FAQ for Beginners

by Bradley Nice, Content Manager at ClickHelp — all-in-one help authoring tool

Why We Need FAQ

Let’s talk about FAQ. This abbreviation stands for frequently asked questions. I suppose, today, you will hardly find a website that doesn’t have an FAQ. That’s a must-have. This page represents the answers to the most popular common questions asked by users. Can you imagine your support team answering the same questions every day? Yes, that is inefficient. They might have spent their time to solve more important problems. For support teams, the FAQ page is a great solution that contributes to the productivity of their work, saving them from routine. Users can find the answers to the majority of questions right away without reaching out to support. The FAQ may help you reduce the purchasing anxiety of users and prevent them from complaining about the quality of your product or service. Moreover, the FAQ may improve SEO. If you create not just one page with questions, but several pages each dedicated to a particular question, the chances are high that users searching for relevant information will visit your website. Companies that provide FAQs are considered to be trustworthy as they care for their customers. Sometimes, it is the FAQ that helps the user make the final decision and buy the product. Moreover, some users are interested in the product you offer, but they are slightly frustrated and need time to prepare their pull of questions. FAQ allows them to start with the basic information. After studying the FAQ, they can compose the list of more detailed questions.

How to Build an FAQ

As I have already mentioned, you need to collect the most common questions and concerns your users have to build the FAQ. Your support team will help you with that. Mind that your main aim is not only to give relevant information but also to engage the users, to make your product more attractive, and to create demand. That is the whole strategy that should be carefully thought out. For better navigation, divide the questions into topics. No one wants to spend time scrolling the page up and down to find the answer. If you do not have enough questions for a relevant FAQ page, check your competitors and other resources. Be careful in your answers, make sure you use clear language, your instructions have no controversies, no additional information is required. You can use screenshots or videos in your answers. That will make them more informative. What is most important here is to upgrade your FAQ page as your product may change, and new questions will appear. Here are the basic sections for FAQ page:

• Shipping options
• Return policy
• Company information (contact information, location)
• Product information (materials, technologies, usage )
• Order information (defective order, lost order, etc.)
• Safety and security

After that, you can think over deeper information and other details typical of your business.

The Best Place for FAQ

That’s a good question. It depends. If customer support is the basic thing for your business, you can create a huge support center. Before contacting support, users will go to FAQ. If customer support doesn’t play such a prominent role in your business, you can navigate your users to FAQ from the main menu, from footer, or from product pages.

The FAQ page is a must-have today. But don’t forget to adapt it to the needs of your business.

Have a nice day!

Bradley Nice, Content Manager at ClickHelp.com — best online documentation tool for SaaS vendors