GMB Q and A's

[rayrober]

Is there any evidence that creating your own Q and A's e.g. for FAQ's has any negative impact on Local Pack, Local Finder rankings? We are a large multi location franchisor and would like to use GMB Q and A's for FAQ's however we do not want to effect our the local rankings of our franchisees. We do manage GMB listings at a Head Office level although franchises have Site Manager access.

 

[Colan Nielsen]

Hi @rayrober I have never come across a single case where adding a "pre-site FAQ" as the business owner has caused a ranking issue. Google actually suggested doing this at a conference I attended last year.

 

[rayrober]

Thanks Colan - appreciated.

 

[Steven12]

I totally agree with Colan. Google loves FAQ's. They are extremely important to the future of voice search. Use keywords in your questions and answers because, if done correctly, they can rank highly in search results. You can use sights like "answer the public" to get ideas of questions being currently asked.

 

[rayrober]

Thanks Steven - again much appreciated.

 

[Mike Vannington]

On the "human" level, I note that many businesses use the FAQ to discourage customers from contacting them directly. If you want FAQs for it's effect on the algorithm, that's one thing, but if you want to generate phone calls don't use the FAQ as an impediment to the potential visitor contacting you directly. Also don't load your FAQs with stupid questions no one ever asks. If you have exactly two FREQUENTLY asked questions, don't throw-in another 10 stupid questions in order to create the illusion of having a nice list. I lose a lot of respect for businesses that do this. When people want information, they want it NOW, not after sorting through 15 "FAQs" that not only do not answer their question, but give them a bunch of irrelevent information that no one would ever want. It sends the message "F-you" and "Go Away". I desest FAQs for this reason, on all sites, at all times, and the only reason I would ever read them is that any normal attempt at contacting the business has been delibarately thrwarted by the incompetent pinhead that built the website. I think FAQs are dangerous to a business, because the people that make and position them (location, size, visibility) to be clueless morons). If I'm reading your business's "FAQs", that's usually the last thing that happens before I quit trying to deal with your stupid business and move on to someone else.

 

[mattheffner]

I think they are useful to add meta data to the Google profile so we do it weekly. Haven't noticed anything negative and I think it actually helps. We actually ask the question then wait a day and then answer it. By that time any local guides and others have been pinged by Google to give their answers. Haven't isolated and tested it out objectively but it's been a great way to increase engagement and add more useful data to each profile. Let us know how you come out.

 

[BenFisher]

From all the testing I have done Q&A in itself does not impact ranking. However, they do raise engagement signals on the overall profile. I have seen profiles that have active Q&A's do better rankwise than low activity ones, with the same Q&A's.