Every website needs an FAQ and here are 5 reasons why you need it
FAQ stands for Frequently Asked Questions, and they are the questions that potential customers typically ask about your product or service. They are important because they address typical concerns your customers may have before purchasing your product or service. By anticipating and answering them beforehand it gives you the chance to allay or relieve any doubts your customer may have, and gives you the chance to connect with them. It’s one of the most important web strategies you can use, and a powerful tool for establishing trust with your customer.
Here are 5 reasons you should consider having an FAQs on your website.
1. It helps your readers find what they’re looking for
An FAQ section is a great tool for increasing traffic to your website, as they provide information about a product or service that a customer may be typing in a search query. By using the right keywords in your FAQs, you can attract the right traffic to your site – the customers who are already looking for your particular business and looking to make a purchase.
Unfortunately, most businesses hide their FAQs page or make it hard to find on their website. My tip is to make your FAQ visible by having it on the home page. By doing this you’ll improve customer experience because you are giving them the information they need right away, which means they will stay longer on your website. This will help your conversion rate and improve your search rankings – more on that below.
2. It establishes trust and is a great tool for conversion
Someone looking for an FAQ is likely already interested in your product or service and is after more information. This is your chance to convert their inquiry into a sale with targeted content.
Also a person looking for an FAQ is looking for customer support after making a purchase and being able to answer their burning questions will establish trust with your brand and give them confidence to come back for future purchases.
This is also your chance to answer negative or difficult questions that you get from your customers. If you can dispel rumours or misinformation, provide solutions to common problems, or remove doubt and fears, then you have a greater chance of establishing trust and converting your “browsers” to paying customers.
3. It serves your customer when you can’t
Instead of your customer picking up the phone or emailing you with questions, an FAQ page will answer all their burning questions without any further input from you.
Most people don’t want to have to talk to someone to have their questions answered, especially if they’re just “browsing” or researching the information (the “pre-sales” stage) so having an FAQ is within their comfort level and it avoids the aggressive sales pitch.
4. It’s great for SEO
It enhances your SEO for at least two reasons:
- It improves user experience, making them stay longer on your website. They are not likely to bounce out of your website because they can’t find the information, which will help increase your SEO ranking.
- Search engines love it because it provides a direct answer to a search in a Featured Snippet – this is a short snippet of text that appears at the top of Google’s search results in order to quickly answer a user’s query. Appearing in a Featured Snippet can significantly increase your website’s traffic.
An FAQs section is also where you can aim for long-tail keywords that you wouldn’t normally be able to put elsewhere in your website.
5. It gives insight into your customer’s wants and needs so that you can improve your product
By tracking your website analytics you’ll be able to see which questions are getting a lot of traffic, and this will give you insight to your customer’s needs and behaviours. Also, if you add a submit form at the end of the FAQ allowing your customer to contribute a question that’s not already answered, you’ll be able to get a better understanding of what they are looking for so you can refine your product or service.
The future of FAQs – chatbots
A chatbot is a computer program that mimics human conversations through voice or text interactions. It’s been around for some time and you will have already interacted with them when contacting a business on Facebook Messenger, for example, or when calling a business on the phone and you get directed to the correct department to speak to.
Chatbots are used to answer simple queries and are increasingly being used on websites alongside FAQs and most of the time even replacing FAQs altogether. According to statistics, chatbot usage has increased by a massive 92% in the last two years, so it’s here to stay – in fact, it’s fast becoming a business standard. Chatbots are beneficial for a small business, as they can perform basic customer service tasks as well as answer common queries, allowing you to focus more of your energy on growing your business. Read more about chatbots here.
If you need help with writing your FAQs, contact me.
