How many times a day do you pull up Google and ask it a question? While we tend to speak as if Google itself is answering the question, the reality is that there is a hard-working writer who actually provided it, and Google is just aggregating that information.
Becoming that blogger with the best answer at the right time is one reason why—when crafting blog posts—you should be in the mindset of answering questions for people. And alongside that, answer questions in your blog posts as a way to build a resource for your clients.
Why answer questions?
Using your blog posts to answer questions is essential for a few reasons. By answering some frequently asked questions in posts, you have a readily available resource for current and potential clients. As your practice grows over time, you’ll start to notice more of these commonly asked questions. You can build a library of evergreen content that addresses questions you see thrown your way time and time again.
Having a blog post already cooked up will save you time and make a good impression on clients. Nothing promotes trust like having an immediate and comprehensive answer on hand right when it’s needed.
On the other end of that, pay attention to the questions your current clients are already posing. When it comes to sourcing questions from clients, a good rule of thumb is that if at least three people are asking the same question, there’s a good chance that a lot more are wondering the same thing.
Posts formatted around questions can also help rank your posts in search engines.
People are typically using natural language to type questions into search engines. So, it’s an excellent strategy to title your posts in question form, or pose the question in one of the body paragraphs.
For an example of what answering a question in your blog post can look like, look no further than legal blogger Jeff Nowak’s prestigious publication, FMLA Insights. The majority of posts on FMLA Insights are titled in question form. Not only is this good for SEO, but it’s direct and will pop out to anyone who happens to share the same question.
There’s also this post from Daniel Schwartz, who writes the Connecticut Employment Law Blog. He takes on a common question many people have surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic and answers it with easily digestible insight.
How to come up with a question to answer
People are naturally curious, so it’s easy for anyone to come up with questions to research. We all have questions about various subjects, including within topics we’re well-versed in. There’s always something to learn, even as an expert.
Once you’ve found the answer to a question you’ve had, you can easily turn it into a blog post on what you’ve learned. And more questions are bound to pop up during your research, so be sure to keep track of those.
- Some tools to help keep track of your questions are notepads, text documents or even just creating a new post on WordPress and making your question the subject line before saving it as a draft.
- Site analytics tools—such as Google Analytics and Google Search Console—are also great ways to field common questions.
- Oftentimes there are a handful of queries that are bringing people to your site due to keywords you’ve used in the past.
While visitors may have found you through these keywords, it’s possible that you haven’t directly answered their questions in depth. So pay attention to the data and tailor a post around common queries to your site.
For those struggling to develop blog content, thinking in terms of answering questions is a great way to get something started. Answering questions in your blog posts not only prompts you to learn more about your focus topics, but it builds a resource of frequently asked questions for clients and helps establish authority within your practice.
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For more information on blogging fundamentals, blogging strategy and social media, check out the LexBlog Resource Center.