Websites, FAQ Pages [back to archive] FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) appear on many websites and in numerous print publications too. Here are my views on them, for what those views are worth, and I hope you find them helpful. Do you need an FAQ page in the first place?
Well no, maybe not. I don't have one on my website, but in my case of course there isn't a complex or detailed story to tell. Where I think an FAQ page is very useful is in the case of products and services that do have a complex or detailed background. That can be for one of the following, and no doubt several other, reasons: 1. The product/service has many very similar competitors - FAQs can help you differentiate it in a factual and perhaps more believable way (see below) 2. The product/service is complex and you don't want to clutter your main sales/descriptive text with too much technical detail - FAQs allow you to explain the technical issues in a tidy, easy-to-refer-to way 3. Particularly with a new business and/or product service, an FAQ page is a useful place to reaffirm your "pedigree" by using questions and answers that highlight key credibility issues 4. FAQs can provide you with a helpful "catchall" that covers a relatively random range of topics in one place, and can supply a suitable repository for topics that you can't quite place anywhere else! 5. Correctly structured, an FAQ page can deal with numerous queries that might otherwise tie up you and your staff in responding to emails that are not necessarily useful leads. A sales opportunity - yes or no?
Interestingly an American colleague of mine who does an excellent eNewsletter about developing and producing your own eNewsletters recently commented on this topic. Her view was that FAQ pages on websites, in particular, represent a useful sales opportunity. In other words you don't just answer the questions in bald terms, but also include a little hard sell about your product or service in the response. In all probability that works well for a B2C (Business to Consumer) audience in North America, where everyone is more sales orientated and doesn't find being "sold at" offensive. However I know full well that the approach suggested by my US-based colleague would NOT work everywhere. Not by a long way. And wherever it is, I suspect that that a B2B (Business to Business) audience would not necessarily appreciate the hard sell when they're looking for straight answers, either. As far as I can see from some of the FAQ pages I visit they, like so many other written things in the business world, often are thinly disguised promotional pieces for the organization involved and have very little to do with what readers REALLY will want to know. In the case of the B2C FAQ pages referred to by my colleague mentioned above, that may not be a problem. But I don't believe that's a sensible way to work in the majority of cases. So where do we go from here?
As always - or as least as I always preach! - it's all about knowing your audience. Let's go back to a severely edited and suitably adapted version of my dear old MAMBA theory (see "author" page) ...as follows: 1. The first "M" - Message
You need to get the message right. (That should happen everywhere, from the Home Page onwards.) 2. The first "A" - Audience
If your message is going to work you don't just need to know who your audience are, but also how they feel, what they need, how they think. (Very important on an FAQ page. Don't just assume what your customers and prospects want to know; go out and ask them. Get existing customers to put forward ideas. You might be surprised by the questions they come up with, but you will find it very enlightening.) 3. The second "M" - Media
...or usually medium as there's just the one. Before you can make the best of it you need to understand its restrictions and its benefits. (Yep - and that means understanding why your readers will look up an FAQ page in the first place. The likely reason is that they want information, not promotion or persuasion. Keep that firmly in mind.) 4. The "B" - Benefits
Features are what something is, benefits are what it does for me. And here's the key to it ... "what's in it for me?" (In the case of an FAQ page we need to think benefits, too, but in a factual way - especially for cynical non-North American audiences and most B2B areas. No-one in your shoes is going to write anything detrimental about your product or service, but the FAQ page is NOT the place to indulge in eulogising anything. Don't be afraid to tell the truth, albeit in a positive light.) 5. The final "A" - Articulation
Choosing the right tone of voice and the right angle of language to get your audience on your side... (Yes, and also choosing an appropriate approach to the level of technical literacy your audience may or may not have. Here, if your product or service is fairly complex, you might even want to consider TWO FAQ pages - one "general" to address overall business/bottom line issues, and one "technical" for those who need to know the inner details.) FAQ and Help pages - are they different?
On some websites and in some print publications you'll see that these two functions often are combined. In some ways I can see the point of doing that, but unless you have very few issues to address, overall I think it's better to keep the two separate. That way you can split off anything negative from the positive points. Negative or potentially negative "FAQs" - e.g. "what if my order doesn't arrive" or "what do I do if the goods arrive damaged" - are better contained in a "Help" section. That leaves the FAQ page free to deal only with positive, benefits-led factual information. Here are my top 10 tips for creating good FAQ pages:
1. Forget what you THINK your readers/customers/prospects want to know - go out and ask them. Encourage them to be truthful even if it means posing you questions you can't answer immediately (go and find out the answers quickly though!) 2. Develop your questions and answers based on that reality. Use the questions as asked by your readers/customers/prospects if you can, otherwise make them up based on your honest interpretation of what readers want to know. 3. This may seem obvious, but make sure your answers really do answer the questions. The questions are not there to provide a jumping off point for a sales pitch or technical essay - you have a duty to provide a sensible answer right away. 4. Even if your product/service is aimed only at consumer markets, in general it's better to keep your FAQ answers positive without being overtly "sales" orientated. The place for sales copy is elsewhere on the website or printed material. 5. To ensure that your answers do support a sales message, however, ensure that they focus - in a factual way - on how readers benefit, not on what features your product/service offers. 6. Keep your writing style conversational, even if the question/answer is very technical. Use believable words and phrasing, based on the way people in your target markets talk. Almost more than anywhere else, the FAQ page is NOT the place to use pompous language and "corporate speak." 7. Keep answers reasonably short. If you need to go into a lengthier explanation, link to somewhere else where readers can get the full story. Long blocks of "answer" are off-putting, especially if read from a screen. 8. If your product or service is highly technical/complex consider offering TWO FAQ pages - one for general business purposes and one for the "tekkies." 9. Make it easy for readers to contact you direct if your FAQ page doesn't answer their questions - there's nothing more frustrating than NOT finding the answer you need and then having trouble getting that answer by email or telephone. 10. Before you publish your FAQ page, run it past a selection of your readers / customers / prospects and ask them to perform a "reality check." You may find they come up with some very helpful ideas for improvements and edits.
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