Harris KhanWhether you run a new or growing online store or have a website to help you make more sales offline, your digital presence must look professional, adhere to your brand, and help consumers find the details they need.
You likely have handy information spread around your website, on the Home, About Us, and product or service listing pages. However, it pays to have a dedicated Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page, too, where people can quickly find answers to queries.
FAQ pages can bring multiple benefits to your business by improving the user experience, boosting SEO results, and helping shoppers navigate your site. These pages lead to time savings for both you and your clientele and can help you build consumer trust. Developing this part of your site can make or break your results, so it needs doing right. Here are some tips for writing effective FAQs today.
Make the Page Easy to Find
Ensure your Frequently Asked Questions page is accessible for consumers. There’s no point dedicating time and effort to creating helpful information if shoppers have to search hard to find it. Create a specific, dedicated page with its own URL and feature this in your site’s header or footer.
It also makes life easier for shoppers if you link to the FAQ page in other spots, such as your Home and Contact Us page. You might suggest people check out the FAQ before they get in touch, as many of their questions are likely already answered.
Analyze Real Customer Questions
You might be wondering what kinds of questions to place and answer on your FAQ page. While you can come up with some by yourself, don’t forget to pay attention to the customer questions you get from consumers throughout the year. Note what people ask on social media, via email, phone calls, live chat, and other avenues to see which questions come up most. These are ones to address on the FAQ page.
The content you display on this part of your website should focus on current and potential customers, not on you. That is, don’t add a bunch of questions just to allow you to talk about how wonderful the company or its management is, such as “Has the business won awards?” or “Who are the people behind the organization?” You can address these things on an About Us page and social media posts instead.
Your FAQ page should focus on the kinds of information shoppers need to know, such as shipping costs and times, order tracking and changes, cancellation and returns policies, and payments. You might also address loyalty programs, gift cards, wrapping, the sustainability of products, and how goods are made, among other things.
Utilize a Website Heatmap
Apart from analyzing frequent customer questions, it also pays to research how people use your website. Utilize a comprehensive website heatmap software program for insights. This tool allows you to see how people navigate your site, where they spend time, and how long they spend on each page and each area. You’ll also pick up on where they seem to get stuck and at which point they leave the checkout process without finalizing transactions.
By understanding the information that’s both most important and least critical to shoppers, you’ll have a much better idea of how to choose the questions you address on your FAQ page.
Choose the Right Language and Tone
Another tip for writing an effective FAQ section for your website is to take care with the words you choose. Select the most suitable language and tone that reflects your brand’s unique voice and appeals to your target demographic. Info must be easy to read and understand without complicated terms that could confuse or intimidate readers. Keep text clear, concise, and straightforward.
Organize the FAQ Page and Make It Scannable
For consumers to get the most out of an FAQ page, it should be well organized and scannable. People want to scroll through quickly and get an idea of how the content is laid out and where they will find the answers they need. Set up skimmable sections relating to topics like Ordering, Payments, Delivery, and Products. Break up longer answers into easy-to-scan and consume paragraphs, too.
Plus, it’s worth adding a search function to your FAQ page if possible, especially if you address a very long list of questions there. You don’t want people to get annoyed having to scroll through hundreds of lines of irrelevant text to find what they’re looking for. Remove the pain point and add a search bar at the top of the page. 
Other tips for your FAQ include optimizing the page for search engine optimization, keeping details updated, and incorporating visuals if needed (e.g., demonstrate how people can complete certain tasks or use products).
Plus, monitor the page’s performance over time so you can keep improving it. Taking all these steps will help you create an FAQ page that pleases your customers and gets you results.
