Why would I want to build out articles that answer questions for an SEO approach? Great question.
Turns out we all ask questions constantly. Little kids do it all the times (sometimes driving parents crazy), and as we get older, we ask our questions to Google, Alexa, Bing, Yahoo, etc…. We ask eachother less and less all the time because who do you trust more, Google, or your friend?
This is why answering questions on your website is one of the most powerful forms of SEO you can take on. Searches are often in question form and if you have the answer, Google wants to share that.
So how do you use this approach for SEO? Great question.
Build a list of EVERY SINGLE QUESTION that your customers or clients have EVER asked you. Chances are you get more questions than you know what to do with.
Now go through your site and build out an FAQ for the basic questions, or for ones that require more in-depth answers, blog, or build pages that thoroughly answer the question. By building a page for each major question, it becomes even stronger.
You could also use the Hub and Spoke approach from here to make your FAQ with short answers, and then link out to the in-depth answers on different pages. This establishes expertise.
So what are the other benefits to answering questions with SEO? Great question.
By having all these answers, you’ve proven to the customers and clients that you are an EXPERT. And people would rather work with the expert that they TRUST. Your answers builds trust which makes them more willing to buy from you or hire you!
Not only that, but now you have a tool that your sales staff can point customers to when they keep asking the same questions. Or, if they found you online first, they can do their own research through YOUR site, making the closing process easier on your end. An educated customer is almost always easier to deal with.
There’s one source of information that we highly recommend to get things going. It’s actually one of the reasons we got into SEO in the first place. Read “They Ask, You Answer” by Marcus Sheridan. It’s the ultimate guide to this content approach and is enjoyable to read without getting technical.