As you develop marketing strategies for your client’s websites, it’s imperative to focus on all angles and possibilities of ensuring their site ranks well in Google SERPs. One option is to be featured in the “People also ask” box. 

This box has a list of questions and drop-down answers where users can find related information quickly. 

You may be concerned that the box will steal your location in SERPs. The short answer is “maybe;” however, if you have your content featured in this section, it may also help boost your brand. 

The Google PAA Box

Google offers this box to answer related questions before users must conduct another search. It includes a list of intuitive guesses that narrow down the search query based on related searches. You can think of this as the “related items” scroller offered on Amazon product descriptions, just for search results. 

The PAA boxes appear in about half of all SERPs, making them a great place to rank. 

Reasons to Rank for the PAA Box

You may wonder why ranking your client’s sites in the PAA is so important. The answer is simple. It allows you to increase overall visibility. In turn, this can increase overall engagement and conversions. 

The PAA box helps to increase visibility by giving you a chance to rank more than one time on the first page of results. While your post may appear on the fourth page organically, if Google puts you in the PAA box to answer one or more questions, you then have several opportunities for users to click the link included on that page. 

If you don’t appear on the first page of results, the PAA box will become an even bigger opportunity. It’s possible to use the position to leverage your content to a higher rank in SERPs by ensuring it is featured in that box. 

This means that you take your link from page two or three and have it appear in results on page one. All this is possible just by answering a related question. When this happens, it means your content is being shown among other authoritative resources available. It’s also in a better position to drive more organic traffic to your website. 

Influencing the PAA Box

You will find a few methods to highlight your content in the PAA box. However, three seem to be more effective than the others. This includes:

  • Creating content that targets questions answered in the box regularly. 
  • Utilizing high-ranked keywords off your website. 
  • Optimize pages using clean code and predictable formatting. 

When it comes to having your site show up in the PAA box, you have to have a strong strategy. However, helping your client rank in this area will pay off in the long run. It will boost visibility and, in some cases, conversions, as long as the content is beneficial, valuable, and quality.  Being informed is the best way to ensure your client’s content is ranked well in SERPs.