Over the last few days I’ve been adding some frequently asked questions to my website.
For years I’ve tried to steer clear of using FAQs (as they’re more commonly known). I’ve always been of the opinion that if you need to list a page of questions and answers in a block then maybe your actual website content isn’t doing what it’s supposed to.
Just recently though I’ve started to warm to them for two main reasons:
Being concise and helping people
We all know that people skim read websites and it’s been like that since Noah was a lad. Attention spans are generally pretty poor these days and there are so many different things vying for people’s attention.
If you can make people’s lives a bit easier by giving them concise answers to their questions then surely that can only be a good thing. They’ll be more likely to find exactly what they need and get in touch with you.
FAQs should always be the questions you’re actually getting from potential clients and not questions you assume they need answers to.
If you’re thinking of using FAQs on your website think back to your last few phone or email conversations with prospective clients and you’ll probably see a familiar pattern of questions forming that you can use.
Schema markup
The other good reason for using FAQs on your website is that you can turn each question and answer into a rich snippet using schema markup.
For anyone who hasn’t come across schema markup it’s essentially structured code added to the HTML in your web pages and it helps search engines and AI understand the meaning behind your website content.
Schema markup uses a standard language created by schema.org to label specific elements such as reviews, products, events and…FAQs.
Search engines and AI systems
This leads me on nicely to the second solid reason for implementing FAQS. Schema markup actively benefits traditional search engines and AI systems like ChatGPT and Google Gemini.
Search engines and AI systems use schema markup to read your website and they use that structured code to reference your website content quickly and accurately.
AI systems are developing quickly so it makes sense to use schema markup where you can so you’ve got a better chance of being recommended by them.
The great news is it’s pretty straightforward to put schema markup in place regardless of the content management system you’re using.
A word of warning though, schema markup on it’s own isn’t a magic bullet and it won’t suddenly send you to the top of Google or appearing at the forefront of AI recommendations.
However, making your website easier to find has always been a continuous effort. It involves trying new things and adapting to a constantly changing landscape and by adopting new techniques over time you can gradually make a real difference.