Of course, you can build your website, design the landing pages and the rest, get reliable web hosting services and get your website running online but if you leave out the FAQ section on your website, you might be making a big mistake.
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So, what is a FAQ page?
The FAQ or Frequently Asked Questions is a list of questions/answers whose objective is to answer the questions of the Internet users about a company, a service, or a product. A FAQ generally takes two forms:
- Static, that is to say, that it is only accessible from a page. You just have to scroll down the question you are interested in to find the answer.
- Dynamic, i.e. it takes the form of a search engine. In this case, the user types his question in the search bar and arrives on a dedicated page for each question.
Differences between a static FAQ and a dynamic FAQ?
The difference between these two is mainly the FAQ page design. The static FAQ is available on a single page with questions and answers one after the other, where you have to scroll down to find the answer to your question. In general, by clicking on the question that interests you among the list of problems, the answer is displayed. It is suitable when you have a maximum of ten questions. They are not easily manageable, with very little (if any) statistical tracking of user behavior, nor do they allow for the search for specific problems.
As for the dynamic FAQ, it works like search engines, i.e. type in your question or a keyword and the tool automatically detects the problem and proposes appropriate answers to the user.
According to Hubspot, 44% of customer service professionals indicate that their company’s website includes a knowledge base and/or FAQs.
Static FAQs, which take the form of a long page of questions and answers, are now a thing of the past. It is in the interest of the customer service department to develop a new dynamic FAQ. The latter is able to follow the customer throughout his purchase or complaint process, and to be naturally integrated into all the pages visited (via contextualised dynamic FAQs) to provide the right answer at the right time.
Why do you need a FAQ page?
Do you have a FAQ (frequently asked questions) available and prominently displayed on your website? If you don’t have the time or resources to do so, our post of the week is for you. A FAQ is a must that will save you time and money and increase your availability to your customers, in addition to generating more sales.
If you think that the benefits of a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ page) are limited to providing a question/answer to your customer, you may be surprised by its real potential.
Dynamic FAQs provide better information for the user, but also a unique opportunity for you to improve your customer knowledge base, optimise your search engine optimisation or reduce the workload of your customer service.
Here is more information on the importance of having a FAQ on your website:
1. To improve the customer experience
If you take the time to create a dynamic, intelligent, and relevant FAQ, you will significantly improve the experience of most of your customers.
Nothing is more pleasant for them than to immediately find the answer to a question that concerns them: contacting a customer service department, even a good one, is often considered a chore or a thankless task. According to a LogMeIn & Ovum study, 66% of knowledge base users even say it’s easier to do research with these solutions.
A well-answered FAQ frees the customer from having to contact a customer service department and therefore tends to increase customer satisfaction as well as the company’s brand image.
Digital care, by filtering low value-added requests, relieves the support department. Thus, when the customer is forced to contact the customer service department, his handling will be faster with a reduced waiting time, thus minimising dissatisfaction.
Keep in mind, however, that this is a double-edged sword if misused!
A customer who takes the trouble to look through your FAQ for a long time without finding the answer to his question will necessarily feel a certain frustration. As a result, they will be dissatisfied when they contact customer service, which is why it is so important to train your advisors and make sure they have the skills to handle high value-added requests.
2. Refine your knowledge base with dynamic FAQs
Although it may not seem intuitive, a good FAQ page also allows you to learn more about your customers, their habits, and preferences. A smart and dynamic FAQ can indeed provide you with valuable information:
– Which questions are consulted the most?
– What proportion of visitors wanted to contact a customer advisor despite the answer given?
– What is the satisfaction/dissatisfaction of the users of the FAQ on a particular question and what are the reasons?
The data provided by a dynamic and intelligent FAQ quickly proves invaluable in considering corrective actions, and in particular in modifying the title of a question, clarifying an answer, or even creating a brand new theme/subject where your customers still cannot find any information.
The result is a growing added value for the quality of your digital customer relations. Such reactivity obviously supposes that you rely on a robust system, capable of collecting and exploiting this type of data. Do not hesitate, for example, to include a yes/no item under each question/answer to be checked off, such as: “Was this information useful to you? In addition, a free or closed field with key criteria can be proposed to refine your analysis. You will quickly notice an improvement in your customer knowledge base.
3. Build trust with your customers
Create a FAQ page to improve customer trust and enhance your expertise. Many websites have an FAQ and their effectiveness is well known. It is in your best interest to create one. It will allow you to appear more serious and more credible in the eyes of your users. Indeed, it is more pleasant for them to be able to access the answers to their questions in a simple and fast way.
Your visitors will have the impression that you are committed to helping/guiding them, which will improve the feeling of transparency. Be careful, however, that the questions and answers are relevant. The creation of an FAQ must indeed be the result of careful thought.
You sell a product or service, and you know exactly what it is. Putting this information in an FAQ can be a way to highlight the important features of what you sell.
4. Reduce the time you spend answering questions
Create an FAQ to reduce the time you spend answering customers via email and phone. Some companies are overwhelmed by certain customer questions.
The time taken to answer them could be spent on more urgent tasks. The repetitive aspect of this work can also be annoying to manage in the long run.
It is in this type of case that the implementation of a FAQ is the most recommended. It allows you to answer your prospects’ questions in advance and drastically reduce the number of questions asked by email or by phone.
5. Create a FAQ page to improve your SEO ranking
By nature, a FAQ will allow you to add content/keywords on your website and therefore ultimately improve your SEO.
But other factors can also help you to improve your ranking. Indeed, the FAQ is based on searches that you identify as frequent. Doesn’t that sound familiar? Well, search engines use the same process. When you provide answers on your FAQ page, you are potentially answering questions asked by users in Google. Google indexes your content and recognises question/answer systems and uses them to build its answer. Thus, your website could appear in the search results for a given question, in zero position (snippets). Ideal to get more traffic on your website.
6. Sell more products/services
Your current and potential customers probably have many unanswered questions before making the decision to use your services or buy your product! By answering the most popular questions, you will help your customer make the right decision quickly and with full knowledge of the facts. Your customers will be informed consumers… and that’s what they want!
7. Save time and money
As a small business owner, you never have enough time! By having a section on your website where your current and potential customers can get complete answers to the most frequently asked questions about your business, you will considerably reduce the number of incoming calls and emails. Remember that every time a call or email is answered, there are costs and time involved.
8. Respond to clients at all times
If you’ve been a contractor for a while, you know the questions your customers often ask. By answering them in advance in the FAQ section of your website, you ensure that your current and potential customers have their questions answered at all times, regardless of your business hours and days of operation.
How to create a FAQ page.
First of all, your FAQ page must be highly visible and easily accessible on your website; let’s not forget that one of its primary functions is to efficiently guide your visitors so the FAQ page design should be user-friendly. Moreover, why not integrate your contact information so that they can contact you for additional information or to do business with you immediately?
To build your FAQ, the most recommended format (and the easiest to read) is the question/answer type.
First, make a list of the most frequently asked questions about your business and answer them succinctly and informatively. Be yourself and leave out the more technical terms that might confuse your readers.
Keyword research tools can help you, like the Keyword planning tool proposed in Google Ads. Think about the research on your own site: what keywords (or expressions) do your visitors type to find you?
To do this, go to “site search” in Google Analytics. The feature shows you how your visitors found you, and you may discover expressions you hadn’t thought of. When you do a search on Google, phrases or questions are suggested to you: use this “People also ask” feature. Ask your friends and family. But also your users; you can for example create a survey to collect customer opinions.
Who are your users? To create a good FAQ, you need to know who exactly you are addressing. Your language will not be the same depending on your target: young people? more mature people? a rather serious field or not? If you have created an article or a page that answers a recurring question, don’t forget to insert links in your content to better direct your readers.