In order to keep people visiting your site to buy your product or service or participate in the community you have created, you need a way for them to feel embraced, and a part of your site. By preparing a Frequently Asked Questions section, you can help orient someone who is new to the subject of your site, and who needs a little help wrapping his arms around a subject. If they feel theyll be kept up-to-date by you, theyll return.

Some ways to use FAQs: To explain the information on your site in another way, reinforcing a process or a complicated piece of information.

To cover the questions repeatedly asked in your Contact Us section, so staff time wont be used on individual replies.

To provide solutions to visitors queries about a subject not necessarily about the products you sell. For instance, answering questions about techniques for hiking downhill doesnt directly sell hiking socks, but it does help to establish you as an expert. It follows that theyll trust that what you sell is quality.

To understand what subjects are of interest to visitors, for content development purposes. If a counter indicates that your visitors click on the FAQ about the rising time of dough, maybe you need to develop expanded content copy and photos about successfully working with yeast. Your visitors will now be in the situation of having their questions pre-addressed and it shows that you are in synch with their concerns.

FAQ use provides you with a gauge of what you need to explain and can help you set the future direction of your site.