Should You Have An FAQ Page?

5 Steps That Make It Easy To Build Trust With Your Customers

Think about the first time you had to decide if you trusted a business enough to use their services. Take UBER for example. If you are like me, the first time I had to make a decision about using this fairly new service was when my daughter asked if she could take one to her friend's house.  

[All of the parents just heaved a deep collective sigh] Let my child enter a vehicle with a perfect stranger and drive across town?

I assure you, my first thought was NOT price!  

It was TRUST (or in that particular case, it was a total lack of trust.) 

Back then it was a dilemma to decide about using such a new service that didn’t include bright yellow vehicles. Today, we not only call them with regularity, but we now have two options to get across town in vehicles driven by everyday citizens we do not know.  

So what happened?

And what does riding in an Uber have to do with an FAQ page? 

Trust: A Confident Relationship With The Unknown

Trust is something that is created through the history of using products and services. Six years ago, when my daughter asked to get into that Uber to visit her friend, I was immediately faced with a huge dilemma of trusting something new. In fact, Uber was just one of the many new, innovative products and services I had to navigate.

Although I still believe that trust is created through relationships, a business needs to understand that every word they write and share via the internet should be written with the intention of building trust with consumers.

Yes, it is called transparency, and for a business, writing out the answers to a whole lot of potential questions is a forced process of disclosure. Forced or not: We do it because there is no trust in the world today.  

Transparency is the opposite of trust. 

I am not going to get on the "business transparency" bandwagon. If you think about it, if we have to write out all the answers to every question and concern, is that really a trusting relationship?

Well, it's not, but with literally thousands of new businesses popping up online every day, your business needs to make the unknown known.

It does take time to write out all the possible questions, and even more time to craft simple, useful answers that will eventually build enough trust to help people decide to purchase or visit your business. Content is not the only way to build that bridge, but in this case, your FAQ’s are offering a glimpse into who you really are among thousands of competitors vying for our attention.

People expect to ask questions and get immediate gratification. 

I think we can all agree that it is not just millennials that want immediate gratification. If you have ever interrupted a nice dinner to Google who played Nelson Mandela in Invictus, then you already know the answer: We all do!

Immediate answers calm the nerves and walk us over the bridge that is called trust. Think about it….In a retail store, a user can glance at signage, read product labeling, or flag down a salesperson to resolve the questions that bubble in their heads. We drive through new cities guided by speed limit signs, historical site markers, and arrows to parking lots. 

Wouldn’t you expect that an online business would also offer people the same logical and simple sequence of trusting new information?

That buyer's journey can include upwards of 300+ digital clicks to ease their minds before placing a credit card number on an order page. Content (in the form of FAQ questions and answers) is the steel and screws that start to build the bridge of trust.

Competitive Advantage

Your FAQ page is just one simple solution for customers to feel comfortable and confident in their decisions and ultimate purchases. And if done right, that same FAQ Page can offer your business the added benefit of competitive advantage—since many businesses overlook this critically important page on their website. So let's get it started.

Here is your 5-step process to getting it done right.

#1 Write clear and concise answers in the language of your customers.

Don’t use industry lingo, or at the very least, have a terminology FAQ if your business does have lots of insider details. Be sure to keep answers simple—which means you do not have to include every excruciating detail!

#2 Point out the elephant in the room. 

Why is your service/product so expensive? Why don’t you have a money-backed guarantee? Every business has one or two things that really bother customers. Keep in mind this is frequently asked questions, so don’t pull the curtain open too much!

#3 Regularly update each page.

Why? So that the Google bots will scan your website and offer it as a resource to others. Plus, it is a great excuse to reach out to customers and let them know that you updated the page or pages on your website. It is just good SEO.

#4 Include a search bar if possible.

This is not always necessary for smaller businesses, but if you have lots of SKU’s it might be a game-changer so explore the potential cost of adding one.

#5 Organize questions by category. 

• Buying: You have a process online and also in-store. Keep it simple enough for a ten-year-old. Include a link to your team page so that people can see who is behind the curtain. And be sure to include how your coupons, discounts, and free trials work if you use them.
• Payment: Yes, we all want to know how to pay: credit cards, PayPal, phone sales, sales tax, and gift cards (Tip: this is a good link option to your gift card page.)
• Returns: Sometimes this process is so complicated, but most times it just a matter of writing it out and making sure that everyone that works for you knows the process too.
• Orders: Take a moment to logically go about making a purchase on your website. Write out a step-by-step. How do they know if the item is in stock or not in stock? Will I get a confirmation email? What’s included with each order?
• Shipping: How is it shipped? What are my options and how much does it cost? How do I track? What if it is received damaged? Can I get it tomorrow?
• Products:  How are they made? Where are they made? What brands do you carry? How should we care for them? Hang them, wash them, buy more or exchange them for different colors? Turn this question into an opportunity to explain how you choose your products.
• Leaving Reviews:  Yes, you can direct readers where to leave a review and include links where they can. Then link to your current customer review page for some added trust!
• Your Account: Why are you asking for my email? How do I earn points? If I create an account will you keep track of anything?
• Location: Include a Google Map link and be sure to mention parking. 
• Privacy: What are you going to do with my information?
• Link to the top questions with your blog articles. A good content strategy is to answer these questions in blogs that you can share on a separate page. In fact, answering FAQ’s is a great way to consistently post blog articles.
• Stick to the basics. Which really means: Make sure these are really frequently asked questions. A great way to start creating an FAQ page is to reach out to your current customers and ask them what they want to know. Ask in a blog, in a post, or in a direct email. The point is: ASK.
• Call the page something else. You are just reassuring your potential customers that all questions are good ones. FAQ’s, Help, or Questions--whatever feels right to you.  
• Design Matters.  Avoid flashy designs, gimmicky layouts, and other design elements that detract from your page’s content. Stick with an easy-to-read typeface, appropriate contrast, simple graphics, and a fairly simple layout. This page is intended to be mostly text.
• Finally, what if they have questions that you didn’t answer? Yup, that is how they can contact you, so be sure to include the best times to find you, numbers to call, emails to reach out, etc.  And of course, link back to your team page!

One of my favorite HELP pages is from Etsy. 

I like the articles at the top--your blogs offer even more ways for people to learn about you. The graphics for categories are clear and simple. And at the bottom, you get other options in case your questions were not answered.

Final Thought: 

Once you make the investment into creating the page, make sure that you are watching the analytics once it is published. Start to monitor how many visitors and clicks there are to the links so you can update the information that is helping customers and building trust in your business. You may have to incorporate a few keywords to keep this page useful for Google searches, so make this page a priority.  

Trust is the bridge from the unknown to known. Whatever you do, just get that FAQ bridge built.

#SEO #FAQ #TRUST

Design Bear Marketing is a digital training and social media strategy company led by Maria Bereket. Her biggest frustration is that businesses (and business owners) will not change their marketing behavior. The Yellow Pages are never coming back and Facebook is now where your customers live. Embrace this change. Learn how to leverage technology. And for heaven's sake, train your people! Email me at [email protected]