Design an Effective FAQ Page

A good FAQ page lightens the load on help desks and customer support calls, which translates to cost savings and convenience for the user (since they don’t have to send a help ticket or pick up the phone to have their question answered). Thus, the importance of a well-crafted FAQ page can’t be denied.

When designing FAQ pages, have the following tips and strategies in mind:

Say "No" to FAQ Pages

Start by saying "No" to FAQ pages. In web design, you should strive for simplicity and you should constantly eliminate things that simply aren’t needed. The FAQ page supports the rest of the website’s content; if it doesn’t enhance what’s already there, it shouldn’t be a priority.

Focus the Right Questions

The questions on the FAQ page must be real. For a new website, choose a timeframe (say, one month), and then survey and categorize the questions that users ask during that time via direct calls or email. You could even announce your open question period on the website.

Delivering Better Entry Points

To use an FAQ page, users must be able to find it. Provide an obvious entry point: a distinct, clear and well-positioned link will do the trick. The two most common places for an FAQ link is in the primary navigation or site footer; these sections are separated from the rest of the web layout (often by color, hue, solid lines or white space) and thus stand out. Visitors are used to checking the navigation menu and footer for important links.

Readability

FAQ pages are generally text-based, so readability is important.

Readability can be achieved in different ways: text decoration (always minding the contrast between text and background), as well as line- and letter-spacing. Good CSS typography applies here.

Categorization of Questions

Users who are looking for an FAQ page probably got confused somewhere else on the website. Don’t make it worse with tangled topics.

Basic categories increase readability — a major building block of efficiency. Name the categories intuitively to avoid further confusion.

Search

FAQ search should differ from the general search system of the website, and this difference must be denoted in order to reduce the amount of search results and make finding the right questions easier.

Providing Visuals with Answers

Often, a picture is worth a thousand words. If images can help solve a user’s question, don’t hesitate to use them.

Conclusion

Designing FAQ pages, amid all the other pages of a website, can be complicated work. Keep in mind that "FAQ" is a general name for the type of page that answers real questions and guides users. Most users have had trouble somewhere else on the website and are looking for a specific answer, so design the page in a way that actually helps them.