Why Every Website Should Have An FAQ Section
Posted on 19th May 2020
It was in the early 1980s that an administrator at NASA compiled a list of answers to questions he was being asked repeatedly, in order to save himself the time of responding to each individual query.
He called his list Frequently Asked Questions and, in doing so, created one of the most valuable ways of providing information in the internet age: the FAQ section.
The way websites work means they can provide a huge amount of information but there is no dialogue between the user and the site. Which means if the user has a question they have nowhere to go for an answer – except the FAQs. This is the opportunity for you to clarify any information on your site or provide answers to questions that commonly occur when running your business.
You’ll know what the FAQs should cover because you probably find yourself answering the same few questions over and over by phone or in person.
Of course, these days there are new advances in web technology that provide a similar service. Chat functions also give users a chance to get an answer to a question but one that is more dynamic. So, is the day of the FAQ over? And should you still include one on your site?
The answer is that FAQs are still as important as ever and, if you’re designing or building your website, you should always include one. By all means use the latest technology available to give your customers more options, but don’t think you can do without an FAQ section.
Here are a number of good reasons why.
1. Improves the User Experience of the website
How many times in your own experience have you resorted to the FAQs to get an answer? Even the very best websites can only communicate so much through page content. Sometimes the question and answer format is the best way of exchanging information. It is, after all, the way we have all learned throughout our lives.
If a visitor just wants a quick answer to a question then this is still the best format to help them find it.
2. As a navigation tool
Once a user has found their way to an FAQs page, they can find small snippets of information about their desired subject. But these answers can also link back to main landing or home pages where more detailed information is stored. In essence, they can use the FAQs as a navigation tool for finding their way around your site. It’s also great for internal link building, which has big SEO benefits.
3. Organic searches
People who may be looking online for your goods or service but who don’t know about your company can stumble upon your FAQs as part of an organic search. This is a great way of bringing people in without having to spend money on marketing or social media. As people often type questions into search engines, the format of an FAQ lends itself naturally to the organic search. More importantly with the rise of voice search on Google your FAQ page may just answer the questions and target market are searching for. Hey presto! New customers.
4. Featured snippets on Google
When you conduct a Google search and you see the results, they often come with small snippets of text underneath. This is often the place where the search engine has found the required information. An FAQ is a favoured place for search engine bots to find these keywords, which means your FAQ page is likely to come up as a featured snippet. This will help to send traffic to your site.
5. Better customer service
If you or your staff find yourself answering the phone all day to customers with queries, an FAQ page can be a great way of reducing your time and spend on customer service. If a customer can find the information they need online, they will be less inclined to pick up the phone and call.
6. Content ideas
Have a look through your FAQ page or write down what would be on there. Before you know it, you should have a list of ideas for new content. If these are the questions people need answering, this is the knowledge they want and that information will therefore make a great blog post or landing page to help you promote yourself as an expert.
7. Build trust with your audience
An FAQ section also helps to establish you as reputable provider. Providing comprehensive answers to complicated questions helps to create the sense that you’re an authority in your field. People will then be more confident about doing business with you.
8. Understand your audience
Creating your FAQ page also helps you to get a better understanding of your market or audience. If these are the questions they ask and the knowledge they want, this gives you an idea of their desires and the challenges they’re facing in meeting them. This is invaluable customer research and can really help you to get a clearer picture of how to engage with them.
9. A place for details
There are lots of details about your business, such as returns policies, shipping info and the like, that isn’t necessarily exciting but is always important. You don’t really want to have to clog up other pages of your sales funnel with this information but your customers still need to know it. The FAQs page is the ideal place to put this kind of content – easy to find and access but without ruining the flow of more important pages.
As you can see, an FAQs page serves many purposes beyond just answering questions (although it does that very well too). It can help to boost traffic, keep your site tidy, conduct market research and generate content. In fact, there are not many other pages on your site that serve as many roles.
If you would like to know more about FAQ pages or for help in creating one that works hard for your business, get in touch with the team here at it’seeze Web Design Windsor. Our team of designers and developers can help you create an FAQs page that ticks all the above boxes, giving your website a little boost where it counts.
Tagged as: Online Marketing, web design
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