Most websites tend to be rather complex in terms of their offerings. With dozens or even hundreds of unique pages, finding specific pieces of information can be challenging for someone who is not familiar with it. As such, it is generally a good idea to have a central location where the most common inquiries, problems and challenges are all addressed.

FAQ pages (short for frequently asked questions) can be very helpful in a number of ways. Especially useful for online stores and websites with a lot of content, having a place where all FAQs are addressed can save time for everybody involved.

Let’s take a look at how and why these pages are a good idea, and how you can best design one.

Why Build a FAQs Page?

Before we delve into designing a FAQs page that is ideal, let’s first look at why you might want one.

The first and most important reason has to do with helping your visitors. If you are trying to sell a product or service – or merely want to assist others with your brand’s offerings – then helping them find that information as quickly as possible is essential. Often, this will improve your conversion rates and result in more sales, subscriptions or other forms of engagement.

There is also an inherently selfish reason to create a FAQs page: it’ll save you time. By addressing the most common questions in one place and making it easily visible, you’ll avoid having to field questions via email, social media or elsewhere. This saves you time and ensures people aren’t pinging emails to you with easily answered questions.

How to Build It

Determining the right format and style for your FAQs page is important. Most brands find success in grouping questions together by topic or style. For instance, an online store might group questions about shipping together in one place, returns in another, and so forth. This helps people scan the content more quickly and find what they need to know.

Another way to determine what is best to include is to evaluate past questions or comments you’ve received. What do people most often ask when contacting you? Are there certain points of contention between the brand and its audience? By evaluating past experiences, you’ll be able to create a better FAQs page.

Additionally, walk a mile in your audience’s shoes by asking them directly what should be included. Many people who have visited your website or used its services before will likely have comments about what could be made clearer or areas where they were uncertain initially.

Finally, make sure that each section is properly documented and cited. If there is additional clarification on a particular topic elsewhere on the site, be sure to link to it. Other elements to include may be video tutorials, infographics and reviews.

A properly designed FAQs page can serve as a de-facto form of customer service, intercepting a large percentage of inquiries and handling them passively. Rather than having people pinging emails to your business or brand, consider how a FAQs page can be used to largely deal with their questions. By using a bit of logic and experience, you’ll be able to design the most effective and perfect solution for your brand’s needs.