S1. E7 - How to use a FAQ page to increase conversions

The value of an effective frequently asked questions (FAQ) page is often underestimated.

I see them all the time on e-commerce sites but not so much on the websites of business owners that sell services, not products. A well-written and strategic FAQ page will not only save you time but can help you convert prospects into clients.

In this episode of Real Talk for Women in Business, you'll learn:

• What a FAQ page is
• Why FAQ pages work for product AND service-based businesses
• How to write a FAQ page that converts (including TWO examples), and
• Tips on designing a FAQ page for your website.

REFERENCES

During today's episode references were made to the following:

Leeha's Copywriting FAQ page
Amy Porterfield's FAQ page

CONTACT US TODAY

We hope you’ve enjoyed tuning in to this episode. We would love it if you could please take a few minutes to leave a rating and a few words about why you love Real Talk for Women in Business.

If you have any feedback or questions regarding today's podcast or have a specific topic you would like us to cover, email:  realtalk.wib@gmail.com

If you would like to know about how an all-inclusive copywriting and website package can help you find your brand voice and connect you with clients, arrange a discovery call with Leeha from Meridian Digital today: BOOK NOW

If you would like to learn how a Business coach can support your business needs, book a connection call with Nichol from Nichol Stark Business and Leadership coaching today: BOOK YOUR FREE CLARITY CALL 

Visit us at:

https://meridiandigital.com.au
https://nicholstark.com.au

Transcript

 📍 

Before we get started on today's episode. I just wanted to take a moment to acknowledge that. Nick and I haven't released an episode in a few weeks now. And as much as it goes against everything that we set out to achieve. We have both been quite sick. We've had Quite a few challenges in terms of our health, COVID lockdowns and then sick children. And even though we're disappointed. We thought it was important that we looked after ourselves and that we took that time. And as you can probably hear from my voice, I'm still not a hundred percent. But as business owners. This kind of shit is going to happen from time to time. 

And there's one of two ways that you can go about it. You can really beat yourself up. Get really stressed. Put a lot of pressure on yourself to try and get that deliverable out. Or you can. Take a step back.

Acknowledge that disappointment. But remember, Without looking after yourself, you're not going to be good to anybody, whether that is your family, your friends, or your clients. You're never going to be at your best when you're not feeling well. And if you've got the ability to reach out to a team, if you're not a solo entrepreneur, if you've got a team behind you, 

Don't be afraid to ask for help. 

So thank you to our subscribers and listeners. We really do appreciate your understanding and your patience. And we hope that you continue to enjoy real talk for women in business. Now let's focus on the topic of today's episode, which is how to create an FAQ page that converts. And why you need one.  

 Hey there. Welcome to The Real Talk for Women in Business podcast, a podcast, all about helping women entrepreneurs take off in their business. We share real truths, real insights, and really practical tips when it comes to juggling all things, life and business. My name is Leah denim and I'm a coffee-loving copywriter and website designer. 

My business is Mind Your Words and that's where I help the owners of growing service-based businesses. Connect with clients through my all-inclusive copywriting and website packages. 

From time to time, Nick and I are going to fly solo. And this is one of those occasions. Today, I'm going to talk to you all about how to create a FAQ page, that converts and why you need one. Now the value of an effective frequently asked questions page on your website is often underestimated. I see them all the time on e-commerce sites, but not so much on the websites of business owners that sell services, not products. 

A well-written and strategic FAQ page will not only save you time. But it can help you convert prospects into clients. 

So let's talk about what an FAQ page is. Now. It doesn't matter whether you're a professional coach, a consultant, a graphic designer, or a social media manager. Or if you're selling products. People will always have questions about your business and the services or products that you're offering and selling. 

And if I Q page includes a series of those most common. Questions and answers related to your business. They can be basic. FAQ is about your business hours, location, payment terms, shipping terms, all that kind of stuff. But the more effective FAQ pages, dig a little deeper and include more specific questions about your areas of expertise. 

Why does your ideal client need your services or products, what do you include in your service or what comes with your products? The benefits or outcomes your clients can expect and your service guarantee. 

As an example, check out my FAQ page on mind, your words.com today. You all have a look at the page from Amy Porterfield and I'll include the link in the show notes. Now you might be wondering why did I use Amy Porterfield here? Well, because I spent 10 minutes trying to find a business coach in Australia with an FAQ page and it was tough. 

That's a lot of wasted opportunities. Now I'm going to talk here specifically about if they queue pages for service-based businesses. And FAQ page works for service-based businesses just as well as it does for e-commerce you're enhancing the experience that visitors have with your brand by not only answering their questions but by putting all the answers in one, easy to find location on your website. 

Your FAQ page. This page is also a great way to build trust something that your service business relies heavily upon per success. It can manage new client expectations and show that you understand the issues that your ideal clients face. But the power of a converting FAQ page lives in the types of specific questions that I mentioned above. 

Other benefits are saving you time because you won't have as many people emailing or phoning you to ask for answers because your FAQ page does the talking for you. And in fact, the benefit here is twofold because it can eliminate. Leads that weren't really appropriate in the first place. An FAQ page can also improve your organic SEO by sprinkling your keywords naturally through the FAQ's you can make it easier for people to find you and improve your search engine rankings. So, how do you write an FAQ page that converts? Well, I'm kind of glad that you asked. So, this is where we're going to start. 

You're going to find out the questions, your ideal clients and existing clients are asking. What have you been asked in the past? Write it down. Also, be sure to check out social media posts and forums. For questions related to your industry and jot them all down. Check out the competition find inspiration from the FAQ's on their side. I'm not telling you to copy and paste. Just use it as a guide to the types of questions that people in your industry are using, and then answer them authentically. 

In your own tone of voice and in a way that's related to your business on your own website. You can also use the Google auto suggest feature. This is where you start typing a question into Google and you get to see what Google is suggesting as alternatives to that question. This can be a real gold mine when you're looking for it. 

FAQs are relevant to your industry. Then when you go to write, follow these tips, right? Your FAQ's in a question and answer format. Okay. Okay. That's a given. But keep them short and sweet, but long enough to be engaging. Be sure to fully answer the question. Don't just link them to another page that they have to search. Give them the answer that they're looking for. 

Try and start your answer with a yes or a no. Now sometimes you're not going to be able to do this depending on your question. But it's a great way to start. Don't use jargon, avoid acronyms.  Answer them in a way that's engaging. You can include some humour if it's on-brand for you. Just try to avoid them being really formal. 

Converting the FAQ page will help visitors overcome their purchases, anxiety and objections. So they'll feel like they have no choice, but to work with you. And that's the key. That is why they are sorry. Important.  

Okay. Now I want to give you a couple of examples. So I'm going to use a coaching FAQ example. So a potential client is researching a life coach. And they have questions about how the coach will look after their personal information. So our life coach provides counselling on a range of professional and personal issues. 

So it's little wonder that they'd find it risky working with a coach that doesn't keep their information safe. If the prospect can't find a suitable answer, they may actually decide to go elsewhere. But this is where a well-written and strategic FAQ can save the day. So using this example, I'm going to show you the difference between an FAQ that isn't optimized for conversions and one that is. 

So the question. On the FAQ page at this point is, do you guarantee the privacy of my information? The answer is yes, we adhere to a privacy policy. 

Now this answers the question, but there's a real opportunity to go further, to be more convincing, to build more trust. So let's try again. Do you guarantee the privacy of my information? Yes. I absolutely guarantee never to use your details or anything that you share with me without getting your permission first. 

I believe in protecting the privacy of my clients. And that's why you can be confident that your personal information is in safe hands. Do you feel the difference? 

Can you see what I mean about being engaging? Using your FAQ to actually sell a benefit of working with you. Let's do one more. 

Here's the question. Do you provide coaching for my industry? And the original answer is. Yes. It doesn't matter what industry you're in. I can help you with coaching. Blur it's a bit boring, right? So here's the optimized and way better version. 

Yes. I've worked with business owners across all industries and stages of their business. This includes startups, real estate agents, graphic designers, and e-commerce business owners. Even if your industry is new to me, I invest time getting to know you, your business, your ideal client and your industry. So, you know, you're getting the advice and support that's right for you. 

How much better is that answer right? Not only have we answered that question. We've given them more reason to work with us as their life coach. Each of these examples is conversion optimized FAQ's they are written from the perspective of a client. I have a yes or no at the beginning of the question, they answer the question directly and fully. 

They are written in a conversational and friendly tone. They overcome an objection. And then we wrap it up with a nice benefit, not just an advantage or feature for that client. 

You've probably got some questions about how you design an FAQ page now. I recommend that you do have a standalone FAQ page. But I have designed websites for clients where we've had some FAQ's at the bottom of the page. Which are relevant specifically to that service page that they're on. 

Here are some extra tips for you. Make your FAQ page, easy to find. So put FAQ in your title and don't bury the link in your footer, put it in your primary navigation menu bar or at the very least your subpages. Make your FAQ page, easy to read and easy to use. Try using an accordion-style module. This is one where you have the question in a box and they click and it drops down with the answer. 

Not only is it interactive, but, it lists all the questions. Without all the answers showing, making it easier for the visitor to scan and to find the question that they need answering. 

I've got an example of this on my FAQ page on mind, your words.com. Did I? You. You can add links to other pages on your site, but only if you're making sure you fully answer the question. So for example, Inside your question. If you're wrapping up with a benefit about why somebody should work with you, why not make it really easy for them to click through, to book an appointment or to get in touch with you? So include that link. A call to action. Book your clarity call now and include the hyperlink, taking them to your contact page. If you're doing a standalone FAQ page, optimize it for SEO. Include a page title and meta description and use keywords to tell search engines,  what your page is about. For example, life coaching FAQ's, copywriting FAQ's, website design FAQ's. 

Also add your keywords in your headings, subheadings page title, body copy, text and image file names. 

Lastly, don't overdo it. It's really easy to get carried away. But you don't need to answer every question. We're just talking about the main ones and especially those that could help a potential client overcome their purchase anxiety. 

So there's little doubt now about the value that a well-written FAQ page can add to your business. And today I focus mainly on service-based businesses. But an FAQ page for your product-based business, your e-commerce business is just as powerful. And instead of just having the standard questions. 

 About shipping, about payment terms. Go that one step further include questions about that.  The quality of your product. So if somebody has a question about whether or not your product is manufactured in Australia, just don't answer that with yes. Say yes. And then give them the benefit. Why does that matter to them? 

Answer that question for them. 

Whether you've already got a FAQ page or you're starting from scratch, you can use these tips in this podcast to write or edit a list of questions and answers that help prospects, but more importantly, compel them to take action. So one final tip before I go, make sure that you keep your FAQ page updated, your services may change or evolve over time. Perhaps you add new products. 

Or you change the way that you make your products, just make sure that your FAQ page always reflects this. 

I hope you found today's episode on FAQ pages useful. 

  📍  If you've got any questions, feel free to email them to us at realtalk.wib@gmail.com. 

 Thanks so much for listening. If you enjoyed today's show, don't forget to leave a review on iTunes, Spotify, Google podcasts, or wherever you were listening from. It will help other people just like you find us. To be notified when our next episode is released, be sure to hit subscribe. And finally, if you've got a burning question or topic, you'd like us to cover, please email us at real talk dot. 

wib@gmail.com. We would love to hear from you. Until next time keep smiling and take care