What does FAQ mean – and why is it smart to have one on your website?

There are several great reasons to add an FAQ page on your website. It’s an excellent way to strengthen your business’s customer service, which helps build trust with your target audience and makes the customer journey easier for your users. An FAQ can even boost your conversion rate!

If that’s not enough, an FAQ page can also enhance your website’s SEO. 

In this article, we’ll explore why an FAQ page is a fantastic addition to your amazing website, and of course, we’ll share some useful tips on how to create an FAQ that stands out. Let’s get started! 

What is an FAQ? 

FAQ is an acronym for ‘Frequently Asked Questions’. An FAQ is simply a collection of questions and answers about your business or topics relevant to it.

These questions can cover everything from the products you sell in your online shop and details about the services you offer to general inquiries about shipping and returns, environmental responsibility, or opening hours. The questions can be about anything, as long as they are relevant to your target audience. 

What’s the difference between an FAQ and a help centre? 

As a collection of questions and answers, FAQ answers are often kept very short and concise. Many businesses, including one.com, also have a help centre. This is a more comprehensive system, typically containing many more questions which are answered through detailed articles or guides. 

It’s perfectly fine to have both an FAQ and a help centre. For example, you can link to the help centre for questions where you have more detailed articles on the topic. However, it’s generally wise to keep your FAQ short and to the point.  

Why is it smart to have an FAQ? 

As we touched on in the introduction, there are several good reasons to have an FAQ page. Let’s take a little deep dive into the reasons: 

Strengthens your customer service 

Studies show that more and more people prefer self-service. In a study from Harvard Business Review, they discovered that 81% of customers try to solve their problem themselves before eventually contacting customer service. 

This means that most customers are actually happiest when they can figure things out on their own. Instead of having to send an email and wait for a reply or sit in a phone queue to get in touch with your business, they can get the answer to exactly what they’re wondering about with just a few clicks. 

Having good customer service through multiple channels is, of course, also a good idea, but with an FAQ page, you ensure that you reach all potential customers regardless of their preferences. 

Trust, usability, and increased sales 

An FAQ page can boost brand trust in your business and improve the customer journey. It shows that you are transparent about how things work and makes it easier for potential customers to learn what it’s like to be your customer. Perhaps they’ll find answers to questions they hadn’t even thought of and be pleasantly surprised?  

For instance, imagine a potential customer visiting your online shop and browsing around. Initially, they’re not planning to make a purchase. Then they discover your FAQ page and learn that you offer surprisingly fast delivery times and have a great return policy if they’re not satisfied with the product. Not to mention, they also learn that the products they were interested in are organic and that you’re an environmentally friendly business. 

In the best-case scenario, the potential customer is so positively surprised that it leads to a purchase. Even if this isn’t what happens, they’ve gotten to know your business far more than expected, increasing the chance of a future purchase. 

Boost SEO 

An FAQ page can also improve SEO for your website. While the primary purpose of the questions and answers is to address topics relevant to your audience, there’s no reason not to optimise the page for SEO by including important keywords related to your business and industry. 

Questions and answers are also a smart format for SEO. Many people who search on Google are looking for answers to specific questions. Since your FAQ page is structured with questions and concise answers, this increases the chance of ranking high in search results when a potential customer searches for a question you have answered. In the best-case scenario, your precise and short answer could result in your text being featured as a Google Featured Snippet. 

You can further increase the chances of being displayed as a rich snippet by using FAQ schema markup. This helps search engines better understand your content and present it directly in the search results. 

Good FAQ examples 

We’ve looked at various websites with Frequently Asked Questions to give you some inspiration. Here are examples of businesses that have approached FAQs in different ways: 

FAQ pages 

Hair salons 

A simple and straightforward example is the FAQ page for the hair salon Toni & Guy. Here, the most common questions are answered concisely, covering topics such as booking, services, and loyalty programs. Below, you’ll also find links to payment options, price lists, and information about the products sold in their salons.

Another hair salon that has taken it a step further is the UK-based HairCuttery. They have a broader range of questions, neatly organised into three categories, making it easier to navigate. As seen in the responses, HairCuttery includes links for further navigation where it makes sense, enhancing the user experience. 

Grocery chains 

The large grocery chain Tesco also has its own FAQ page. Here, the questions are sorted into clear categories, serving as a helpful starting point for navigating to relevant pages with more detailed information.

FAQ section on product and service pages 

Oxfam UK provides a thorough FAQ that breaks down questions into a variety of categories. They include sections about product and monetary donations, as well as broader questions about their work and career and volunteer opportunities. Visitors can explore more detailed articles on related topics, such as the impact of their donations and alternative ways to give.

At one.com, you can also find frequently asked questions about specific services on the page for that service. For example, if you scroll all the way to the bottom of our page about the Website Builder, you will find the seven most relevant questions about the Website Builder there. The same applies to our page about Email, Domains, and other products and services. 

Where should the FAQ be on your website? 

An FAQ can be placed on your website in different ways. You can create a dedicated page, or you can add an FAQ section to one or more of your pages to respond to questions for a specific service or product. 

On a dedicated FAQ page 

Having a dedicated FAQ page gives visitors one place where they can easily find answers to their questions without having to search through the rest of your website. This is especially useful if you have many products or topics that might raise questions.  

A dedicated FAQ page can also serve as a helpful tool for customer service by reducing the load on your support team with well-crafted, detailed answers to common inquiries. Make sure the page is easy to find, such as through the main menu or in the footer. 

FAQ section on key pages 

An FAQ section on strategic pages can provide customers with relevant information exactly when they need it. For example, an FAQ section on a product page can address common questions about features, delivery, or specifications related to that specific product or category.  

This can reduce uncertainty and help facilitate faster purchase decisions. Placement is also important – an FAQ section at the bottom of the page can offer answers to those scrolling for more details, while a section placed higher up can capture attention earlier in the buying process. 

A combination of both 

For many websites, a combination of a dedicated FAQ page with sections on key pages is useful. The dedicated FAQ page serves as a comprehensive resource, while FAQ sections on specific pages provide relevant answers exactly where they are needed.  

This creates a balanced solution that enhances user-friendliness and meets customers’ need for information, while also ensuring that users have a central place to go if they’re seeking specific answers. 

However, make sure not to repeat the same questions on too many pages, as search engines like Google might see it as duplicate content, which can hurt your SEO score. Additionally, it could become repetitive and take up unnecessary space on your website.    

Top tips for creating an FAQ 

Are you now considering adding FAQs to your website? Here are some smart tips to get you started: 

Create an overview of the most common questions 

Review previous inquiries or talk to your customer service team. What questions do you get asked most often? If you’re planning a large FAQ with multiple categories, it’s a good idea to make the most asked questions highly visible and place them at the top. 

To further improve the customer journey, consider whether these questions can also be addressed elsewhere on your website. For example, if many customers ask about the materials used in your products, you might want to include this information in your product descriptions. 

Carry out careful keyword research 

While the questions you already receive from customers are a great starting point for an FAQ, it’s also useful to check out what people are searching for on Google. Doing some research will help you figure out which topics and questions are relevant to your target audience.  

By including these questions along with well-crafted answers on your website, you also give your page a solid SEO boost. 

You can use tools like Google Search Console or more advanced SEO programs like Semrush, Ahrefs, or RankMath. You can also use tools like AnswerThePublic, where you can enter a relevant keyword and get an overview of common questions people ask related to that topic. 

Remember that your FAQ should primarily be useful for users – but if you include relevant questions that are frequently searched for, you increase the chances that it is your website that appears in the search results. 

Create a logical system 

If your FAQ page covers questions across multiple categories, it’s important to organise them in a logical and user-friendly way so users can easily find the information they’re looking for.

You can divide the questions into different categories and arrange them in a clear structure on the page. 

Stick to the FAQ format 

The classic FAQ format consists of a question followed by a short and concise answer. This is often what users expect in an FAQ.  

If you have more detailed information on a topic, feel free to link to an article or page where users can learn more, but to keep the page or section tidy and easy to navigate, stick to brief and straightforward answers within the FAQ itself. 

Links, images, and video 

We’ve already mentioned links as a great supplement to an FAQ. Links, images, and videos can all help make your FAQ page more engaging. For example, images or illustrations can make it easier to distinguish between categories, and if you have a relevant video guide, it can be a valuable addition.  

You can consider whether the page will look better with the video embedded directly or if it’s better to link to the page where the video is hosted. 

A dynamic FAQ page 

Remember that, like any other page on your website, your FAQ page should be dynamic. This means continuously improving and updating it as needed. Over time, evaluate whether the most common questions are still relevant or if some should be replaced. 

If something new has happened in your business, it might be appropriate to create a new category with FAQ questions, or perhaps an existing category should be removed or adjusted. Make sure all questions are relevant to the user and that answers are updated if anything has changed. 

Create a user-friendly FAQ page to enhance your website 

An FAQ can be a valuable addition to your website in many ways. It can make your site more user-friendly by helping potential customers easily find the information they’re looking for.  

A user-friendly website where relevant information is easy to locate can help increase your conversion rate. Additionally, a well-crafted FAQ can give your website an SEO boost! 

The number of questions your FAQ should include, and whether it’s best placed on a dedicated page or as a section on an existing page, depends on your type of business and how many questions and answers are relevant to your users. Experiment to find what works best for your website!