Not just a place to dump information that won’t fit anywhere else, an FAQ page is a valuable opportunity to generate customer interest and build a connection with your audience—one that stands a good chance of becoming a conversion.
A cleverly crafted FAQ section can command the attention of your readers, show that you understand who they are and what they’re looking for, build trust in your brand—and, most importantly, drives sales.
Many people go straight to the FAQ page after landing on your home page. So it’s vital to ensure that this page is as useful, engaging, and relevant as possible.
And the advantages go beyond marketing. If you include answers to common customer questions and complaints, you’ll also be saving your customer support team time too. The FAQ section is essentially like a self-service hub for customer queries.
Continue the conversation with your customer and establish a relationship that will, at some point, become a sale—it’s too good to mess up. So how do you make sure you create a faultless FAQ page?
Here are some ‘don’ts’’ and ‘do’s’.
What a Terrible FAQ Page Looks Like…
1. It includes irrelevant and useless questions
When it comes to Frequently Asked Questions, the clue is in the name. Frequently. These are meant to be questions the majority of your users are asking. So don’t fill your FAQ page with random queries that have been chosen simply because you hope they’ll boost SEO.
Similarly, don’t stuff the page with questions that are a thinly veiled brag about how great your company is, such as ‘How many years have you been in business?’ or ‘How large is your customer base?’
No real customer is asking questions like this and it’s just an opportunity for boasting. While the answers are relevant, they are much more suited to the About Us section. While an FAQ page is a sales and marketing opportunity, it’s not a product page and isn’t about advertising the features of your latest offering. It’s about answering questions.
These questions need to be relevant and the answers should provide tangible and indisputable value to customers. If you do this, your SEO will rise naturally as a result.
2. It’s long and rambling
The worst FAQ pages feel like an information dump, packed full of keywords in a way that sounds robotic and unnatural—as though the writer was just trying to hit a target word count.
Your customers want answers and they want them fast. Ensure you provide the necessary information in the most concise way possible to keep them engaged.
Avoid large blocks of text and complex terminology. Ideally, each answer should be only a paragraph long. If you feel that it’s necessary to expand, turn it into a blog post that you link to from your FAQ page. This has the bonus of moving your audience along the AIDA marketing funnel, from Attention to Interest and Desire.
3. It avoids negative questions
Sure, you probably don’t want to include questions that might create any concerns in the minds of your readers, such as worries about price or quality. But, in fact, if you include objections and provide well-considered answers, it’s a great opportunity to reassure and build trust.
For example, on Instagram’s very comprehensive FAQ page, they have the following question—one that is probably often asked by concerned parents.
The answer is ‘no’, which will disappoint some parents, but Instagram has still chosen to include the question. To mitigate the effects of any concerns, they have carefully worded it to show they understand the parents’ worry before directing them to a guide specifically written for parents. The whole answer has been written to inspire confidence and reassure readers.
4. It repeats information from elsewhere
Your FAQ page is an opportunity to reiterate your message. But you don’t want to simply repeat word-for-word information that can be found elsewhere on your website. This will have a bad effect on your SEO.
Instead, either paraphrase using synonyms or link to that page along with a short sentence summarizing.
People on your FAQ page have a specific task to complete. They want answers. Having to scroll through a long list of information will quickly put them off and your bounce rate will rocket as a result.
The best solution? Provide a search bar so they can search directly. Or simply organize your questions under categories rather than displaying them randomly.
9 Tips for Crafting the Dream FAQ Page
1. Answer pain points and customer support queries
Paying attention to what your audience is looking for will ensure that your FAQ page—and your website as a whole—is aligned with their pain points.
To identify the questions that people are frequently asking related to your product, service, or industry, start with search engine results. Simply search the keywords and phrases associated with your brand and see what questions are listed under People also ask…
The autocomplete feature on Google will also give you an idea of the kind of thing people are asking.
Answerthepublic.com is another excellent online tool to find out what questions are being asked, all presented in an aesthetically pleasing diagram.
You’ll also want to include questions from any customer calls, chats, emails, and reviews. And check out competitor FAQ pages too. Make sure to use the same language and words that your customers are using. Not only will it make your brand appear more relatable and approachable but it will also improve SEO.
2. Include your USP
This is an opportunity to differentiate your product or service from competitors. What makes you special? Don’t just list features. Explain the benefits of each. Why does that feature matter to customers?
Just be sure to focus on educating the customer rather than selling. This isn’t a product page and you don’t want to appear too pushy.
Even if it feels like you’re repeating things you’ve said elsewhere on your website, remember that different customers will visit different pages and you want to ensure everyone has access to the same important information. Just be creative about how you word it so it isn’t a direct duplicate.
3. Anticipate and solve potential objections
An FAQ page is a perfect opportunity to persuade those who are on the fence about what you’re offering, allowing you to use cleverly constructed answers to nudge them in the right direction.
For those customers who are hesitating, directly addressing their concerns with answers that acknowledge their worry while also providing a solution is a great way to increase conversions.
For example, one common customer objection is ‘I don’t need this.’ Focusing on your USP on the FAQ page and highlighting what makes your product special, and how it can make the customer’s life better, is a great way to overcome this objection.
Similarly, people might be wondering why they should buy from you in particular. Use your FAQ page to emphasize what makes you superior to your competitors.
Another great way to solve potential objections is social proof. This is a psychological phenomenon whereby people tend to copy the actions of those like them. Therefore any recommendations or positive reviews from other customers can be highly persuasive and make you appear trustworthy and a good investment.
For example, a common concern that customers have is “Is this worth the money?” By making them aware of other customers who have purchased your product, you reassure them that, yes, this is indeed a good use of their money.
4. Keep it light and conversational
FAQ pages don’t have to be dry and dull. Use the same brand voice you’ve established for other parts of your website. Think of it like a conversation. Talk in the same way you would with a customer face-to-face. Add personality and a bit of humour if it feels appropriate.
You can explain complex concepts but do so in a way that avoids jargon and overly complicated terminology. Bullet lists are a great way to make difficult subjects easy to digest.
That said, you want to make sure your FAQ page is as on-brand as the rest of your website. So if it doesn’t feel appropriate for your audience to speak casually and playfully, make it more formal.
5. Optimise your FAQ page for SEO
A well-written FAQ page that includes keywords is a great way to boost your ranking in search engine results. After all, search engines are looking for the best and most concise answers to people’s questions. This is exactly what your FAQ page provides.
What’s more, if you target relevant keywords and ensure your answers are clear and concise, you stand a chance of appearing in a Google answer box at the top of the first page of the search results, aka a ‘featured snippet’.
These ‘featured snippets’ usually come from content structured in a question-and-answer format, like an FAQ page, and can be a mega boost for organic traffic to your website.
6. Add internal links
To keep your customer on your website, include links to both the main pages and the less visited ones. This will drive traffic and help search engines identify and locate those pages too. This includes links to blog posts or case studies as well as specific products and services.
In this way, your FAQ page serves as a central hub from which your customers can click through to other long-form content, progressing them along the marketing funnel.
7. Update your FAQ page to keep it relevant
Stay informed about which questions your customer support team regularly receives and make sure to add any new ones to your FAQ page.
You should also run frequent audits of your FAQ page to check it’s all still applicable. Outdated information will throw the credibility of your entire website into doubt.
8. Include a call-to-action
Whether it’s asking the reader to get in contact, join a mailing list, visit a product page, or sign up to a service, including a CTA at the end of the FAQ page is crucial. If someone is asking questions about your product or service, it shows they’re interested in a purchase.
What’s more, after reading all your answers, they may well be perfectly positioned to take the next step.
So make it easy and simple for them to do so. Place a button that says something like ‘Get started’ or ‘Browse products’ nearby and in multiple places along the page.
9. Make it scannable
The best way to keep your FAQ page easy to read and navigate is to have questions alongside links to answers. People are busy and will be quickly put off by anything that feels like hard work. Ensure it’s simple for them to find the information they’re looking for.
It’s worth experimenting with the aesthetics of your FAQ page. Interesting layouts, attractive visual queues, and memorable imagery will help keep your audience engaged—as long as it doesn’t distract from the information itself.
And while we’re talking about structure and layout, make sure to order your list of questions from most frequently asked to least frequently asked and group different questions together by topics, such as Materials and Construction, Shipping and Delivery, and Returns.
FAQs About FAQs
How should I start an FAQ page?
Start your FAQ page with the most commonly asked questions as well as those questions with the simplest answers. You can then move on to less frequently asked questions and those with more wordy and complex answers. This helps to maintain customer interest and engagement.
How do I optimise my FAQ page for SEO?
To optimise your FAQ page for SEO, make sure to include the keywords and phrases that your customers are searching. Use the same tone of voice and language that they are using, even if this might be slightly grammatically incorrect. Make sure answers are short and concise to improve your chance at becoming a ‘featured snippet’ on Google.
How can I improve my FAQ page?
To improve your FAQ page, the most important thing is to ensure you are answering your customer’s most pressing questions in a way that is easy to understand. Similarly, you should make sure the page is structured and designed so that any answers are easy to find and read. Plus, you want to make sure you have clear calls to action to increase the chance of your FAQ page leading to more conversions.
The Ultimate FAQ Page: A Question of Creativity
Many consider FAQ pages a boring essential on a website—something no one reads, or at least no one enjoys reading. As a result, they are often after-thoughts, lacking the creativity and consideration of the rest of your copy.
But answering customer questions is one of the quickest, easiest, cheapest, and most efficient ways to increase conversions. And so creating a stellar FAQ page is really worth the time.
Once you’ve done so, you can monitor analytics to see how much time people are spending reading your FAQs. You don’t want them to leave within a few seconds. But if they’re spending a long time on the page, it may indicate that it’s too hard for them to find their answer. Keep a close eye and edit as necessary. Ideally, you want them to spend a couple of minutes there before moving to another page on your site or taking some kind of action.
Don’t have the time, energy, or experience to put together an FAQ page yourself? Why not hand it over to a professional copywriting service, which can help make the process simple and streamlined? Get in touch today to begin your journey towards an FAQ section that boosts engagement and conversions.
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