Every local business owner has felt the pang of answering the same question for the twentieth time in a day. Whether it’s “Do you accept credit cards?” or “Are you open on holidays?”, these frequently asked questions (FAQs) can feel repetitive and time-consuming. But before you hit the “mute” button on your phone, consider this: well-crafted FAQs are a customer service goldmine.
The Stats Speak Loudly:
- 43% of customers visit a business’s FAQ page before contacting them. (HostGator)
- Providing clear answers on an FAQ page can reduce customer support calls by 20-30%. (SuperOffice)
- Businesses with well-optimised FAQs see a 30% increase in customer satisfaction. (Ecomscore)
Any local business owner knows that this Q&A cycle is never-ending. With so many platforms on which to ask these questions, it can be hard for businesses to keep up. That’s why it’s important to tackle these FAQs head-on and cut people off at the pass, meeting them where they are searching for these answers and being proactive rather than reactive when it comes to answers to these frequently asked questions.
You have probably already done some research on this. Maybe you have an FAQ page up on your site that you think is doing a good job. There is a place for an FAQ page, but there is so much more you could be doing to meet your customers where they are looking for answers.
And let’s face it, most blog posts about FAQs simply rehash the same old questions. Today, we’re diving deeper, exploring unique FAQ categories and strategies that go beyond the basics.
1. Embrace Community-Specific Inquiries
While “hours and location” are evergreen, tailor your FAQs to your local context. For a bakery in a health-conscious town, address inquiries about gluten-free options or vegan treats. A yoga studio might answer questions about noise levels or specific class styles. Show you understand your community’s unique needs.
2. Anticipate “Hidden” Concerns
Think beyond the obvious. A pet store FAQ could address common anxieties about new pet care or adoption processes. A local repair shop might pre-empt questions about data security or warranty policies. By proactively addressing unspoken concerns, you build trust and transparency.
3. FAQs as Storytelling Opportunities
Don’t just answer questions; infuse your personality and brand story. Instead of a dry “yes” to “Do you offer gift certificates?”, share a heartwarming anecdote about a special occasion celebrated with your gifts. This human touch sets you apart from the generic corporate response.
4. Leverage FAQs for Lead Generation
Strategically integrate lead capture forms within your FAQs. Offer exclusive discounts or early access to promotions for those who sign up for your email list. Remember, informed customers are more likely to become loyal patrons.
5. FAQs as Interactive Experiences
Consider incorporating video or chatbot technology into your FAQ section. This personalizes the experience and caters to different learning styles. Imagine a video FAQ where the owner personally addresses common concerns, creating a lasting connection.
Remember: FAQs are a living document. Regularly update them based on customer feedback and evolving trends. By going beyond the standard questions and infusing your FAQs with creativity and community spirit, you can transform them from a simple resource into a customer engagement powerhouse.
A Step-by-Step Guide to Collecting FAQs for SEO
Each digital touchpoint — from a blog post to a product page — presents an opportunity to anticipate and address your audience’s most pressing questions.
Frequently Asked Questions are not only vital for a seamless user experience but are a goldmine for SEO, too.
By understanding what your audience wants to know, you can craft content that aligns with their interests, drives organic traffic, and ultimately improves your search engine rankings.
Knowing how to collect and organise FAQs is an essential part of the process of delivering the right content to the right people on the right platform. Here are some essential steps when it comes to gathering and curating FAQs for your business:
Step 1: Identify Your Target Audience
Understanding your audience is the cornerstone of any successful marketing campaign. The more you comprehend their needs, preferences, and pain points, the better equipped you are to provide valuable content via FAQs. To start, use customer surveys, website analytics, and buyer personas to decipher who your primary audience is, and what information they seek.
Begin by segmenting your audience and taking note of unique questions, trends, and commonalities within each group. Dive into demographic and behavioural data to identify patterns that suggest areas of interest and potential confusion. By the end of this step, you should have a clear understanding of the issues your audience faces and the questions they need answering.
Step 2: Research Keyword Queries
Effective FAQ collection is rooted in data. Start by harnessing the power of keyword research tools to find the questions users are organically looking for. Look for long-tail keywords that are specific and reflective of the searcher’s intent. These can often be rich sources of questions that directly address a user’s search query and can include ‘how to’, ‘what is’, ‘where can I find’, and ‘why’.
When conducting keyword research, delve deep into the search volume, competition, and SERP features for these queries. As you gather these keywords, pay special attention to those that are directly related to your products or services and those with high commercial intent, as they are more likely to attract qualified leads.
Step 3: Analyse Competitor FAQs
Your competitors can be an excellent source of inspiration for FAQs. Their websites often contain valuable FAQs that you might not have thought of. Explore their FAQ sections to see what kind of questions they’re answering, but don’t stop there. Analyse the engagement around their FAQs by looking at comments, social shares, and backlinks to gauge the effectiveness of their approach.
This step isn’t about copying your competitors; it’s about understanding what they’re doing well and how you can differentiate your FAQ strategy. Look for gaps in their coverage — perhaps there are common questions related to your industry that are largely unanswered. These gaps are opportunities for your brand to step in and provide the missing information.
Step 4: Use Social Listening
Mining FAQs from social media and online communities brings immediacy and intimacy to your content. Use social listening tools to monitor conversations related to your brand, industry, or niche. As you find questions that pop up repeatedly, add them to your FAQ list.
Social listening also provides insights into the tone, language, and context in which these questions arise. This real-world context can help you speak to your audience in a way that resonates with them. Additionally, the use of natural language can guide your content’s informal keyword strategy, fuelling a more conversational approach in your FAQs.
Step 5: Utilise Customer Support Channels
One of the most straightforward ways to gather FAQs is by tapping into your customer support channels. Review tickets, emails, and live chat transcripts for patterns in the types of questions users tend to ask. By examining the frontline interactions between your team and your audience, you’ll uncover pressing FAQs ripe for inclusion in your content strategy.
Customers often use troubleshooting or support sections to find FAQs. This makes it critical that you align your support content with your broader SEO efforts. Match up the FAQs on your support pages with any gaps in your content marketing strategy, ensuring that your website, and by extension, your business, has the most robust answer to every customer question.
Step 6: Conduct Surveys and Interviews
Sometimes, the best way to understand your audience’s FAQs is to ask them directly. Create surveys that pose questions about their needs and interests, and where appropriate, dive into specific topic areas related to your business. These surveys can be general or targeted, depending on the depth of information you need.
In addition to surveys, consider conducting interviews with a sample of your audience. This qualitative approach can provide rich insights and nuanced questions that may not be captured in a survey. As with all data collection, ensure that your methodology avoids leading questions and provides a representative sample of your target audience.
Step 7: Analyse Search Engine Suggestions
Search engines are designed to provide the most relevant answers to user queries, and their suggested searches can offer a wealth of FAQ ideas. As you type a query into a search bar, look at the autocomplete options and the ‘People also ask’ section on the SERP. These not only highlight popular inquiries but can also provide a framework for grouping and organising related FAQs.
Aim to cover a broad spectrum of questions using search engine suggestions. While they are a strong indicator of user interest, they may not be exhaustive. By including these FAQs, you can ensure that your content aligns closely with what users are looking for and stands a good chance of being ranked on relevant SERPs.
Step 8: Organise and Optimise FAQs
The final step is to organise and optimise the FAQs you’ve gathered. Remember, organisation is key to creating an effective resource. Group related questions together and consider the logical order in which a user might seek out this information. This can be especially useful if you plan to feature your FAQs in a separate section of your website.
Optimising your FAQ content involves more than just including keywords. Craft clear, concise answers that provide value to the reader. Use headings, lists, and other formatting to make the content scannable and user-friendly. Additionally, ensure that your FAQs are easily navigable, whether that’s through a table of contents or a search function, so users can find the information they need quickly.
Where to publish your FAQ content
Once you have done the research to mine the most frequently asked questions (this will typically be an ongoing process), it is then important to make sure you are using the data you have gathered effectively and publishing your FAQs in a format and on platforms where they are most likely to be discovered by your target audience.
Here are some tips in terms of where you should be publishing your FAQ content:
Location Landing Pages
If you are a business with multiple locations, you should ensure that you have location-specific FAQs on all your location landing pages. This avoids the generic FAQs that can sometimes be found on a general FAQ page and ensures the information is specific to the location a visitor is interested in.
Key Landing Pages
If you are a single-location business, make sure you are publishing your FAQ content to key landing pages across your site. Whilst a general FAQ page can be helpful, they can also be overwhelming and difficult to consume so putting key FAQs on your homepage, about page or contact page can help to meet people on the most popular pages on your site.
Product/Service Pages
This one should go without saying but any FAQs that are specific to a product or service you offer should be shown on that corresponding page. This also allows you to mark up those FAQs, potentially giving you more real estate in the search results if your FAQs are shown.
Google Business Profile
We see very few businesses doing this, but you are allowed to ask and answer questions on your own Google Business Profile as a way of answering FAQs. This is a good opportunity to answer the questions you have identified on a platform you know people are using to find out more about your business.
TikTok
It’s amazing how much research is conducted on TikTok to find out more about local businesses. Lots of people use TikTok as a way of researching things to do in new places, where to eat, places to shop etc. Create a short video showcasing the most popular FAQs and publish this on TikTok (if your audience is using that channel). You can also repurpose the same video content to other platforms including Google Business Profile.
Social Media Accounts
It’s not just TikTok that you should be using to answer questions. Identify the platforms your audience is using and publish relevant FAQ content to these platforms. You could use the profile description to answer popular FAQs or you could create specific posts to answer common FAQs, republishing them on a regular basis so you continue to hit new customers.
Chatbots
Chatbots are becoming more common on websites and social media platforms and this can be a great place to incorporate your FAQs. Let people know that they are talking to a chatbot and that you can help answer frequently asked questions. Load up as many questions as you can and you will help to eliminate calls to your support team. You can also use these on Google Business Profile’s automated messaging service – another good way to maximise the benefits of this platform.
Call Hold Messaging
There’s nothing worse than being stuck on hold when you are trying to get in touch with a business. Instead of playing some drab music whilst the person waits, use that time to answer frequently asked questions – you never know, it might help to reduce your queue if a customer finds an answer to a question they were calling about.
Let your FAQs be more than just answers; let them be a window into the heart of your local business.