Search engine optimization or SEO doesn’t merely involve using random keywords that capture the attention of online users when it comes to searching on search engines like Google. In the past, Google’s algorithms rely on anchor texts and backlinks to increase ranking, so an unscrupulous SEO tactic is to stuff keywords.
However, SEO changes and question based keywords are proven to help online users achieve a smoother search to find relevant answers to questions. Of course, site owners also benefit from such SEO tactics to improve ranking, so continue reading below to find out more.
Make Your Content Compatible with Google’s Answer Box
The “Answer Box” of Google that is a featured snippet aims to answer the questions that online users are asking. It is found on the first page of Google’s search results. This is why it’s crucial to add question based keywords so that when Google captures or crawls your content, the search engine will find it helpful and relevant to users, and will reward you by increasing your ranking.
Here are the SEO benefits of answering questions:
- By using question based keywords that users commonly use to search-related products or services, you make your content compatible with voice search, which is an innovative and drastic shift on how people are searching, which helps with your SEO. Consumers are using voice assistants, like Alexa and Siri, to make purchases, pay the bills, and do other business transactions online, which is beneficial to your business.
- Take advantage of using long-tail keywords, which are targeted keywords that are in the form of queries. Google appreciates using long-tail keywords, and more so for question-based keywords because search queries are more conversational in form.
- You help Google determine the intent of your content using semantic search technology. In that way, your site becomes an authority, and you gain higher traffic and quality leads.
Improve Your Site Traffic Using Long-Tail Keywords in Question Form
One good SEO tip is to use the Keyword Planner of Google to do keyword research for long-tail keywords and question keywords that can provide a good amount of search traffic. It will give you useful insights about what people are usually searching or asking about in relation to the products and services you’re offering.
Here are the other methods in which you can incorporate long-tail keywords and question based keywords on your website:
- You can gather commonly asked questions from loyal customers, your sales team, and social media. Analyze customer feedback, questions, and concerns from different customer points-of-view.
- Creating a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section or a Question and Answer (Q&A) page on your website is a good idea.
- You can also integrate FAQs with your article and landing pages, which is one of the best SEO tips from experts today.
Increase Your Site and Brand Exposure Through Featured Snippets
A featured snippet is also called “position zero,” which is a neat looking panel viewed in search results that answers the questions a user searched for. The search result is on top of other results, which is highlighted and has its panel.
Featured snippets stand out and sit above the rest, hence the term position zero. That is why featured snippets are more likely to be clicked as compared to other results, thus helping with your SEO and ranking.
Here are the types of featured snippets available today:
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Paragraph Featured Snippet:
It is used in answering search questions with text-based answers, which takes the form of a box. It includes text and an image inside. For instance, if a user searches “Who was the first president of the United States?”, it will give search results with paragraph snippets and a photo of George Washington.
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List Featured Snippet:
It is displayed with answers to the questions in the form of lists or steps. That’s why SEO experts recommend using bulleted or numbered lists on web content to be featured in Google’s Answer Box. For example, when a user searches “How do you clean a vaporizer?”, Google will provide a list of the steps as a guide, which is pretty handy to online users.
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Table Featured Snippet:
The answers are displayed in a table form. For example, if an online user asks a question about the unit conversion of inches to meters, or Celsius to Fahrenheit, a table snippet showing conversions will come up in the search results.
Conclusion
If you want to stand out from the rest and make your SEO campaigns more competitive, it’s high time to optimize your web content for long-tail keywords and question based keywords. By doing so, you can also provide great value to your potential and current customers by answering tough questions. Also, you win over valuable featured snippets so you can generate more traffic and quality leads for your business.