Content & copywriting
Write an FAQ from real customer questions
An FAQ should answer recurring uncertainties in the customer's language, not disguise another sales paragraph as a question.
‘Why is our service the best?’ is rarely a customer's frequently asked question. It is a claim written with a question mark. A useful FAQ begins with questions that people actually raise and gives answers specific enough to reduce the need for another enquiry.
Collect questions from emails, calls, support records and conversations with colleagues who handle enquiries. Remove personal details before sharing examples. Note the circumstances: a question asked before purchase may need a different answer from one asked during delivery. Preserve the wording when it captures a genuine point of confusion.
Fix the main page when appropriate
If almost everyone asks what the service includes, the answer probably belongs in the service description, not only in an FAQ. Treat repeated questions as evidence about the information architecture. An FAQ should not become a hiding place for facts the main page ought to explain.
Group remaining questions by the reader's stage or task. In a hypothetical equipment-hire business, availability and booking questions differ from collection and return questions. The grouping should help someone locate an answer without reading every item. Avoid mixing unrelated subjects merely to create a large FAQ.
Answer the question first
Give the direct answer in the opening sentence, then add conditions or explanation. If the answer depends on location or service type, say what it depends on and how the reader can find their case. ‘Contact us for details’ is not an answer when the details could reasonably be stated on the page.
Keep each answer self-contained enough to be useful when reached directly. Name the service rather than relying on ‘it’ to refer to a distant paragraph. Link to detailed instructions where necessary, but summarise the relevant fact before sending the reader elsewhere.
Check answers against current operations and terms. A copied reply from last year may no longer be accurate. Ask someone who handles the process to read the wording, especially where it concerns eligibility, timing or charges. Do not invent an accommodating exception to make the answer sound friendly.
Remove questions that no longer help and add new ones only when they reveal a meaningful uncertainty. A shorter set of maintained answers is more useful than a long archive of every question the business has ever encountered.
