Creating the Perfect FAQ

FAQs (frequently asked questions) make up more than 80% of incoming support questions by e-mail or telephone; however, 67% of consumers say they prefer a self-service channel to calling customer service for support (Forrester Research). It goes without saying then, that the FAQ section is one of the most important resources a website can offer customers.

Self-service not only reduces costs by deflecting calls or email, but it also frees up customer service resources for more complex issues. The ability to effectively answer your communities’ questions can make all the difference in managing expenses and building brand affinity.

No doubt the FAQ is an important factor in providing a positive customer experience, but are they always effective? The answer is no, not all FAQs are created equal. To ensure that customers can find what they’re looking for, a well-structured and optimized FAQ is a necessity. There are several key ways to create a best-in-class FAQ section so let’s explore them.

Formatting. Titles should be brief, listed as a question and self-explanatory. Customers should be able to recognize their questions in seven words or less. For example, “Where can I check my order status?” would be a helpful title, while “Check your order Status” wouldn’t resonate the same.

As for answers, they should be less than 1,000 characters—that’s 150 words or three paragraphs. Longer answers can be overwhelming and discouraging for a user seeking quick answers and may result in them emailing, contacting the call center or abandoning their search altogether.

Grammatical person. It’s important to use either first or second person (I/you) in the FAQ text and remain consistent throughout. This perspective gives the reader a sense of familiarity and personalizes the experience so that they’re more likely to be satisfied with the answer provided.

Natural language. The goal is to make answers as easy as possible to find, so it’s helpful to structure questions in complete sentences rather than fragmented keywords. For example, “How do I check my balance by phone?” is more comprehensive than “balance check.”

Unfortunately, most websites use search engines that are “keyword” based. This type of search leads to frustration because it often delivers irrelevant or even zero results. The alternative is semantic search engines using natural language processing (NLP).

Unlike keyword search systems, natural language allows customers to search the way they speak by computing the overall meaning of the search query instead of individual keywords. It ensures that customers find exactly what they’re searching for, regardless of using incomplete, ambiguous, unstructured questions. It is like having a human agent receive a query and return relevant results.

Simplicity. When it comes to creating a FAQ, simplicity is king. You want to provide the most commonly sought information quickly and easily. For that reason, question titles should only contain one idea.

Answers should be apparent at first glance so if there are multiple concepts, it’s better just to make two distinct FAQs:

• Use: “How will my goods arrive?” or “When will my goods arrive?”
• Don’t use: “How and when will my goods arrive?”

Bundle. A fundamental element for creating a well-structured FAQ is organization. This means that related concepts should be grouped together. Better to have one overarching question than multiple FAQs for a similar issue.

For example, “How do I update my mobile phone number on my profile?” and “Can I change the email address on my account?” could actually be listed under the one FAQ—“How can I update my account information?”

Differentiate users. You can create different profiles and assign specific answers to each FAQ when necessary. This will ensure that irrelevant information never appears in front of the wrong audience.

For example, logged-in users may have different answers than those who are not logged in, and employee website users may also require different answers than customers. Designating content for specific user groups will result in the most relevant answers for every user.

Dynamic FAQs. FAQs prevent the most common, repetitive support tickets from ever being created, however, “dynamic FAQs” take self-service to the next level—typically answering 85% of questions from customers.

Rather than listing possible answers from keyword searches, dynamic FAQs focus on the natural way people ask questions using natural language processing software that understands how we communicate. Its answers are far more accurate no matter how users form questions and it displays them dynamically so users can go right to the source page for what they’re seeking.

As a responsive support site, a dynamic FAQ system not only adapts to users from the first moment they arrive, but also provides valuable knowledge about the questions customers ask most.

The most successful companies have anticipated customers’ needs through product innovation and technology. Today, successful companies recognize the need to apply this standard to customer support and incorporate innovation and technology to its online customer support. The FAQ is incredibly effective when it serves its purpose of providing the most commonly sought information quickly and easily.