Google’s “People also ask” boxes are widely discussed within the SEO industry as they take a lot of SERP real estate while providing little to no organic visibility to the publishers’ sites.
That said, “People also ask” listings are probably helpful for Google’s users allowing them to get a better understanding of a topic they are researching. Yet, whether they do send actual clicks to publishers’ pages remains a huge question.
While we have no power over Google’s search engine page elements, our job as digital marketers is to find ways to take any opportunity to boost our clients’ organic visibility.
Is there any way for marketers to utilize this search feature better? Let’s see.
1. Understand your target query intent better
One of the cooler aspects of “People also ask” boxes is that they are dynamic.
When you click one question, it will take you in a new direction by generating more follow-up questions underneath. Each time you choose, you get more to choose from.
The coolest thing though is that the further questions are different (in topic, direction or intent) based on which question you choose.
Let me explain this by showing you an example. Let’s search for something like – “Is wine good for your blood?”
Now try clicking one of those questions in the box, for example, “What are the benefits of drinking red wine?” and watch more follow-up questions show up. Next, click a different question “Is red wine good for your heart and blood pressure?”. Do you see the difference?
Source: Screenshot made by the author, as of Feb 2020
Now, while this exercise may seem rather insignificant to some people, to me, it is pretty mind-blowing as it shows us what Google may know of their users’ research patterns and what may