Question searches are specific, lower in competition, and closer to a decision than general terms. Answering one directly, near the top of a page, is what makes a small business site findable for them.

Why questions are worth targeting

Three reasons, and they compound.

They are specific, which means somebody searching one has a defined need rather than a vague interest.

They are less contested, because most businesses optimise for short service terms and ignore the sentences.

They frequently precede a decision. Somebody asking how much something costs, or whether something can be repaired, is closer to buying than somebody searching a service name.

The combination means a small business can be found for questions in a way it cannot for the competitive terms above them.

The questions that matter in a trade

The cost question deserves emphasis. It is the single highest-volume question in most trades, and most businesses will not answer it, which leaves the entire search to whoever will.

Answer it, then explain it

The structural point that decides whether a page works.

A page addressing a question should answer it within the first paragraph or two, then explain. Not build toward it, not require scrolling, and not withhold it to encourage a call.

Two reasons. A reader who has to hunt leaves, and search engines increasingly extract short answers, which means a page whose answer is buried is not the one shown.

Withholding the answer to force contact reads as evasion and is what somebody else's page will not do.

Use their words, not yours

The failure that makes otherwise good pages invisible.

Customers do not use trade terminology. They describe symptoms and outcomes: a tap that will not stop dripping, a floor that feels spongy, a smell in the basement.

A page titled with the correct technical term is not found by somebody typing the symptom. The workable approach is leading with their words and introducing yours in the body, which serves both.

Where to find the actual phrasing: your own enquiries, what customers say on the phone, your search console query data, and the related searches shown at the bottom of a results page.

One question per page

A page trying to answer eight questions answers none of them findably.

Each substantial question deserves its own page, titled as the question, answered immediately, and linked from the relevant service page.

That produces a set of pages each ranking for something specific, rather than one page competing for a broad term against businesses with more resources.

The exception is a group of small related questions, which work as a genuine question section on a service page.

The local dimension

The advantage a local business has and rarely uses.

Many questions have a locally specific answer: what a permit requires in a particular municipality, what the climate does to a material, what the housing stock in an area is built from, what a service typically costs in that market.

A national site cannot write that. A local business can, and the resulting page is both more useful and less contested.

The cost question in particular is best answered locally, since prices differ by market and a range for your area is more useful than a national average.

The structured question section

Worth adding to service pages, done properly.

A short set of genuine questions with direct answers, marked up so search engines can identify them. That markup can produce expanded results and it requires the questions and answers to be visible on the page rather than only in the code.

What makes it useful rather than filler: questions customers actually ask, answered in two or three sentences, including the awkward ones about cost and timescale.

Inventing questions nobody asks, to have a question section, produces a page nobody reads and no additional visibility.

How to find your own

  1. Read your search console queries and filter for question words.
  2. List what people ask on the phone, which is the best source.
  3. Look at the related questions shown in search results for your services.
  4. Check your own search box queries, if you have one.
  5. Ask whoever answers the phone what they explain most often.

The second and fifth produce better material than any tool, because they are the questions people ask when they are actually deciding, which is the same capture habit described in finding things to write about.

Frequently asked questions

Why target question searches?

They are specific, less contested since most businesses optimise for short service terms, and they frequently come immediately before a decision.

Which question matters most?

How much something costs. It is the highest-volume question in most trades and the one most businesses refuse to answer, leaving the search to whoever will.

Where should the answer go?

In the first paragraph or two. A reader who has to hunt leaves, and search engines extract short answers, so a buried answer is not the one shown.

Whose words should the page use?

The customer's. They describe symptoms rather than using trade terms, so lead with their phrasing and introduce the technical term in the body.

How many questions per page?

One substantial question per page, titled as the question. A page answering eight answers none of them findably.

Where do I find the real questions?

Your search console queries, what people ask on the phone, related questions in search results, your own site search, and whoever answers your phone.

West Coast Media Solutions Inc. provides web design, web development, hosting, digital marketing, and business consulting to organisations across Canada, drawing on more than twenty-five years in the field.

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