How to Rank Higher in the “People Also Ask” Section of Google?

May 10, 2023 | Digital Marketing

Have you ever thought of making your content rank higher in people also ask Google? Do you know the significance of “people also ask boxes”? Why are most website owners running to improve their visibility in “people also ask Google”?

why GIF

Because “People Also Ask” has great significance for your website. It is particularly a Google SERP section that contains featured snippets, i.e., answers for the organic search of the users.

Each PAA listed in Google is routed from a specific web page. By clicking on the down arrow, you get to know about that particular web page.

People Also Ask

Website ranking in People Also Ask

A small surprise for you. You can evaluate those websites and fetch their SEO performance, speed, traffic, visitors, rank, and other insights. That too for FREE!

RankWatch offers this exclusive feature with an SEO web page analyzer that resides in the list of its free tools. 

How is “People Also Ask” Significant For Your Website? 

“People Also Ask” is significant because it comes up with answers that very much relate to users’ search queries.

Let’s understand this with the help of an example.

Suppose a user is searching for a “Cloud Computing Solution.” 

Let’s check out what are the PAAs available for these queries. 

  1. What are cloud computing solutions?
  2. What are the 4 types of cloud computing?
  3. What are the three common cloud computing solutions?
  4. What is an example of cloud computing?

You can get a clear understanding from this list that PAAs are strongly related to users’ search queries, and it is fundamentally co-related to the queries that most people also search for.

So, the major benefits of getting ranked in the PAA section are:

  1. Strongly related to search queries
  2. Gain a few additional clicks
  3. Uplift the trust factor of your brand 
  4. Identify new relevant topics that people also search for

How to Optimize for People Also Ask Section in Google?

Optimize PAA section of Google

Appearing in the “People Also Ask” Google section is challenging because there is no hard and fast rule for it. 

Also, you will find that PAA boxes might differ from user to user for the same query. Further, the questions of the PAA section may differ from location to location for a particular query. 

Plus, the number of questions that appear in the PAA boxes keeps on fluctuating from a few variations on the search topic to a very long list.

Seems tiring right? Well, it sure is!

However, there are several things you can do to improve your chances of ranking in the PAA box.

How?

How GIFs

Don’t worry! RankWatch is here to help you. We got everything in our tool.

Focus on Long Tail Keywords

Long tail keyword focus

Your target keyword set must have Google People Also Ask optimization potential. Shorter “head keywords” (search queries of one or two words) are quite competitive, so If you are trying to rank in PAA boxes, target “long-tail” keywords. 

These are the search queries with a few phrases or a whole sentence. To research and choose PAA questions for your target keywords, you can do either of the following:

Take help from Google Autocomplete, Related Searches & PAA boxes. Enter the long-tail keyword you’re targeting in the Google search box and get the suggestions.

We know this process can be tiring and time-consuming. That’s why there’s another way to automate this process.

Use RankWatch’s Keyword Research tool to find questions related to your target long-tail keyword. 

Additionally, you get to know the search volume, competition, and CPC.

Question based keywords

These long-tail keywords and in-depth insights can help you build your “People Also Ask” chart and rank better in Google’s PAA section. 

Try to Design Optimized Content 

Optimized content

If you analyze the content that appears in the PAA boxes, you’ll realize that it is short, crisp, and clear. Besides, it comes from sites already ranking in the top 10 search results for the target keyword.

So, your pages should be optimized with target keywords, including the PAA questions you have researched. While doing so, ensure the question answers are brief but complete and in the format that Google expects. 

Here are some tips to help you:

  1. Write in paragraphs
  2. Add tables if needed
  3. Create lists if possible
  4. Incorporate images & infographics
  5. Keep it short and straightforward
  6. Write in a non-promotional language
  7. Use a conversational tone
  8. Keep updating your answers

With all these metrics, you will increase your chances of ranking in PAA boxes for your target keywords!

But how to do it?

You simply need an SEO tool that can help in optimization. 

Our ranking dashboard gives you information on the top landing pages of successful competitors. You can analyze those contents and PAA answers to make a list of your questions.

RankWatch ranking dashboard

As discussed above, Google People Also Ask ranking is closely related to the domains that are already ranking in the SERP algorithm. Thus, stealing away the essence of a competitor’s content will also create a possibility for you to rank higher in the PAA section.

RankWatch ranking snippets

Eventually, when you research the top-notch keywords, landing pages, organic keyword distribution, and high-degree SERP snippets; the PAA developed would be certain to rank higher than usual. 

What more do we have to boost your “people also search for” content? 

The most phenomenal feature for this scenario that we have is SEO IQ. 

SEO IQ analyzes the fundamental insights of a page, including page elements, size, speed, characters, recommendations, and many more. These insights are evaluated to build up an SEO score that determines the relevancy of your page. 

With the readability score, optimization status, and other recommendations, you can develop your PAA list accordingly. 

Find Pages that Rank by Virtue of High Volume Keywords

High volume keywords

You can find the questions on PAA boxes that are ranking due to high relevant keyword volume. By analyzing those questions and keywords, you can prepare your questionnaire chart that could rank higher as per the SERP algorithm. 

You can also explore the trending domain and fetch an organic report of their keyword volume to formulate the list of your “People Also Ask” SEO questions.

Firstly, You need to analyze the competitors over here. 

Why? Because without analyzing the competitors, you cannot know which pages are ranking and which keywords are making those pages rank higher.

RankWatch competitor analysis

Post analyzing the competitors with the RankWatch competitor analysis feature, you fetch actionable insights like top-ranking URLs, ranking keywords, high-level snippets, ranking tags, and many more.

These overviews can assist you in framing the “People Also Ask” list that can probably rank better in the SERP algorithm.

Develop Well-strategized FAQs

Develop strategized FAQs

Yes, FAQs on your site boost your chances of showing up in the PAA boxes for your target keywords. 

You can either add the questions you’ve researched to your blog posts or create a separate FAQ section for them on your site. Whichever way you go, add FAQ schema or structured data in your FAQ text. If everything is on-point, ranking in PAA boxes will be easy.

Answer Queries Related to Brands

These are low-volume queries but produce a high chance of making your webpage rank in the PAA section. Despite being at the bottom of the marketing funnel, these brand-related questions are potentially capable of uplifting your website.

Let’s understand this with the help of an example. For instance, we are searching for a cloud computing solution. How to target the brand queries over here?

Brand based People Also Ask

Here, Amazon has been targeted as a brand query to engage the users. 

And if you don’t know how to make your brand a target query, no worries! RankWatch will help you find out. 

We got a feature called SEO IQ. Here you get the option to gain a deep understanding of a brand and its domain. You get the option to enter the keyword, URL, and location and click on the search option.

RankWatch SEO IQ given score

Analyzing the page elements, keywords, speed, snippets, and characters; automatically derives a score that can replicate the popularity of the brand. This objective score can conveniently help you determine how you can target your brand in the PAA section. 

How Can PAA Astonish You? 

When you start ranking in the People Also Ask boxes, you’d notice changes in your search performance.

So, there are a few astonishing facts about the “People Also Ask” section of Google that you should know:

Different Positions on the SERP

Different position in SERP

PAA boxes can occupy several positions on the SERP (unlike the featured snippets, which are always at the zeroth position). Sometimes you’ll find them on top, other times in the middle, and sometimes in the end.

But it’s nothing to worry about. PAA boxes attract users irrespective of their position.

Varying Number of Questions

Different number of questions in PAA

The initial questions in the PAA box can expand to a plethora of results (sometimes continuing to hundreds of questions after being clicked) or stay fixed at 3-4 questions only and not change even when a question is clicked on.

This variation is on account of the topic or the search query. If you’re trying to rank in PAA boxes, this can be an opportunity for you!

Questions & Results are Mysterious

Mysterious questions and results in SERP

PAA boxes are composed of questions and results (answers, listing, videos, or featured snippets). 

There are two things about PAA boxes that you must know:

  1. PAA might have the same question and result for closely related or similar queries.
  2. Different PAA questions for a given query or different queries might show the same result.

That means you can rank in PAA for multiple keywords of your interest. All you need to do is target the right questions with your content.

Summing Up!

PAA has only been around for a short period, yet it has quickly become a typical element in Google SERPs. The reason is right here: ranking on the PAA box enhances search visibility and might fetch traffic to the site.

Since Google alone knows how it generates the PAA content, there are no sure-shot methods that will help you out.

But, you need to create good content, optimize it for target keywords, and include people also ask SEO questions wherever possible. 

Keep your site’s SEO on point, and Google’s algorithms will handle the rest. To make the best SEO practice RankWatch comes up with a set of free SEO tools that are paid features for most of our parallel service providers. 

Get the best utility of these RankWatch tools and rank your content higher in people also ask boxes

Hope this blog is informative to you and gives you all necessary insights on Google people also search for. 

Happy Reading!

Share Your Thoughts

Join the Conversation

1 Comment

  1. Great article. It is useful and some new ideas after reading this article are useful and a lot of new things and getting a lot of writing.

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Read more articles

Want to stay on top of the latest search trends?

Get top insights and news from our search experts.

Loading

Try Rankwatch Today For FREE !

Start Your FREE 14 Days Trial

25,000+ Active customers in 25 countries use RankWatch as their primary SEO software