Definition: Frequently asked questions (FAQ) are collections of the most common questions and brief, easy-to-understand answers about a particular product, service, or topic. They can be presented in various formats, such as a webpage, a PDF file, or an interactive chatbot.
They serve as a self-service tool for customers to easily find the information they need without contacting customer support.
Benefits of having FAQ pages
- Saves customers’ time by letting them find the information they need without contacting customer support, which can take time due to delays.
- Establishes trust by showing customers that the company understands their pain points and is addressing them. It creates transparency about the company’s products/services.
- Reduces the cost of customer support by lowering the number of low-impact tickets in the support queue and making more room for important tickets.
- Improves website navigation by pointing users to the right pages on the website (specific blogs, features, tutorials…). This is done through internal linking.
- Improves SEO traffic by making the website more visible, making it easier for potential customers to find the website by searching for specific questions.
How to craft good FAQs
- Identify common questions customers are asking about the product/service across all channels and create lists of questions that need to be answered.
- Organize the FAQ into categories based on different topics, customer personas, and products/services.
- Answer questions clearly and concisely with only the important information that solves the problem and easy-to-understand language.
- Make answers easy to find by displaying the most common questions on top, internally linking them, and allowing customers to search for questions.
- Include media (images, GIFs, videos) that visually explain what the paragraphs are telling the customer to do.
- Update the FAQ regularly with new questions, remove outdated answers, and improve other aspects of the FAQ.
- Optimize for SEO by using relevant keywords in questions/answers as many customers search for answers for products/services on Google.
- Make the FAQ accessible on every website page and inside the product.
How do you structure frequently asked questions?
There are two ways to structure them:
- A list of questions one after another. This structure works for small FAQs.
- Categorized by topics where questions are grouped, each category has a heading that customers can click to access questions. This structure is best for big FAQs because they are easier to navigate.
Examples of well-designed and written FAQ pages
Airbnb has a search bar allowing users to search for specific questions with suggestions based on their profile, with every FAQ page acting as a mini blog.
YouTube’s FAQ is split into categories and sub-categories, leading to different branches of questions on separate pages.
WhatsApp has an easy navigation system of drop-down categories and questions that follows the user with questions being answered step-by-step.
Wikipedia has every important topic on each page linked to the appropriate page creating a web of pages.
FAQs
The purpose of a FAQ is generally to provide information on frequent questions or concerns; however, the format is a useful means of organizing information, and text consisting of questions and their answers may thus be called a FAQ regardless of whether the questions are actually frequently asked.
What does the FAQ stand for? ›
Meaning of FAQ in English
abbreviation for frequently asked question: a question in a list of questions and answers intended to help people understand a particular subject: If you have any problems, consult the FAQs on our website.
What is frequently asked in an FAQ? ›
It is a collection of common questions and answers not specific to a product, feature, or service. They usually cover payment policies, how to contact customer support, and refund policies.
What are basic FAQ questions? ›
Frequently asked questions (FAQ) are questions and answers that follow a certain topic – a collection of common questions that tend to be asked repeatedly on issues such as timing, delivery, handling, product information, and return policy. FAQs can be anywhere on the page, most commonly at the top or bottom.
What does FAQ mean fondly asked questions? ›
A FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions - is a list of questions and corresponding answers on a specific topic or system. The abbreviation FAQ is the German translation for "fragen-antworten-quelle" or "questions and answers".
What is the purpose of a FAQ? ›
Frequently asked questions, or FAQs as they are known, are a great way to improve your customer's experience of your website. It allows you to answer the questions that are most commonly asked surrounding your product or service. At the same time, there are also many other benefits to having FAQs on your website.
What is FAQ used to represent? ›
A frequently asked questions page—or an FAQ page for short—is a key part of a knowledge base because it addresses your customers' most common questions and is useful at all stages of the customer journey. FAQs start with a question and then provide a concise answer.
How to answer FAQs? ›
How To Handle FAQs Effectively
- Keep the structure logical, clear, and simple.
- Make sure the answers are straightforward and concise.
- For detailed explanations, provide a link to a guide or article.
- Regularly update questions and answers with new information.
- Organize questions into categories.
- Provide a search bar.
An effective FAQ page should include a clear and concise introduction, questions and answers divided by categories, links to additional resources, and a search function to help visitors quickly find the answers they are looking for.
What is FAQ standard? ›
Fair Average Quality (FAQ) FAQ is used to describe food products that are of good enough quality to be sold. FAQ norms for paddy is laid out by the Centre every year before the start of the procurement season.
What is a FAQ knowledge base? ›
While an FAQ page consists of a humble list of answered questions, a knowledge base is a longer, more exhaustive collection of information. If an FAQ page starts growing in length and diversity of information, it will likely be straying into the knowledge base territory.
Do FAQs have to be questions? ›
Your FAQ information doesn't necessarily have to appear in the traditional question-and-answer format. That format is useful when customers look up their problems on a page, but your goal is to address the problem before the customer ever experiences it.
What does FAQ stand for? ›
abbreviation for frequently asked question: a question in a list of questions and answers intended to help people understand a particular subject: If you have any problems, consult the FAQs on our website.
How do you describe FAQs? ›
An FAQ page (short for Frequently Asked Question page) is a part of your website that provides answers to common questions, assuages concerns, and overcomes objections. It's a space where customers can delve into the finer details of your product or service, away from your sales-focused landing pages and homepage.
What is FAQ also known as? ›
A frequently asked questions (FAQ) list is often used in articles, websites, email lists, and online forums where common questions tend to recur, for example through posts or queries by new users related to common knowledge gaps.
What is the meaning of FAQ code? ›
An FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) page is a key part of a knowledge base because it addresses the most common questions customers have and is useful to customers at all stages of the customer journey.
What does the Q mean in FAQ? ›
FAQ is used especially on websites to refer to questions about a particular topic. FAQ is an abbreviation for `frequently asked questions'.
What is FAQ Internet slang? ›
Abbreviation of frequently asked questions.
