divs can slow down your page load time. Ensure your FAQs use simple HTML lists or definition lists and simple CSS for layout. This will ensure faster loading times without sacrificing style.
FAQ Page Load Time is very important in terms of conversion and SEO. Faster load times result in better user experience and increases in conversion and bounce rates. Having a large FAQ with lots of questions, answers, and categories may add to the overall loading time. It is important to build your FAQs with user experience in mind, thus consistently increasing the overall website performance. The following will help you optimize your FAQ page load speed:
Monitor and Analyze FAQ Performance
Once you’ve created an SEO-friendly FAQ page, you’ll need to monitor its performance to identify what’s working and where there’s room for improvement. To do this, you can track and analyze the on-site searches that result in clicks and conversions. What are your website visitors searching for? Are they finding it? Is the FAQ leading to fewer support calls, or do visitors use it in conjunction with assisted support as a way to avoid phone or email contact? Regular SaaS tools like Google Analytics can help you measure the impact of FAQ content on your site’s success in terms of conversion, revenue, and customer satisfaction. FAQ tracking will provide answers to questions like “Are visitors to my site clicking on the FAQ link?” and “How many visitors who view the FAQ make a purchase compared with those who don’t?” Knowing the answers to such questions can influence decisions about how much investment should be made in FAQ development and maintenance. You can learn even more about site visitor behavior and FAQ effectiveness if you’re using a professional solution for your website search. Search-driven analytics tools are designed to help site owners understand the behavior of search and navigation users and to identify areas in which site search can be improved to better support visitors. With powerful reporting interfaces and capabilities to segment users and their actions, a search-driven analytics solution can shed light on the ways in which various types of visitors are using your FAQ and whether their goals are being fulfilled.
