It brought to mind a FAQ section I recently built for a client in the event automation space.
They were having Google trouble because their space is dominated by 800-pound gorillas taking up all the Google oxygen.
My theory was that a FAQ section would at least help get them into Google's "People Also Asked" questions. Hopefully more. Lee's article has some interesting info that supports that theory.
The results were pretty good. Most of the FAQs ranked on the first page of Google. There was one incident of a FAQ being a featured snippet. But here's what I found amazing. Product pages became the number one result for two of the FAQs (Who Uses Event Automation Software? and What is Event Automation Software?) This was not the case before the FAQ section launched.
The FAQ page drove results that led to the product page as well as the FAQ page.
If you think a FAQ section might help you, here's what we did.
Compile a huge list of questions. Between Google and Semrush's competitor view, I was able to compile about 100 questions.
Organize, edit, prioritize. Pull similar questions together and prioritize which you will be posting first. Winnow them down and group them by general topic.
Write super-excellent responses to each question. Don't pitch yourself. You're looking for authority here.
When it comes to the actual design of the section, don't over-design. Look to get the question and the answer literally as close together as possible. The section we built had the Question and Answer at the top of the page and then the bottom of the page used the FAQ topic to show additional resources.
Lastly, a few misc notes:
Make the url a hyphenated version of the question.
Post a whole bunch of questions so you have a robust section and then add new questions regularly.
[Edit: Technical SEO master Claude Vincent -- who I worked with on Oracle's SEO team -- wrote in to not forget about the FAQ schema. The schema will turn your FAQ section into structured data and could result in Google understanding it more clearly. For more info on FAQ scheme, Claude provides a link to
Google's documentation on FAQ pages. ]
If you are interested in running a FAQ program, I'd be glad to help. You can reach me at the phone number at the bottom of this page.
About Me
I've managed the intricate details of web sites large and small. As a former marketer, a unique characteristic that you will find with me is that I manage websites with a sensibility that always looks to support and bolster a site's mission. I have experience with most major platforms, frameworks, and software so, no matter how your site is constructed, I am likely to hit the ground running to help improve performance and make it the site you've always wanted.
