Loading...FAQ - what is it?
It’s worth starting by taking a closer look at the FAQ. This acronym stands for frequently asked questions. FAQ sections are usually used to answer the most popular questions concerning products, services as well as website or mobile app operation. Thanks to them, users can quickly obtain necessary answers without having to contact customer service. This section is created by the website admin, based on the most frequent users’ concerns. [caption id="attachment_33742" align="aligncenter" width="750"]
FAQ section in H&M store[/caption]
When is the FAQ section correct?
Implementing the FAQ section brings many benefits to both website visitors and owners - no surprise you'll always find it among key technical SEO service elements. Google also believes it, therefore, its guidelines clearly state the principles assessing whether a given FAQ section is correct and acceptable. The basic issue is the lack of possibility to make any changes by users. The page with frequently asked questions is developed and modified only by its admin. It’s best when it resembles a clear, legible list. According to Google, it’s not reasonable to use FAQ sections in case of forums, product specifications, or websites where it’s possible to provide individual answers without admin moderation. It’s worth keeping this in mind while creating this subpage.FAQ and its impact on SEO
In May 2019, Google announced that it would officially support the display of three main structured data supposed to help users access answers to their questions - FAQ, Q&A, and How-to. Consequently, website owners started to create FAQ pages more willingly, not only to save time and money but also to improve their positions in the SERPs.Frequently asked questions tab is a place full of valuable content where users can find quality help, even at the stage of looking for information in the search engine. Moreover, FAQ can make you stand out from the crowd and increase the number of your website impressions.
In order to ensure that your section is displayed directly in the search results, it needs rich snippets. This means that a FAQ page has to be implemented on the website in the form of structured data. To learn more about this type of data and their deployment methods, visit our previous blog entry: Structured data - but what actually is it?
[caption id="attachment_33750" align="aligncenter" width="677"]
Exemplary FAQs in the search results.[/caption]
How to prepare FAQ questions and answers?
Before we move on to implementing FAQ Page Schema, we’d like to share with you some tips that may help prepare the subpage. The FAQ section is supposed to quickly dissolve users’ doubts concerning your products, services, or functionalities of your website, therefore, the questions and answers shouldn’t be random. It’s a good idea to plan the whole process of creating this element thoroughly.How to create the FAQ subpage? 6 tips
- Analyze the questions that are frequently asked via email, messenger, or over the phone in your customer service department. Look for possible questions on forums and social media.
- Select the questions that appear the most frequently and categorize them - create smaller groups like orders, shipping, consumer complaints, and so on.
- Take advantage of keyword research tools to ensure that your questions match frequently searched phrases.
- Be comprehensive yet concise. Make sure that your answers are natural and user-friendly, avoid using complex terms.
- If you run a company blog, link particular entries that elaborate on given subjects. This will also support your internal linking.
- Provide a form enabling users to ask you a question. Obviously, you can forget about certain issues, and this solution will allow you to easily obtain additional, valuable information.
Once the FAQ section is published, it’s worth monitoring user behavior. Control your traffic, the accuracy of questions, and other parameters such as the number of calls or emails with questions. You can also provide a survey to get feedback from people searching for help. If achieved effects don’t meet your expectations, don’t be afraid to experiment and introduce new changes to the section.
How to implement the FAQ Page Schema on your page?
The implementation of FAQ in the form of structured data is not rocket science. It’s mainly about inserting the appropriate code in the <head> section of the subpage with frequently asked questions and answers. For that purpose, it’s advisable to use The FAQ Page Schema Generator or Google Structured Data Markup Helper. [caption id="attachment_33746" align="aligncenter" width="403"]
An exemplary FAQ Page code in the form of the JSON-LD code.[/caption]
Moreover, Google supports FAQ Page elements saved as microdata tags. The design of your website determines what kind of code you should go for.
[caption id="attachment_33748" align="aligncenter" width="399"]
An exemplary FAQ Page code in the form of microdata tags.[/caption]
Depending on your CMS, installing the plugin, or introducing the Schema directly into the code is possible.
It’s also worth noting that the Schema concerning drop-down FAQs shouldn’t be done using JavaScript. Instead, it’s better to go for CSS and HTML codes.
After deploying the code, you should report the subpage to Google Search Console. This way, the new data will be reindexed so that it appears in the search results. The correctness of the implemented structured data can be monitored using the tool for checking Google rich results. It’ll indicate possible errors that need to be fixed.
After indexing the new content, your page can be displayed in the following way:
[caption id="attachment_33753" align="aligncenter" width="750"]
Exemplary FAQ rich results (computer version).[/caption]
How can SEO support your FAQ subpage?
As for every subpage, the FAQ section should also be properly optimized. Create a corresponding title and meta description. These elements have an impact on the UX of users looking for information online. Check out: Meta tags - what are they, and how do they affect SEO? It’s good to incorporate popular keywords in your FAQ section. After publishing it on the website, don’t forget about recommended text formatting. Use <strong> or <em> tags to bold the most important keywords and write them in italics to attract the attention of indexing robots. On the other hand, <b> and <i> tags are supposed to differentiate the content for page visitors. In the content, use appropriate website headers in the H1, H2, H3 hierarchy. To make it easier for users to access necessary information, think about bullet points and tables of content. And last but not least, make sure that your subpage provides quality, valuable questions, and answers.Does the implementation guarantee that your FAQ will be displayed on Google?
If your answers and questions aren’t displayed in the search results as rich snippets, it’s worth double-checking whether you conducted all of the abovementioned activities properly. Despite using tools for testing structured data, there might be some subpage errors. In this case, it’s a good idea to take matters into your own hands and check the deployed code. Google mentions other possible reasons, including situations when:- The subpage content isn’t displayed to users,
- The subpage contains elements that don’t meet the requirements of Google guidelines or use Black Hat SEO,
- The FAQ section doesn’t correspond to the website content and misleads users.
Really helpful post Magda! Just to make sure I understood correctly – FAQs need to be market up in schema in order to be displayed in Google – there’s no way around it?