Are FAQ good idea for SEO?

Thousands of SEO experts are tirelessly working to push their websites to the top positions on Google, where the real rewards lie – maximum traffic and conversions. Achieving these top spots is often a challenging journey that requires a significant investment of time and money. Now, picture all these experts crowded together, each trying to outdo the other, when suddenly someone unexpected, manages to leap to the top against all odds. We’re not talking about paid ads here; we’re talking about the organic Google features known as “People Also Ask” and “Position Zero.”

When a user searches for a specific keyword, Google often displays these two features as alternatives to the standard organic search results. To increase your chances of appearing in these coveted spots, incorporating FAQ (frequently asked questions) sections on your website pages is key.

This is a legitimate strategy to outmaneuver the competition and claim those top positions. Are FAQs effective for SEO? What do you think? You can land on the first page of Google for highly competitive keywords without investing as much time and money. Is that beneficial? Absolutely!

This is a valuable asset for any SEO expert or website owner who chooses to handle their content strategy independently. If you prefer not to take on this task yourself, you can always rely on us – Calgary SEO company.

What are “People Also Ask” and Position Zero?

Position Zero is the topmost search result on Google, often displayed as a single paragraph or a numbered list. According to Google, this spot represents the most relevant answer to the search query.

As shown in the screenshot, the “People Also Ask” block typically follows. About 10 years ago, Google conducted research and discovered that people often don’t know exactly what they’re looking for or how to phrase their questions. This block acts as a hint and an extension of the initial keyword query. As Albert Einstein famously said, “If I had one hour to solve a problem on which my life depended, I would spend the first 55 minutes coming up with the right question and only 5 minutes finding the answer.” The same principle applies to the “People Also Ask” block. Google aims to cover the topic as thoroughly as possible by presenting a comprehensive list of related questions, helping users quickly find the answers they need.

How to Get into the “People Also Ask” and Position Zero Blocks?

Now, here’s the most interesting part. As you may have noticed, these blocks feature clearly formulated questions and concise, yet comprehensive, answers. The key to getting into these blocks is exactly that – brevity paired with thorough information. To increase your chances of landing in the “People Also Ask” and Position Zero blocks, you need to focus on the following:

1. Quality, optimized content.
2. Creation of an FAQ block.
3. Implementation of FAQ Schema markup.

Quality and Optimized Content: This means creating completely unique content that adheres to the principles of E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness), you can read more about it in this article – How to create high-quality content for your website?

If your content lacks personalization, evidence, optimization, or is even partially copied from another source, it’s highly unlikely – about a 99% chance – that it will make it into these coveted blocks. You might wonder, with the time it takes to create such content, what’s the point of including an FAQ section? That’s a valid question. The reality is, many sites have excellent content, but it can still take a long time to reach the top of search results due to intense competition. Even if your content is great, someone else’s might be even better. The “People Also Ask” and Position Zero blocks provide a unique opportunity to bypass this direct competition.

Did you think it would be easy? While using FAQs is a great strategy, it doesn’t mean you can neglect content quality and expect to reach the top in just a few seconds. If you’re starting to realize that promoting your site on your own isn’t as simple as it seems, you can always reach out to us – digital marketing firm Calgary.

Creating an FAQ Block: The “People Also Ask” block is essentially a collection of FAQs from different resources. It’s logical that to appear in this block, your website should include an FAQ section on its pages. For Position Zero, having an FAQ isn’t as crucial, but your answer needs to be brief, comprehensive, and easy to understand. The simpler and clearer your answer, the better. Experience shows that if your answer is understandable even to a child, you’ve got a good chance of landing in Position Zero.

It’s recommended to use HTML and CSS when creating your FAQ block. What does that mean? It means crafting an attractive container for your questions and answers—a bit of code that appeals not only to users but also to Google. While this isn’t absolutely necessary, it can significantly boost your chances of getting into the “People Also Ask” section. Working with HTML and CSS can be challenging for many people, but if your site is on WordPress and you use Elementor, you can simply add an Accordion block:

You can also use the basic <details> and <summary> tags to create something simple like this:

Again, this isn’t absolutely necessary, and if working with HTML feels like navigating a dark forest, just focus on creating the question and answer. Make the question a subheading (a quick tip: it’s recommended to use the <h2> tag) and write the answer as a regular paragraph (<p>).

Creating FAQ Schema Markup: Writing questions and short answers is a great start, but Google needs to see that content in a specific way. Beyond having a clean HTML structure and CSS styling, it’s important to consider using Schema markup, one of the two acceptable standards by Google. Schema markup clearly indicates to the search engine that your content is part of an FAQ, which increases your chances of appearing in the “People Also Ask” block.

If that sounds intimidating, don’t worry. Many plugins can handle the Schema for you. For instance, with the popular WordPress plugin All in One SEO, you can easily add the FAQ feature to your content:

This is where you duplicate the questions and answers you’ve already created within your content.

How to Choose Questions for FAQs?

If you’ve set everything up, installed the necessary tools, and are ready to write questions for your FAQ section, you might be wondering – what kind of questions should you include? Any random questions? Not quite. There are several strategies. One approach is to use a service like Semrush, specifically its Keyword Magic Tool. By selecting the “Questions” tab, we can research keywords and analyze the competition. This method is commonly employed by SEO specialists:

Before writing content, keyword research is essential – this is the professional approach. If you skip this step, your chances of appearing in the “People Also Ask” block are slim. Why? Because optimized content is content that people are actually searching for, meaning it contains relevant keywords. These keywords represent what people are typing into search engines. If there’s demand, there’s an opportunity to be featured; if not, Google won’t show your content, nor will it include you in the “People Also Ask” block. You could write an incredible piece about your cat’s calving experience, as beautifully crafted as a Shakespearean play, but if there’s no demand for that topic, it won’t perform. Writing content without considering keywords and demand is like shooting in the dark.

I will share with you a simpler and no less effective strategy.

Let’s say you have quality, optimized content. You’ve got your topic, and you’ve identified your keywords. The next step is to take those keywords and enter them into Google search, one by one. If the “People Also Ask” block appears, take a look at the first question and assess its relevance to your article. If the question fits logically with your content, use it. Then, examine the answer that Google has provided for that question in the search results. You might wonder, if Google has already selected a site for this question, how can you replace it? The key is to provide a more concise answer. Often, you’ll notice that the answers in these blocks are just highlighted phrases from a text. This is where you have an advantage. If Google hasn’t found a better, more succinct answer, it will pull from the text. By crafting a separate, simpler sentence as the answer, you increase your chances of taking that spot.

Repeat this process with all the questions in the “People Also Ask” block and with all your keywords. Additionally, you can create your own questions based on the content of your article. Summarize your key points in a concise manner. Here’s an example of what an FAQ might look like for this article: