The FAQ page is a web page of primary importance to any website, no matter its type or purpose. It’s a compilation of questions and answers which are believed to be commonly asked withing the community that uses that particular website.
Although it’s frequently tagged as “noindex” on most sites ( this prevents web crawlers from archiving it for Web search results), the FAQ page gives tremendous value to any website. This article will guide you through the most important factors of creating a quality help page and will show you examples of the world’s most compelling FAQ page designs.
FAQ Pages: Going Back To The Roots
Back in 1647, the famous English witch-hunter Matthew Hopkins wrote a book called “The Discovery of Witches”. While the topic of the book certainly doesn’t relate to our discussion, it’s structure and composition makes us wonder when exactly has the Q&A trend been introduced as a writing format? Hopkins’ writing is believed to be the first archived book which is composed of questions and answers and in a certain way, it has created the outset of this writing style.
In the digital world, FAQ pages appeared for the first time at NASA. The Q&A format has been used in early mailing lists of the National Aeronauts and Space Administration due to technical limitations. Since then, both print and digital publications start developing FAQ sections. Nowadays, the commonly asked questions are often gathered by companies and displayed on websites as a way to facilitate customer support or provide a pre-made set of easily-digestible information that can get customers started with a new service or product. In print, FAQs are often placed in the intro or after the conclusion of books to provide readers additional information and solutions on commonly occurring questions and issues.
Inspiration: FAQ Pages to Drool Over
McDonalds
Benefits: What Makes a FAQ Page Worth The Efforts?
Crafting a web page that attempts to answer commonly asked questions could be a real pain, especially when you’re dealing with a completely new product or service. There are many excuses not to have a FAQ page on your website but truth is, the benefits are twice as much. Despite being a time-consuming chore, the creation of a comprehensive FAQ page can be a great plus to your website. Here’s why.
#1: FAQ pages can save you time and resources.
Even though it may be hard to gather the information at first, building a FAQ page is a wonderful investment any web developer should consider. Having a list of frequently asked questions on your website will spare you the time and resources on hiring an extra workforce to deal with clients that are just exploring the market rather than investing in converting queries into sells.
#2: Help pages will make your customers happy.
FAQ pages help visitors to get to know your service or product without leaving their comfort zone. Making your prospect clients make that extra step to call you or write you an e-mail just to ask a single and otherwise meaningless question will just drive them away from your site. The FAQ page will give your customers the answers before they even think of answering, making their purchase decision rather impulsive than premeditative.
#3: The FAQ page will boost the SEO of your website.
Having a FAQ page is just as important as having any other general page on your website. Along with “Terms and Conditions”, “About us” and “Contact us”, the FAQ page is just as important to your website as any other page. It indicated search engines that your website is well-developed enough to consider the questions and issues of your target market and provide a helpful information when possible.
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