Created in 2015 by Google, the tool People ask too (PAA) or “Other People Also Asked” is intended to reduce the time, effort, and number of clicks between a user and having their request answered.
That’s not all! The PAA can also help you give your natural referencing a good boost. Where to start to benefit from it?
People ask too and SEO: a great duo!
What exactly is the PAA? This is an interactive box that appears on Google’s search results pages and contains questions (often four) that other users have also asked related to the original query. By clicking on one of them, the internet user gets the answer taken from a website together with a link to it.
The PAA feature is not like other search results in that its questions are either featured as snippets (highlighted sections) in the top 3 results or in a box a little further down the first page. This puts them in a prime position to reach as many internet users as possible, close to the zero position at the top of the search results.
While there are no shortcuts in organic SEO, PAA allows your site to take the fast lane and climb the ladder of little blue links at speed.
The real king of featured snippets, PAA appears six times more often on results pages than other snippets highlighted sections, according to a recent study by SEMrush (which is also where the following stats come from). Additionally, a few weeks ago we told you that recent content updates from Google had increased the number of opportunities to appear in PAA.
In short, positioning yourself in CIP has many advantages:
- Improve your natural referencing
- Gain general web visibility
- Increase traffic to your website
- Foil the Zero-Click Searchpotential enemy of your SEO
- Find inspiration for your content creation
With a form that appeals to Google and content that answers its users’ questions, you could be unlocking the SEO potential of the PAA, those two golden acronyms!
Also read: The SEO ABC: How to explain it to your boss
Which factors influence your positioning in the CIP?
In order to appear in a featured snippet or in the coveted interactive box, your website’s pages must be optimized for Google’s algorithms. To do this, observe the basic principles of natural referencing, e.g. B. Demand for keywords and proper formatting of your tags (Title, Meta Description and Hn).
Are you taking action or how are you optimizing your content for display in PAA?
- Create content based on the shape and theme of existing PAAs. To see what’s already out there and what phrases seem to be all the rage, make a habit of checking Google whenever you’re planning your editorial calendar or reviewing your newly written web pages or blog posts.
- Use long strings of keywords to answer complex queries. If you target 5 to 10 words, you have a 41% to 73% higher chance of positioning yourself in PAA. Result? With the accuracy of your answer, you could create a new featured snippet opportunity or even dethrone an existing PAA.
- Borrow (without abusing it!) the question form. With terms like who, what, how, why, where and When In your title and subtitle tags, your content will look similar to search engine queries. A plus, according to Google! This form can easily be integrated into your website pages through an FAQ or tag review of your blog posts!
- Play with the format of your content. Following text is most popular: 79% of AAPs are created from paragraphs that average 41 words or 244 characters. Other layouts work very well too: 14% of AAPs are bulleted lists (around 6 items and 7 words on average), 4% are tables, and 3% are videos.
- Look for missed opportunities – from you or your competitors. Set up a competitive watch and note the occasions when no one in PAA positions themselves on an issue related to your expertise.
- Continuously optimize your content for SEO. Check out these 20 points to make sure you don’t forget anything!
Not only Google has the answer to your questions in the first place, but also our team of specialists. Get your brain going!