New SEO: The Art of Giving Quick Answers…

SEO is heavily leaning into answering customers' questions, here's how to do that correctly

Google has been transitioning from being a search engine to an answer engine for about a decade now. AI Overviews have certainly sped up (and messed up) the process.

Watch us discussing this topic here!

What is happening now is that the immediately visible part of the SERP screen is dominated by those quick answers.

Let’s look at a couple of screenshots to give this a bit more context. Here are the desktop results for “What is the ratio of water to quinoa?”

Mobile results are a bit of a mess because AI Overviews do not provide any immediately obvious reference to the source. So the featured snippet link is the only clickable link you can click unless you start scrolling down (yes, get featured):

Now, what is a big takeaway from this?

You need to be answering a lot of questions on your site…

And here are the two main tactical takeaways here:

• You need to be answering actual questions from your customers (not just questions you found using tools. Although, those surely should be included as well. I have listed some cool question tools in a previous episode). Talking to your actual audience (using insights from forums, social media, and real customer interactions) is the way to future-proof your SEO strategy.

• You need to be answering questions in a certain way. More on this below.

1. Give quick, concise answers

Not all questions can be answered quickly but SERP space is limited. Google is always trying to answer anything within a sentence or two. To make it easier for Google to grab an answer for your page, this is your goal: Give a quick answer first.

You can elaborate further in many paragraphs below your quick answer depending on how much you need to say to provide a really helpful answer. But to accommodate both (your site users and Google), start with a quick answer and then elaborate.

The ideal format here is:

1. H2/H3 subheading to ask a question

2. 1-2 sentences answering that question in the most helpful way

3. More paragraphs providing a more detailed answer (if needed)

2. Get very factual / Intent-based

Have you noticed the most useful part of the answer highlighted by Google in the screenshots above?

That’s what you strive for.

When you are in the niche for a while, you know what people actually need to know when asking a question.

You need to give them that answer right away.

It’s not only good for SEO: Your leads, clients and readers will appreciate that too.

• If the implied answer is a number, give a number. This also includes pricing-related questions (the most common, and best-converting type of questions). Even if there’s no easy answer, give an estimate or a range. THEN explain how pricing works.

• If a question seems to imply a process, list the steps. THEN elaborate on each step.

• If a query seems to be very 101, give a clear definition that is easy to understand for a beginner.

• If a question seems to explore all the options, create a clear list, THEN elaborate on the pros and cons of each option. Better yet, conclude with a comparison table of the options, pricing, pros/cons and notes on each option.

Use our custom GPT for more insights on how to adjust your answering strategy to your target audience.

Again, this strategy is not just for Google. When I started blogging, I became known for reviewing and comparing tools. I always tried to make it easier for my readers to choose an option that would work better for their needs. So I created comparison tables, added annotated screenshots, etc. Those listicles were so user-friendly that they launched my personal brand. Rankings came after recognition.

Keep an eye on the answers Google currently gives.

From a decade of successfully optimizing for featured snippets, I know Google may change its mind on what the best quick answer to any query could be.

But still, it is useful to search for your important queries (as well as queries you are losing rankings for) and check how those quick answers (featured snippets, AI overviews, People Also Ask, etc.) are evolving.

If you need me to analyze your SEO opportunities and create a content strategy for your brand, reach out!