FAQ page best practices | What is FAQ? | FAQ tips

FAQ or Frequently Asked Questions is a common page found on most websites. As the name implies it provides answers to frequently asked questions by customers, prospects and other website users.

What makes it different from other pages of your website is its tone and ability to handle common concerns. But FAQ pages are often neglected by webmasters and business owners.

FAQ page not only helps users by providing answers which target pages generally can’t provide but also helps in reducing burden on the customer service desk, improves SEO and if done properly helps build your company’s reputation.

A highly beneficial page for website users, if created with due care, it can really help build trust between your website users and your company.

So here are some awesome tips which we as an SEO company keep in mind and which will also help you build great FAQ pages for your website.

How to create Questions for your FAQ page

1. Find the right questions

There is generally a pattern in which customers ask specific questions using e-mails or customer support. These are the more obvious questions which FAQ should certainly take care of.

A good place to find them would be your customer support tickets or maybe the inbox of your client handling teams.

There are certain more obvious and general questions about products or services which should be prominently shown on the FAQ page. Provide straightforward answers to such questions.

2. Use Google keyword planner tool to find questions with good search volume

People often come to Google and search for specific questions. With the advent of Google speech recognition in mobile search, search volume of keyword type questions is on the rise.

Frequently asked questions are great for SEO and a good place to find questions which people search for in Google is Google’s very own Keyword Planner Tool.

Almost all questions are long tail keywords. Not only are these long tail keywords helpful for users but they are easy to rank as well.

3. Use specific questions instead of getting vague

FAQ should answer specific questions such as those about your products or services or how they can be ordered online without hassle. Always aim at creating straightforward and to the point answers for FAQ pages.

Be comprehensive but don’t get vague. If you are stuck with a vague question in mind, be tactful and convert it to a specific yet comprehensive question.

4. Ask employees and customers about which questions should be added

Your customers and employees are a great resource when creating questions for FAQ pages. Sales, Customer support and other Customer managing teams can help gather wide range of generally asked questions. You can also take help from your customers/website users and ask them to fill up a survey regarding any questions missing from the FAQ section or something they would like to directly ask.

5. Keep your FAQ page updated

Time and again new questions keep coming. Whenever there are questions that come up in a unique distinguishable pattern use that as an opportunity to update your FAQ pages with new questions. FAQ pages should be living pages that are regularly updated with new questions and revised answers if any. By keeping a regular check on all of the above points you will know when it’s time to update your FAQ section.

Tips for improving User Experience of your FAQ page

6. Keep page design principles in mind & have a good layout

Readability is an essential aspect of web design, more so for the FAQ page as it is primarily textual. Keep in mind basic design principles such as using the right typography (font size, type, colors etc) for distinguishing questions and answers. Don’t merge background colors by using similar font color for questions or answers. Use accordion design if there are many questions, this will help reduce the page size and assist users in scrolling through the questions.

7. FAQ should look well managed & have a good page structure

Remember users go to the FAQ page mostly to get quick answers to their questions. And if they have to scroll through a lengthy page full of questions, this might become a turn off instead of being a help and you could eventually lose a possible client.

Avoid this by using categories to group questions together about the same topic. The headlines of categories should be easily readable so users can easily distinguish between different categories.

You can use a separate category for the most important and most common questions. Create appropriate groups for your website such as a separate category of “Shipping” would be perfect for an e-commerce website. Name all the categories intuitively and use icons wherever necessary.

Create a search function and place it near the top of the page or on the side menu so that your users can easily find related questions instead of manually searching them. Search is a great step in improving the User Experience of very long FAQ pages and makes the FAQ page very easy-to-use.

8. Use images wherever possible

Images and screenshots can be of great help especially when explaining user interface of an application or software. Use them if you think it would really help in answering a question. Don’t forget to use the right image sizes so that they don’t interfere with the user experience.

9. Provide a print friendly version

Easily printable FAQ pages are very handy for users who like to read printed instructions. Make sure to optimize printer friendly versions for very long FAQ pages.

Some more great tips for FAQ pages

10. Keep FAQ link on the main navigation or somewhere prominent

Use the top navigation or your website’s footer section for placing the FAQ link. Don’t put it in a place that no one will ever see.

11. Ask users for feedback

Provide a feedback-form which asks users whether the answer was helpful in solving their query or not. This will help in rewriting the answer or maybe the question itself and making it more useful for future visitors.

12. Use the type of language your customers would like to read

FAQ page is a great opportunity to show your customers or website users that you care for them. Help set your brand’s voice as the basic tone of the FAQ page. While being clear, concise, conversational and straightforward don’t forget to be kind and considerate as well.

13. Use separate landing pages if necessary

If you have a frequently asked question that has a very long answer, then separate landing page is your only choice. But an added advantage of creating separate landing pages is that you might start getting ranked automatically in Google.

While getting ranked in top SERPs require many SEO factors working in cohesion, having high quality content for some long tail keywords can show Google that you really have the best answer for its users. And if Google thinks that your answer is the best choice for its users then you will certainly start getting high quality organic traffic for free.

14. Link out to useful pages on your website

Frequently asked questions are a great way to continue the journey of your users from questions to conversions. By linking out to useful pages you can help your users find more detailed information about the topic and boost your conversions in the way.

15. Re-target people visiting your FAQ page

People visiting the FAQ page are genuinely interested in your products/services. All they might need is a slight push and retargeting does just that. Create some customized retargeting campaigns for your users by offering them some freebies or a free demo. This can significantly improve your conversion rate.

16. Provide several ways of getting in touch

Your business might have multiple teams for different functions such as Sales, Human Resource, Marketing, separate Wholesale & Vendor teams, Technical Support, Press Inquiries, etc. By providing multiple ways to contact appropriate teams your website users will get a faster response which helps in reducing customer frustration.

17. Go Social

Provide easy to share links for separate questions so users can share them on Social Media and spread the word. You should also share your frequently asked questions on your company’s social media profiles. This will provide quality content for sharing and help build your company’s trust factor.

18. Verify your answers

Don’t forget to verify your answers before uploading them on the FAQ page and always keep the contact information updated.

19. Provide call to actions

Provide easy to use call to actions so that interested users can move to the next step. These could be people who are interested in your product or service, or someone who is facing a problem and needs help from your support team.

Some common mistakes which should be avoided while making FAQ Pages

1. Having only the less important questions in your FAQ page

FAQ page should only have the questions that are actually frequently asked by your website users or customers. Get into the shoes of your customers and website users and think of the questions they would most probably have.

2. Using a different label for the FAQ page

Stick to the FAQ label until or unless you have a really good reason to label the page something other than that.

3. Don’t fill up the page with unnecessary questions

Please don’t use the FAQ page for uncommon and unnecessaryquestions which no one would ever ask.

4. Leaving the difficult questions

Don’t hesitate to answer questions that might have a negative answer or you fear they might disappoint some of your users. Take that as an opportunity to provide detailed answers and explain them the precise reasons behind the issue. Most probably your users would appreciate your honesty and ability to handle tough situations.

5. Forgetting the SEO aspect of FAQ pages

FAQ page is a great opportunity for SEO purposes. Not only does it have very high potential for getting ranked, it can provide precise answers to various questions search engine users are already looking for. Which means you might get a featured snippet view in the form of answer box which is powered by knowledge graph. This could eventually boost your websites overall search engine presence.