Why FAQs are important
Your ideal client is out there thinking: “I don’t want you to sell yourself to me, I want to trust you. I want to know that you have the solution to my problem. I want to know that you’re the right expert for me.”
It’s totally possible to start building a trusting relationship with your clients through your website. One great trust-building asset every business owner ought to consider having on their website is a section of “Frequently Asked Questions”, aka FAQs.
A good FAQs section is like having a direct conversation with your ideal client about what you love doing, how it can help them, and gives practical information to help them get started.
Read on to find out how to give the most out of an FAQ page, how to ensure your FAQ section shows how knowledgeable you are, and a list of frequently asked sample questions you can use for inspiration.
Give the Most Out of Your FAQs
Here are 3 exercises designed to help you get in touch with the questions and concerns that may be on your ideal client’s mind:
Embody your ideal client. Close your eyes and put yourself in your dream client’s skin. Where are they at and what at fears/concerns do they have about their unique problem that your service solves for them? What would working with you look like? What transformation can make happen for them? Think less about the deliverables and more on the feelings and positive outcomes.
Think back to your very first clients. What questions did they repeatedly ask before they hired you? What answers filled them with trust and made them them say the final yes? What was it about you and your offerings they felt was the right solution for them? If you have reviews or testimonials, these are FAQ gold!
No clients or testimonials yet? Ask your audience. No, not your friends & family… coz they’re not your target audience! Instead ask your professional peers, social media followers and email subscribers as they’re already interested in what you have to offer. Ask them to complete a quick research poll or survey in return for a small reward to find out what their biggest fears and concerns are, then use their answers to form your FAQs.
By doing actual research and asking the people that matter, you’ll be giving your them the gift of feeling seen, heard and understood.
Show Off Your Expertise
FAQs are also a great opportunity to really make yourself shine as the go-to expert in your field. Below are ways that you can leverage your FAQs to let everyone know how impressive you are!
Share your knowledge (ditch the jargon). Use easy to understand language that your ideal client resonates with. Include questions that position yourself as a trusted authority in your field.
Reiterate your niche. Include keywords specific to your area of speciality or service area. Eg: If you work with clients with anxiety, imagine what an anxious client might want to know about. Your specific approach or technique will also show how you differ from other experts.
Promote your services, blog, newsletter etc. Include links to these when relevant. This is called internal linking. This is great for SEO as the more people stay and click through on your site, the more trust you’re building with both the person and with search engines.
Make your FAQs easy to scan. One of the built-in pleasures of an FAQ section is that they break up info into digestible chunks for easier reading. Nobody wants to read long paragraphs of text.
Use headings, bold text, or colour for the questions and enough spacing to break up long paragraphs.
Accordions are where the answers to the questions expand when you click on them and collapse when clicked again. This prevents endless scrolling and people getting bored!
Anchor links are where the questions are placed in a summary list at the top of the page and can be clicked to skip down to the relevant question.
All these techniques save space, provide better user experience, and therefore lead to a more conversions and paying clients.
Take some time to tap into your own voice. Answering questions in alignment with your brand helps potential clients get to know you. You know your ideal clients best!
So basically, if you don’t ask you don’t get!
Despite FAQ pages being a highly valuable resource, too many websites aren’t using them enough! Take advantage of this great trust-building content format that lets you stand out from the crowd.
FAQ pages are special. It shows you’ve taken the time to answer these questions and preempting your clients’ needs and fears.
Hopefully this guide has given you some ideas on how to explore what questions your ideal clients may be having, what to keep in mind to make yourself look like the expert that you are.
Did you know my Squarespace Templates all include an FAQs page designed with accordion blocks? 
