Why you should care about getting listed in Google “People Also Ask”

 

When you search at Google, you may have noticed the search results, including an expandable grid box with additional questions and answers, that have the label above them saying, “People Also Ask.” 

 

Google had been testing this feature since April 2015. When a user clicks one of the questions in the grid box, it expands to show a brief possible answer and as well as a link that the searcher can click for further information. These links will get high click-through rates. This feature suggests some great information to users that want further questions answered without hunting for them.

 

The multiplying nature of “ People Also Ask “

 

While it’s a relatively new feature, it developed astonishingly fast. This multiplying feature of “People Also Ask” helps us understand how Google thinks when it answers our search query and how it interprets follow-up questions and related concepts. 

For example, if I search for ” Is pasta healthy? ” get my first four People Also Ask questions. And If I click on “ Is pasta healthier than rice? “ then close it or scroll down, two new PAA’s generate at the bottom.

The important fact to note here that these two new questions that popped up will somehow relate to ” health ” concepts in the question you chose to click.

 

• Which pasta is healthiest?

 

• Why is pasta bad for you?

 

Now, if you click, “ Is Pasta bad for weight loss? “ Google will recommend more questions, and this time somehow, it is relating to canned food safety.

 

• Does pasta make you gain weight?

 

• How can I reduce my stomach fat?

 

Going one more layer deeper, if we expand on the last of those queries, we get a new layer that doesn’t even include our initial search query ” Pasta ” in them anymore. Those are the extension of “weight gain” and “stomach fat” topics:

 

• How can I reduce my stomach fat?

 

” People Also Ask ” is infinite and live

 

Yes, I said it right. “People Also Ask ” is not just endless but also they are live. PAA  results Keep a User Playing with SERPs forever. All of the information you see under PAA results are highly relevant search results that are happening right now and very close to those previous patterns. 

 

Many related questions are answered directly on the first-page result of the search engine by the PPA feature. This holds you on the page a little longer than you expected and increases the possibility of your conducting another search or even leading you to click on a search ad.

 

You have seen this a million times, but the following searches all provide some direct answers in the very first search results.

• Calculator
• What’s my IP?
• Capital of Canada?
• Square root of 4096?

 

For these types of search queries, there is no longer a need to visit a third-party website — the searchers’ answer directly shown in the first result.

 

So, why do we want to rank for these PAA answer box queries? 

 

By ranking for the PAA box, you can create more organic traffic and authority to your website. Appearing on the answer box is a positive signal from Google, which suggests that your website has the potential answer for users. 

 

Rank for the Google answer box

 

There is no exact formula exists to rank for the Google answer box. Fortunately, there have been a few studies done to understand this feature, and there are specific actions that you can do to get a better opportunity.  These factors include:

 

Target relevant keywords that are obtainable

 

At first, you need to do your keyword research. When building strategies for the answer box, it is essential to select relevant keywords that are obtainable.  Remember that certain keywords will be just too competitive. 

 

You also want to focus on your keyword to be complex enough, which will make users click through to your website wanting more. If the question and answer on the answer box are too narrow or basic, the users will consume the answer, and they will have no more reason to look for further explanation or to visit your page.

 

Your content must cover the answer in detail

 

Your answer must be accurate. With better keyword analysis create compelling meta title, and meta description to make your content valuable. Try to include answers with lists, paragraphs and tables. By reading your brief content in the Google answer box, a user must be curious enough to read the complete information. As you begin creating content, make sure it is:

 

• Credible
• Engaging
• High quality
• Useful and informative
• More valuable and useful than other sites

 

Google made it clear that credibility is an important SEO factor when ranking a page. Linking to relevant, authoritative, and trustworthy sites can ensure that the search engines see your content as credible. You can include images and videos to make it more live. Images should also be optimized appropriately to represent what your content is referencing.

 

Apply structured data and formatting in your website

 

“People Also Ask” is part of Google’s knowledge graph, which uses schema to understand the content better. Also, it’s essential to note that the use of schema markup is not a ranking factor, but it can influence your SEO results. There are three types of answer box results, which you can apply different formatting methods to strengthen your content.

 

• Paragraph answers
• List answers
• Table answers

 

Bonus tips to get featured in the Google answer box

 

• Find out queries that already use the answer box. If the competitor’s results are showing a poor job, then you can quickly grab this opportunity by updating your content and implementing all the SEO ranking factors into the page. 

 

• Make sure your results are on page #1. Ranking #1 is helpful, but remember that Google will pull any answer from the first-page result.

 

• Track your results. Using Monitor Backlinks, you can track your pages social media interaction, lead generation and sales conversions.

 

That’s a wrap…

 

Two benefits are awaiting for you when ranking on Google’s PAA.

 

1)  You are driving organic traffic to your page by suggesting a link to more information on a topic the searcher is already looking for. 

 

2) You are strengthening your site authority by being one of the few to be chosen to present answers to those elemental questions by Google.

 

Hopefully, this research can help you to build your page to the Google answer box. Google PAAs are going to be here for a while, and I’m so thrilled for us to learn more about them.

 

Please share your PAA experiences, questions, and comments below.