How to Create a FAQ Page That Converts (and why you need one)

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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 it can help you convert prospects into clients.

Let me tell you how.

What is a FAQ page?

It doesn’t matter whether you’re a professional coach, a consultant, a graphic designer or a social media manager; people will always have questions about your business and the services you offer.

A FAQ page includes a series of the most common questions and answers related to your business. They can be basic FAQs about your business hours, location and payment terms. But the more effective FAQ pages dig a little deeper and include more specific questions about:

• your area/s of expertise
• why your ideal client needs your services
• what you include in your service
• the benefits or outcomes your clients can expect
• your service guarantee.  

As an example, check out my Copywriting FAQ page or this page from Amy Porterfield.

(P.S. I spent 10 mins trying to find a business coach in Australia with an FAQ page, it was tough! That’s A LOT of wasted opportunities).

Why FAQ pages work for service-based businesses

FAQ pages work for service-based business just as well as they do 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 – your FAQ page.

This page is also a great way to build trust – something that your service business relies heavily upon for success. It can manage new client expectations and show that you understand the issues your ideal clients face.

But the power of a converting FAQ page lives in the types of specific questions that I mentioned above.

“When you carefully craft a series of conversion-focused questions and answers, you can subtly sell your services and help visitors overcome their purchase anxiety“.

Other benefits are:

• Saves you time because you won’t have as many people emailing or phoning you to ask for answers – your FAQ page does the talking for you.
• Improves organic SEO – sprinkle your keywords naturally through the FAQs and make it easier for people to find you (and improve your search engine rankings).

How do I write a FAQ page that converts?

I’m glad you asked.

Start here:

• Find out the questions your ideal clients and existing clients are asking. What have you been asked in the past? Also and check out social media posts and forums.
• Check out the competition. Find inspiration from the FAQs on their site.
• Use the Google autosuggest feature. It’s as easy as starting to type a question and seeing what Google suggests as alternatives.

Follow these tips:

• Write FAQs in a question and answer format
• Keep them short and sweet, but long enough to be engaging
• Fully answer the question (don’t just link them to another page they have to search).
• Start your answer with a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’ (wherever you can)
• Don’t use jargon
• Write your FAQs using your brand’s tone of voice and personality (they don’t need to be boring)

A converting FAQ helps visitors overcome their purchase anxiety and objections, so they’ll feel like they have no other choice but to work with you.

Coaching FAQ example

A potential client is researching a life coach and they have questions about how the coach will look after their personal information. A 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 decide to go elsewhere. But this is where a well-written and strategic FAQ can save the day.

Writing the questions and answers for your FAQ page

Using the example above, I’m going to show you the difference between a FAQ that isn’t optimised for conversions, and one that is.

Question: Do you guarantee the privacy of my information?
Answer: Yes. We adhere to a privacy policy.

It answers the question but there’s an opportunity to go further, to be more convincing and to build more trust.

Let’s try again:

Question: Do you guarantee the privacy of my information?
Answer: 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 see and feel the difference?

Let’s do one more.

Question: Do you provide coaching for my industry?
Answer: Yes. It doesn’t matter what industry you’re in, I can help you with coaching.

Here’s the optimised (and way better) version:

Question: Do you provide coaching for my industry?
Answer: Yes. I’ve worked with business owners across all industries and stages of their business. This includes start-ups, 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 just right for you.

Better, right? Now we’ve answered their question and given them a great reason to work with this life coach.

Each of the above conversion-optimised FAQs:

• are written from the perspective of a client
• have a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ at the beginning of the question
• answer the question directly and fully
• are written in a conversational and friendly tone
• overcome an objection
• wrap up with a benefit (not just an advantage or feature) for the client.

How do I design my FAQ page?

Now that you’ve written your questions, you’ll need to design and publish your page.

To make it easier, here are a few quick tips:

• Make your FAQ page easy to find. 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 sub-pages.
• Make your FAQ page easy to read and easy to use. Try using an accordion module to style your page. It lists all the questions making it easier for the visitor to scan and find the FAQ they need. Then with a simple click, the visitor can drop the answer down. Here’s an example on my Copywriting FAQ page.
• Add links to other pages on your site but make sure you still fully answer the question.
• Include a support call to action (CTA) that gives your website visitor the option to contact you if they still can’t find what they’re looking for.
• Optimise for SEO by including a page title, meta description and use keywords to tell search engines what your page is about (i.e. Life Coaching FAQs). Also add your keywords in your headings, sub-headings, page title, body copy, alt text and image file names.
• Don’t overdo it. It’s easy to get carried away but you don’t need to answer every question. Just the main ones and especially those that could help a potential client overcome their purchase anxiety.

Want to see real-life FAQ page examples? Check out 10 FAQ Page Examples You’ll Definitely Want to Copy and 25 of the Best Examples of Effective FAQ Pages.

Your turn

There’s little doubt about the value that a well-written FAQ page can add to your business. Whether you’ve already got a FAQ page or you’re starting from scratch, you can use this post to write or edit a list of questions and answers that help prospects but more importantly, compel them to take action (like subscribing, contacting you or booking your service).

One final tip before I go, keep your FAQ page updated. Your services may change or evolve over time, so your FAQ page should always reflect this.

Book mark this post and be sure to come back to it when you’re ready to dig in and write an FAQ page that converts.