Keywords

keys to writing an faq blog post

6 Keys To Writing An FAQ Blog Post

If you’re tired of answering the same questions regarding your business, these 6 keys to writing an FAQ blog post might take care of that for good!

Imagine this…

Instead of using your time to respond to emails, phone calls, and contact form messages answering the same questions over again, you can create a blog post that does it for you. Your customers have one place to look for all their pressing questions. Plus, you won’t need to keep copying and pasting the same response repeatedly.

Plus, with this one blog, you can also increase web engagement, gain quality leads, and garner more interest in your business and services. We’re here to show you how with the following 6 keys to writing an FAQ blog post you can use right now.

Need a copywriter to take care of your blogs for you? Schedule a discovery call to get started.

Try These 6 Keys To Writing An FAQ Blog Post & Save Yourself From The Repetition

Here’s your cue to take voice notes or be ready to type out your thoughts. Because, as soon as you finish reading this blog about the keys to writing an FAQ blog post, all of the content you need will be right there in front of you.

1. Ask The Questions, Type Out The Answers

The first part of creating your FAQ blog is simple. Ask yourself…

What are the top 10 to 20 questions I’m asked most about my business that I can easily answer right away?

Type or jot these questions down and be sure your answers are succinct and clear for your audience. Before you know it, these questions and answers can assist you in creating bold headlines that are easy to understand for even the fastest blog skimmer around.

2. Do Your (Quick) SEO Research

Search engine optimization does more than autofill your search for you when you’re online. SEO includes trackable data that changes based on what everyone around you is searching for. This is immensely important for businesses that want to know more about their target audiences’ wants, needs, and wishes.

Even if you offer an extremely specific service, your audience may not know the same technical jargon that you do. As an example, if you own a floral shop, you might want to answer questions that also include popular search terms (in bold) like…

  • How does Valentine’s Day flower delivery work?
  • Can I pick up my flower delivery order instead?
  • Can your business do flowers for a wedding or big event in my city?
  • Can I buy red roses by the dozen?

You may know that you sell baccarat roses, Ever Reds, and Freedom roses but the average customer will not. This is why pairing your FAQs with commonly used SEO keywords or phrases assists in making your business, its FAQs, and your services more visible on popular search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo.  

There are also many free web analytics tools available online like Clarity from Microsoft and Google Keyword Planner, so you don’t need to spend a dime to get started.

You can also use a team of professional copywriters to help you get the job done. Schedule your discovery call with us right now.

3. Discover More FAQs

Speaking of using SEO tools for your FAQ blog post, you can also use various online forums to find more FAQs to answer while you’re at it. A few platforms you should think about exploring include…

In fact, about 40% of young people use TikTok alone as a search engine. This may not sound incredibly important right now, but your prospects will soon include a younger generation of buyers than you may be used to today. So, it is worth keeping in mind.

4. Define Technical Words & Phrases

Another one of our keys to writing an FAQ blog post is ensuring you understand that it’s okay to simplify your answers for your average customer. If you’re a business owner with a typically well-informed customer base, you may not need to worry about this as much.

However, if you often find that your answers go over most people’s heads, it’s time to take a step back and clarify those answers. Speak to your audience in a way they will understand. If it helps, offer a mini glossary or answer individual questions defining commonly used terms or phrases in your industry.

Take FocusCopy for example. You may see us answer what we view to be “simple” questions like…

What does SEO mean?

What is backlinking and what does it mean?

Is a copywriter and copyright the same thing?

We would define keywords and phrases with each of these questions while breaking down their definitions so they’re easier to digest.

5. Support Your Answers With Statistics

You cannot get rid of all of the misinformation online regarding your business or expertise. What you can do is fortify your answers with reliable statistics to back them up. This is yet another one of our keys to writing an FAQ blog post that works in favor of your business and your customers.

Remember, you’re the industry expert! 

That said, think of 2 to 5 industry-related resources that you trust. A few examples might include:

  • Established associations
  • Government-led groups or studies
  • Industry organizations or clubs
  • Individual industry leaders
  • Top-performing companies

If you follow these people or organizations online and subscribe to their newsletters, you can keep up with them consistently as new information is shared. Don’t forget to cite your sources within your blog by adding a link or footnote leading your audience to the source.

6. Share It

Have someone other than yourself read through your FAQ blog post to make suggestions and offer other forms of advice. Perform a spelling and grammar check (and don’t worry too much about perfection) before publishing your brand-new blog.

Once that’s done, you can share your blog on social media, by email, or by asking others to help spread the word for you.  

Bonus Tip!

So, you have one well-written blog post answering the most commonly asked questions about your business. Did you know you can split this 1 complete blog into several separate blogs, social media posts, and (possibly) a podcast script?

Think about each point you’ve made so far. Chances are you can talk about one or several of them more in-depth – so do it! Here are a few ideas to get you started:

  • Think of lessons learned
  • Reflect on former customer stories
  • Answer more questions related to each FAQ

For social media posts, pull headlines and the most important part of your answer to create quick posts you can share that add value to your social platforms.

We Write Blog Posts For Businesses

Does writing an FAQ blog post take time? Yes. We would be lying if we said it didn’t take at least some time to strategize, write, and approve a blog post.

If you don’t have that kind of time, that’s okay! We do. Schedule a discovery call with us today!

Focus Your Copy On Conversation & Conversion

Let’s Grab A Virtual Coffee With Us To Discover How To Boost Your Words
pillar blog post

Create A Pillar Blog Post That Sells

You’ve heard of a pillar blog post before, but can’t help but feel lost. You’ve been working on your marketing and you’ve nailed the use of keywords throughout your blogs. Or so you thought. That’s all it takes, right?

It seems simple enough, doesn’t it? Write relevant and engaging blogs and plug in the keywords as you go. But you’d be misinformed to think that blog posts with keywords are all you need to rank ahead of your competitors.

Now, you’re not entirely wrong. Blogging for SEO used to be an amazing way to boost your website traffic. However, content marketing has changed and requires a little more work than monthly blog posts.

Enter pillar blog posts. We’ll talk about what they are, and how you can create one that helps you make money.

Would you rather get pillar blog post assistance directly from the experts? Get started with FocusCopy.

What Is A Pillar Blog Post?

A pillar blog post is a long-form piece of content that is written covering a specific topic. It should be broad enough to offer a comprehensive look at the subject. Yet, it should also be definitive enough to get into some, but not all, of the nitty-gritty details. 

How To Write A Pillar Blog Post That Sells

Find out what you need to get started writing a pillar blog post for your business. 

Start the structure, then write! This will help you save time whenever you’re ready to write.

Collect Your Keywords

Before you sit staring at a blank page, you need to start with the keywords you’d like to target. Use whatever tools you normally would to narrow down some reasonably achievable keywords that apply to your business and what you have to offer. 

When it comes to the keywords you’re aiming to target, make sure they:

  • Are relevant to your business
  • Can be combined in discussion with a service or product you offer
  • Are interesting enough to pull in your target audience

Once you have your keywords rounded up, you’re ready to put together an outline. Putting together the foundation of your pillar post will help you (a lot). That way, you have something to go off of when you’re writing, and you don’t need to struggle to come up with the next topic as you go.

Define Your Topic Clusters

If you’re unfamiliar with topic clusters, they’re truly simple to understand. What your pillar page is about will be your broad topic. 

As an example, this may be “Facial Plastic Surgery” if you’re a cosmetic surgeon. Or you may want to talk about “Air Conditioning Maintenance” if you own an air conditioning company. Both of these are broad enough to have the ability to discuss a bunch of other topics within them. These are called topic clusters and will consist of related topics you go a little more in-depth with. However, you shouldn’t worry about discussing each one in too much detail. You only need to talk about each topic enough to give a comprehensive view and why it’s essential.

Using our example as a cosmetic surgeon, you may want to discuss the following under your “Facial Plastic Surgery” pillar blog post:

  • Rhinoplasty
  • Chin implant
  • Cheek enhancement
  • Brow lift
  • Lip fillers

For your “Air Conditioning Maintenance” pillar blog post, you may want to cover:

  • HVAC definition
  • Common problems resulting in AC failure
  • DIY fixes
  • Benefits of AC maintenance

As you can see, there are several things you can talk about. Each one of these things makes up a topic cluster. Flesh out your topic cluster based on the broad topic you’ve chosen. Then, you’re ready to move ahead with your pillar page.

Don’t Forget The Hyperlinks

Hyperlinks define your content – ultimately defining it as a pillar page. Adding hyperlinks into your content allows the reader to click and reach another page on your website. Whether it takes them to a more in-depth blog or service page, these links will help Google navigate your website, improving your ranking. 

Another important element here is making sure that the linked page is also hyperlinked to your pillar page. This way, your reader can get right back to the pillar page without any trouble. It creates a sort of full-circle moment and helps Google understand what your website is about. Then Google can determine whether you’re offering valuable content rather than stuffing keywords into copy that isn’t well-written or helpful.

Is A Pillar Page A Blog Post?

Yes and no. This can be difficult to understand because pillar pages look like web pages but are longer than regular blog posts. The truth is, they’re a combination of the two with a purpose.

Your typical blog posts are pretty specific, and the reader knows exactly what to expect from it. This type of blog post is probably about 1,500 words. Its topic is narrowed, coming from the expert (you), and can contain many keywords to help your ranking. 

However, you can think of a pillar blog post more as a what-you-need-to-know page. It’s full of topic clusters, which help organize your content as you go. You can talk about them all on your pillar page, but you wouldn’t go into as much detail as you would on a devoted blog. You can also use the space to answer commonly asked questions your clients are most likely to ask.

RELATED: 6 Essential Elements In A Blog You Need To Include Today

Can I Use My Page As A Blog Post?

Yes. As mentioned above, pillar pages have an interesting blend of blog and website components. Additionally, you can use them as blog posts for your business as long as they have the necessary aspects needed to serve as a pillar page genuinely.

How Long Is Too Long For A Pillar Blog Post?

Let’s start by saying pillar pages do need to be long. And they certainly need to be longer than your regular blog posts. However, there’s no need to go overboard and write 20,000 words on a single page. Your sweet spot will be at 2,000 words. It’s okay to go over a little bit, but you don’t want to overwhelm your readers and force the topic if you’re starting to lose your intention.

If you’re having trouble and don’t know where to start, talk to the team at FocusCopy.

Perfecting Pillar Blog Posts For Clients In All Industries

Google and its algorithm can be a nightmare to navigate, especially if you’re not too up-to-date in the digital marketing world. But that’s okay! As a business owner, you’ve already done so much and perfected your own craft. So, if you feel like you know where to begin, but don’t have the time and tools to do it yourself, allow the experts at FocusCopy to guide you. 

We can not only walk you through the process, but you’ll have open communication every step of the way.

What do you say? Let’s grab a virtual coffee and get going on your digital marketing goals.

Need help writing pillar blog posts for your business? Contact FocusCopy for help.

Focus Your Copy On Conversation & Conversion

Let’s Grab A Virtual Coffee With Us To Discover How To Boost Your Words
SEO Copywriting Tips

12 SEO Copywriting Tips You Can Implement Without An SEO Specialist

Right now, your company needs to invest in SEO – especially if you’re struggling.

SEO stands for search engine optimization. And SEO is what improves your ability to grow your traffic organically (free traffic). After you have your traffic on your website, then it’s only a matter of converting that traffic into customers. 

You don’t need to be an expert to start making improvements! In this blog, I’ll go over 12 tips for great SEO copywriting that you can implement without an SEO specialist.

What is SEO Copywriting?

SEO copywriting is a style of writing that prioritizes humans, while still keeping SEO in mind. It seeks to achieve the perfect balance between writing for visibility and writing to create genuine engagement with your audience.

SEO Copywriting vs. SEO

Why does SEO Copywriting beat out SEO when it comes to writing strategically online? 

When writing purely for SEO, you will sound mechanical. It sends a message that you’re writing for an algorithm that places your copy higher in the search list rather than engaging with and selling to your audience. 

Remember, Google doesn’t pay you – humans do!

Why SEO Copywriting Needs to be a Bigger Priority

So, if humans are the priority, why do we need SEO at all? 

The truth is, well written content still needs to be found by search engines. And in order for that to happen, SEO should still be kept in mind while writing. Striking a balance through SEO copywriting will ensure that your content is valuable for your audience and easy to find. 

Before we get into tips for SEO copywriting, let’s go over a few SEO strategies to keep in mind.

Types of SEO Strategies

SEO copywriting usually refers to on-page SEO; however, it would be remiss if I didn’t talk about the different types of SEO strategies that companies need to pay attention to.

On-Page SEO

On-Page SEO refers to the things that you include on a web page to drive organic traffic and increase visibility. This helps your audience find you more quickly through a Google search.

Strategic on-page SEO can help your web page rank high on a search engine results page (SERP). And there are two philosophies for getting there:

  • Black hat – stuffing keywords in a nonsensical way into your content just to rank. Avoid this like the plague
  • White hat – including a typical amount of keywords into your content, but not overdoing it.

As the names suggest, white hat is the ethical approach to on-page SEO. Black hat methods might help your page get a higher SERP ranking, but your audience won’t stay on your page long if your content is nonsensical keyword soup.  

On-page SEO requires extra copy development time to achieve and maintain consistency. If you’re starting from scratch, expect 3-6 month time lag before you see results. The best way to get started is to write content – like blogs – on a regular schedule (weekly or bimonthly). 

Technical SEO

Technical SEO refers to your website’s backend settings that make it function optimally for the user. This ties into the overall experience that your audience has when interacting with your content. You are trying to make it easy for your audience to navigate your website

If you ever clicked on a link because the headline seemed spot-on for what you were searching for, but then the website…

  • Took forever to load
  • Wasn’t optimized for mobile viewing
  • Was difficult to navigate
  • Seemed like spam because of the URL

… You probably left within seconds. The average user’s attention span is under 5 seconds per click (unless they find what they are looking for).

Even if the headline of a web page is a perfect match for your search, you’ll only stay if the website looks safe, easy, and organized.

Off-Page SEO

Off-page SEO refers to the things you do outside of your website to draw attention to it. It helps your audience decide if they can trust your website and determine if it is an authority among its competitors.

Think about how you approach hiring talent for your company. Many people might apply for the position with the skills you’re looking for. But an applicant with several beaming references and a successful work history will stand out the most, and you’d be more likely to trust them than Joe Schmoe. 

Similarly, off-page SEO is like having “references” for your company’s website that helps build trust online.

12 Tips for Great SEO Copywriting That You Can Implement Without An SEO Specialist

Now that you have several SEO strategies you can implement without an SEO specialist, let’s talk about how to combine them with copywriting for an optimized SEO copywriting approach.

1. Genuinely Communicate With Your Audience

Prioritize a strong connection with your audience by writing genuinely – not robotic. Not only will authentic communication provide better value for them, but it can be beneficial for your company’s SERP ranking too…  

“When you’re writing for humans, search rankings will rise because bounce rates will be lower and time-on-site will be higher. It’s all about the user experience.”

Dan Moyle, Impulse Creative

It’s a win-win. Search engines use metrics like bounce rate and the time spent on a given page in their algorithm to rank your website. 

2. Don’t Be Spammy

If it sounds like spam, it probably is. Avoid writing content that looks like spam. If your content looks like spam, people will be less likely to stay on your site. Avoid using…

  • Black hat SEO approaches. Don’t stuff your content with keywords. Your audience can spot unethical approaches from a mile away (even if they don’t know what they are looking at), and this will reflect negatively on your brand.
  • Stock images in your blog posts. Instead, opt for images that are uniquely yours (e.g. photos of yourself, your products, or services). You can even include your own screenshots for how-to’s. Schedule a brand photoshoot to create your own photos.

Above all, if the copy sounds or looks spammy, change it.

3. Use Practical URLs

Another way to avoid having your content mistaken for spam is to use practical URLs. Best search results have URLs between 50-60 characters long and a top-level domain (TLD) of ‘.com’. Bypass gibberish symbols and letters; they can imply there is something shady or you are trying to hide something. 

Instead, include logical, intuitive URLs that are associated with the content of your webpage. Not only will this help your website look more legitimate, but it will also portray your company as being logical and organized.

For example, the slug – the phrase that follows the domain in the URL – for this page is https://focuscopy.com/seo-copywriting-tips. You can expect to learn SEO copywriting tips in this blog. But if the slug was https://focuscopy.com/6&sct12, you would have no clue what to expect. It may be exactly the same as the first page, but it may also be a scam – you can’t tell.

4. Have an SSL Certificate

While we’re on the topic of URLs, another great SEO copywriting tip is to have an SSL certificate. 

Users will see “https://” in the URL, which lets them know your website is safe with:

  • Secured user data
  • Ownership verification
  • Website authenticity

Plus, it might hurt your SERP ranking if you don’t have an SSL certificate. Google is about to stop ranking non-SSL sites and may flag them as “Not Secure”.

5. Cover Topics Comprehensively

Another way to practice effective SEO copywriting is by covering topics comprehensively. It increases the quality value that your audience receives from your content, helping you stand out among the competition.

Try using content splintering to be more comprehensive in your writing. When you’re more comprehensive about a specific subset of a topic, you will be more targeted and have more opportunities to crosslink to other blogs or pages. 

Don’t worry – you won’t have to post everything back-to-back. In WordPress, use categories and tags to cross-link related content. This will logically organize your content together, even if they aren’t published one after another. 

6. Use Keywords that Resonate With Your Audience

Ideally, you should use keywords that are broad enough to reach your target audience and specific enough to stand out from the crowd. Above all, make sure your keywords resonate with your audience.

For example, suppose you’re a CPA based in Boise, Idaho who wants to start marketing your services as tax season rolls around. Here are two keyword approaches you could take:

  • SEO: “tax CPA boise idaho”
  • SEO Copywriting:  “tax and accounting help in boise”  

SEO alone includes long-tail keywords with the goal of ranking top of an SERP.

On the other hand, the SEO copywriting approach includes keywords that your target audience would actually use in a search. You’ll maximize visibility while centering your audience.

7. Incorporate Relevant Headers

Relevant headers are a staple of SEO copywriting. They make your page easier for your audience to read and enable search engines to readily parse (understand) what your page is about. Make sure your headers are relevant by…

  • Incorporating keywords or keyword synonyms
  • Including calls to action
  • Making them readable 

8. Optimize Your Website for Mobile Viewing

Today, many people access web content through their smartphones. Ensure their mobile experience is as effortless as possible by making your site mobile friendly. You don’t want your audience to lose patience trying to find what they need. 

Optimize your website for mobile viewing by… 

  • Resizing text and images
  • Restructuring page formats
  • Creating an easy-to-use navigation bar

9. Make Your Content Easy to Share

Make your content easily shareable to social media platforms with a customized preview image, SEO title, slug, and meta description. This is what it looks like when you use the Yoast SEO plugin. 

For example, here’s what it looks like when someone shares a FocusCopy blog on their Facebook page.

10. Establish Backlink Equity 

Backlink equity is an SEO Copywriting approach that leverages off-page SEO. It helps your site establish trust and authority online. Build a variety of backlinks. Examples of potential backlink opportunities include:

  • Articles on Medium
  • Interviews on Voyage or a local news channel
  • Publications on reputable .gov, .edu, or .org website 
  • Press releases

11. Build a Backlink Network 

Don’t stress out if you can’t get published on a large, reputable site. Try creating partnerships with other companies and build pages or posts to refer traffic to them. It’s all about building a backlink network.

Since COVID-19 has been difficult for many of our friends and clients, we wrote several blog posts to create backlinks to their websites. Check those posts out here:

12. Cross Link Your Posts or Pages

Linking isn’t just an off-page SEO strategy. It’s also fantastic for on-page SEO copywriting too. Here’s how cross-linking works…

Imagine you have a huge mansion with many bedrooms, ballrooms, and more. But you walk in and realize there are no doors. You can’t explore the other rooms. So you turn around and walk right out – there is nowhere for you to go! The mansion is useless.

But you’re a smart person and put doors between each room. So your guests can come into your fancy mansion, go from one from one room to another, and get lost in the beauty and splendor of your palace. 

The same is true of your website. Google and your audience needs to be captivated and get lost in the different sections of your site. Cross link your pages or posts so they can move around and even go back to places they’ve already been.


So there you have it – 12 great tips for SEO copywriting that you can implement without an SEO specialist. However, we understand that writing isn’t for everyone. If you’d rather hire an expert to do your content writing for you, reach out to our FocusCopy team