Advantages and Usability of FAQ in Website Designing

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Advantages and Usability of FAQ in Website Designing


FAQ (frequently asked questions) pages have been an under-rated option in the process of website designing. FAQ pages are one of the most important pages any website can have. It is at this point a visitor clearly indicates his interest and goals for visiting the site. Users demonstrate their interest in the products or services of the website. If designed appropriately, the page has the capability to boost visitor attention and improve conversion rate.

FAQ came to be in 1982. When advanced with email functionality, news information, visual designs, and analytics help visitors to browse their desired information without easily. FAQ pages also help save money and time by answering the bulk of questions related to products and services through email or customer calling. (1)

Advantages of FAQ

Better Search Alternative: Although a search can serve as the same purpose as an FAQ page, most of the website search engines do not work that well. The search terminology (verbal alternatives) of the visitor might not match with that of the website's search vocabulary. This can get more complicated if the search query fed by the visitor is inadequate. Quicklinks serve to ease poor search results. FAQ is a better option than quicklinks because it offers a background and perspective to the search, rather than simply a list of links. It provides a space and scope to discuss topics of interest.

Business advantage: FAQs provide an additional support to the website by providing the customers with desired information without having to contact the business. This demonstrates how easy the business is to work with. Customer's queries and concerns are answered before spending any money, which demonstrates that the company understands the customer's need in an efficient manner. FAQ pages build the customer's trust by providing a forum that answers their questions. The forum depicts the passion that the organization has for its product/service offering and the eagerness of the company to interact with potential buyers. FAQ pages assist in saving the time and man hours of the organization which would be otherwise spent in handling and answering customer queries. (2)

FAQ page improves SEO valuation: FAQ content receives positive SEO valuation because they get indexed by search engines. (3)Keyword effectiveness index (KEI) evaluates the volume of searches or any given terminology and the completion. Phrases or keywords with high KEI have high volume and low competition. SEO for a website can be enhanced by determining and placing the right questions that a website can answer. Search terms or queries that are phrased as questions have better keyword effectiveness index. Questions and answers in FAQ pages should be targeted to the correct target audience and relevant in nature. SEO valuation of the website can be greatly increased by leading the user to pages with relevant content. (4)

Browsing assistance: Nicely developed FAQ pages contain interesting and useful topics that should be designed to appear visually clear and comprehensible. Information design in the FAQ helps the visitors browse to their desired content and locate additional information.

Familiarity quotient adds to user interface: Web designers focus on improving the page design by adding interesting widgets and tools to the website. User interface design technique involves making those widgets intuitive to the users. An FAQ page is the easiest and most familiar of all tools to make the interface intuitive for a new visitor, hence descriptive and standard labelling of questions should be done.

Usability - Designing an Effective FAQ Page (5)

1. Users demand the existence of an FAQ page. The questions posted by users or the feedback received over the website can help in effectively charting the questions for the FAQ page.

2. The direct repetitive questions asked by customers over the phone helps in understanding the pattern of query which potential customers are having. This can serve as the basic framework to design questions.

3. An obvious entry point to the FAQ page - either in the primary navigation bar or the footer (or both) must have a visual distinction from the rest of the web page. This helps it to stand out among other pieces of information. Generally, visitors check the top and footer menu for searching important links. The answers to every FAQ question should be linked to the top for long FAQ pages.

4. The content of the FAQ page should be easily readable by using contrasting colors for text and background, with well-spaced line and letter by using good CSS typography (color, size, typeface, decoration etc.).

5. Questions and answers should distinct from each other. Different font or background color can be used.

6. Questions should be intuitively categorized to prevent confusion. Categories having short descriptions and are placed hierarchically in order of importance.

7. It is very essential to include the search feature the for lengthy FAQ pages. Users find it difficult to browse all of the questions before locating their desired question. Category wise, a search can be further added if various categories and subcategories are involved.

8. Role of the images in artistic appeal can't be denied. Use of icons supporting various categories can increase visual appeal.

FAQs serve as an important medium to attract the right group of people to your website and provide a forum for people to interact with the business. They can serve strategic interests of the company if they contain the right content and are structured well. A user experience researcher should analyze the questions and user feedback to assist in routing information in a planned manner for the benefit of the organization.

References

(4)Brokaw, Caleb. "The question almost no one is asking (but maybe should be): Do FAQs improve SEO?" Hile Creative Website. 25 February 2015
(1,2)Farell, Susan. "FAQs Still Deliver Great Value." 21 December 2014. Nielsen Norman Group Website. 25 February 2015
(5)Moradi, Mohammad. "Designing Effective FAQ Pages." 24 May 2011. Six Revisions Website. 25 February 2015
(3)Plumb, Ralph. "3 Benefits of Having a Dedicated FAQ's Page on your Small Business Website." 30 November 2010. Mind Protein Website. 30 February 2015

What makes your website any different from several other websites conveying a similar message to your audience? Why should a user spend more time on your website compared to the others that have same information? Why should someone buy a product on your website when they can find the same product on several other websites? If you are having such questions in your head, Comnez would help you solve! Its wheel of creativity takes an exciting spin to show you the power of creative model for website development. Visit the company website or call +1-319-892-0211 for more information on website designing!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Supriya_Lala/808086


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/8939397




_(By Supriya Lala).

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