In this series, I talk about why having quality content matters even in a world that is overly saturated with information, maybe especially in a world that is overly saturated with information. With so much free information, just a Google search away, how do you stand out from your competition? The answer—valuable, original content.

Reason #5: Content Answers Questions

What questions do you most often get from your customers and potential customers?

I bet if you took 5 minutes, you could come up with at least 10 questions you get asked regularly. Go ahead. Make a game out of it!

Now, you could take that list and turn it into a Frequently Asked Questions page on your website. That’s definitely one way to go. But stop and think for a moment.

When was the last time you clicked on an FAQ page? I did it about a month ago when I was seriously considering working with a business coach.

FWIW, here’s how it happened. Feel free to add my sample size of 1 to your market research:

• A friend of mine recommended I watch a webinar.
• I learned some stuff during the webinar, so I decided to dig deeper.
• I poked around on her website.
• I reached out to schedule a 30-minute consultation.
• I checked out her offerings and her FAQs to get ready for the call.

So, an FAQ page is helpful for someone who has already entered your sales funnel and wants to understand how you work. And having an FAQ page certainly won’t hurt. You just can’t go into a lot of detail on your FAQ page. It’s limiting and if you’re going to spend time creating original content, you definitely want to go with whatever has high impact.

The real question is what problem do you want your original content to solve for you?

Here are some ideas:

• Create a series of Instagram posts with a catchy name like “Ask Amy.” This is a great way to increase visibility and credibility while building your following.
• Start a monthly blog series where you give an in depth answer to one of your big questions. It adds variety and breaks up any monotony.
• Do an interview (written, via podcast, or video) with an industry expert on one of the common questions.
• Ask several influencers to briefly answer the same question and highlight the most beneficial tips in a blog post.
• Use questions to enhance your product pages. Have you ever noticed how Amazon lets you search customer questions on their product pages? If it’s good enough for Amazon, surely it’s good enough for you.

Perhaps the #1 reason to consider using content to answer questions is SEO.

When potential customers wake up in the middle of the night searching for a solution to whatever is keeping them up, they often ask Google (or Alexa) questions. So thinking in terms of answering those questions is more likely to draw those sweet moths to your flame.

Here’s a useful resource for learning how to make question research part of your keyword research.

When your online content answers critical questions, not only do you help your audience, you also improve your SEO and build your reputation as an expert. So, create that list of questions and get inspired!

As a philosopher at heart, I’m more interested in questions than answers most of the time. The world is my question-filled oyster. If you’re ever stuck, I’d love to brainstorm content ideas. Contact me and let’s talk about your brand. I’ll have a few questions…naturally.