“People Also Ask” on Google

The many benefits of the PAA

Having an active blog on your website is one of the best ways to help promote your site and business. Coming up with topics to write about on a weekly basis can get tough. Thankfully, Google provides us with a great tool to help with this. When you do a Google search, you’ll often find the “People Also Ask” section (PAA). There are many benefits to using this Google provided resource. In this article we’ll explore the many benefits of the PAA.

What is the PAA Section?

When you search for most things, especially informational queries, you will likely see the section title “People Also Ask.” This section shows a set of other commonly asked questions that relate to your search query. Not only can this section be helpful for generating blog topics and website content, but can also be used to help find any information you’re looking for. Sometimes when I start a search, I might not know exactly what I’m searching for.

The PAA questions that you’ll see, are other questions that users have frequently asked as well. The answers are the top ranking website when doing a full Google search for that question. Often the answer it will show is a short bit of content from the site that answers the question. It is really a great resource for searches to find quick answers as well as a tool to help businesses write great content.

Finding New Topics

When you do a Google search for any keyword or phrase, and scroll down to the PAA, it’s a safe bet that each of those questions are topics you should answer either in blogs or on your website. For example, we’re currently working on an SEO campaign for a wedding videographer in Green Bay. So when we search for “Wedding videographer Green Bay” we see the following questions:

How much should a videographer charge for a wedding?
Why are wedding videographers expensive?
Do you tip wedding videographers?
Should you get a wedding videographer?

Some of the questions might be obvious topics for blog articles, and some you might have to sort of twist to get a topic. For example, the 4th question of “Should you get a wedding videographer?” is a simple article to pick out and work on. In that article we’ll go through all the benefits of a wedding videographer and why that video is so important to have and cherish for your lifetime. Some questions, such as “Why are wedding videographers expensive?” are a little different to answer. We might not call that blog article exactly “Why are wedding videographers expensive,” but rather “All that is included in wedding videography.” In that second article, we’d then be sure to include a heading at some point saying something like “We’re asked often enough, ‘Why are Wedding videographers expensive?’”

Whenever you click on one of the Questions in the PAA, you’ll then see even more questions appear. There’s no limit to how deep you could or should go with these questions for finding topics to write about. Each of the questions you’ll see are commonly searched phrases that are in some way closely tied to the original search you did.

Are you using the right words?

Years ago, I would introduce Full Scope Creative as being “web developers.” I still believe that’s a perfectly fitting phrase to describe this business. Problem, however, is that very few of our clients have ever referred to us as that, instead referring to us as “web designers.” While it might sound like a simple change, dialing in to the language and phrasings that your target audience uses can have significant benefits for your overall search strategy on your website.

By looking into the PAA questions, you can find the actual phrases or terminology that your target audience is using when looking for a business like yours. Once you know what those phrases or terms might be, you can update content in your site to include those new phrases as well. By focusing on the phrases that people are using to search for your business, you’ll increase the chances of ranking that much higher for the searches.

Address Pain Points

Pay attention to the language and phrasing used in the PAA questions. They often reflect the pain points, challenges, and curiosity of users. By addressing these directly in your content, you establish yourself as a helpful resource and build trust with your audience.

I know we all like to think that there are no issues or concerns of any sorts with the industry we’re in or the product or services we offer. You might not necessarily see them all in your company, but your competitors could be facing issues. By looking at those PAA questions, you can find new and different pain points your target market might be experiencing. You can find new challenges, and thus new opportunities, based on the new questions found in the PAA.

Even if those pain points are not issues impacting your business, they are pain points in market feels, and you can outline how or why your company solves or solved all of those challenges. Just another way to stay ahead of your competition and prove why your company is the best option for searchers. You can also gain great new insights into ways to expand your business. Most industries have no changes evolving regularly, and by checking out the PAA you can possibly have a head start on finding those and providing solutions for them.

Optimize for SEO

One important rule of search engine optimization (SEO), is that Google wants to provide its users with the very best and most relevant content. With the PAA, Google is telling you what relevant content is to your keywords, industry, and website. By answering as many of those questions as possible, you are essentially having a conversation with Google and saying “The people asked, and we answered.”

By allowing Google to see the exact questions on your site (be it as a blog title, FAQ, subheading), Google can start to associate your website with those questions and the keywords related to them. SEO is about providing answers to the questions searchers have, and the PAA provides a prime opportunity to find out what the questions are.