According to the SEMrush study, they indicate that the “People Also Ask” option is an important function in SEO and in content strategies in recent years, through this study it was confirmed that this option is essential since 2015 (the first time that was tested). Search engine query statistics have increased by 40% to 42% on desktop and mobile. 

In the study, +800,000 keywords were examined in the results of the Spanish-speaking queries to obtain information on the changes of searches in people through the Google engine and on the construction of the action plan of “People Also Ask” for the SEO of your business. 

The research data was chosen to study and analyze search trends, that is, the keywords were not filtered by length, volume or any other aspect other than that mentioned. That is why in this article you will discover how to improve your company’s SEO. 

What were the results of the “People Also Ask” investigation?

✔ Question boxes are present in half of the 800,000 keyword sample queries. 

✔ Google uses these boxes to polish searches and that there are opportunities for websites to get more visibility in the first list. 

✔ There are opportunities and risks for large brands when it comes to controlling responses based on brand search. 

✔ On the other hand, it is possible to appear on the other side of the user question box and still remain on the first page of Google. 

✔ 64% of times one of these response results appears in the top 3 of Google, obtaining a high level of visibility.

✔ Questions provide 84% openness in the boxes for other user questions. 

✔ Google then collects content in text format to display the above results and 48% of the boxes contain only text. 

✔ There is untapped content such as the videos in the boxes because Google does not select it within this section. 

✔ In other results, “brevity” is the key in the results returned with approximately 41 words. 

What is the “ People Also Ask ” on Google?

If you are sure you are wondering what it means, this option is an interactive result and Google’s own where it shows a box of questions that were asked by other people based on your original query.

By selecting these results, a highlighted answer will be displayed along with a link on the page providing an answer and at the same time generating new questions designed by other users. 

Usually in the main box section you will find between 3, 4 or 5 questions, here we show you statistically how many queries are normally shown in the box. 

Google has had a clear mission and transformation since 2012 to stop being a piece of information only engine and become a knowledge engine, this aims to answer the questions asked by users as quickly as possible through the pages of specific results, force to make only one click per query and find the relevance of the information.

The time to show a result is key in the work of Google and its operation, to reduce and reduce inconvenience in searches Google has developed various strategies. First the knowledge graphs, rich snippets, highlights and today’s topic “user questions”, in this way it is easy to improve SEO for your brand. 

How often do other users’ results appear in PAA?

In the database of keywords, the results of other questions appear in 49.37% on computers or desktops and 57% on cell phones. 

Another result is if we divide the data by 25 specific industries, here it is observed that user questions vary from a minimum of 10% in the Real Estate category to a maximum of 49% in the Science categories. 

This result is a representation with the most common searches and the results displayed statistically. In the news category, approximate time factors are presented so that Google can show it in highlights or on Twitter cards.

Another search is Real Estate that are similar to apartments (place), these have a clear search intention and are one of the few that yield ten blue links, within this category 6,000 apartment phrases were examined and a percentage was obtained minimum of other questions by users. 

Understanding the importance of the results of other questions helps to improve and refine SEO strategies and content. 

Where do the box or user questions appear? 

Most of the time (50.27%) the question box appears in the first organic result regardless of a “blue link” as featured snippets. 

Many times 64% of the time the questions in the box appear in the first 3 results of Google, this makes it one of the most visible searches. 

Can PAA results help you rank on the main page 2 times?

Staying or positioning yourself in the first Google list is also possible when you are inside the question box, contrary to the featured content. In the cases of the web, 19% affirm that while they have a presence in the additional question boxes they can also be within the top 3 in the Google ranking. 

 However, the other case is presented where 59% of the websites found in the boxes are not present in the first list of Google results, this leaves as evidence that websites can occupy a significant position in this sector of questions as well as the featured snippets. 

What is the effect on the length of the query in the PAA boxes?

These results in the “other questions from users” section are displayed a greater number of times for long keywords and complex searches. Thus, more than 68% of keywords with 10 words generate a part of the PAA boxes, this has an opposite effect to queries with 3 words that occupy 35% of the question section. 

Length of other queries by questions and featured snippets

The so-called featured snippets or Feature Snippets will have a result of 0 in searches in most cases, this is because Google has the job of responding immediately to the queries made. 

Within the research, it was presented that the data shown marked a relationship with the search length, the highlighted fragments and the users’ question box. Next we will show the probability that a Feature Snippet is activated together with a PAA

It can be seen that as the difficulty increases in word numbers, the query becomes specific and the complexity increases for Google to do the work, therefore, it is more likely that there are no results for the question. Thus, these questions may also appear within the PAA box. 

What kind of queries do other user questions generate?

The questions that generate the most results of this type are those that usually begin with the words “what, why, when and / or who”. 86% of the queries that start with the mentioned words generate questions apart from other users. 

It is the same with the highlighted fragments, these data suggest that the content be structured based on the question that is being answered and not focus on the reader understanding the article. This format is standalone and can be used in featured snippets as well as other question boxes. 

Clarify queries with other user questions

As we mentioned before, Google has gradually improved the redefinition of queries, within these we find the PAA boxes, Google suggestions in the search bar and the “People Also Ask” section, all 3 are designed for the same function which is to improve the results that Google returns. 

There is a small percentage of 1% where Google decided to show the PAA option as the first result of the query, this is an opportunity for websites that want to occupy a position in the search results and somehow may fall into authority sites, due to Google links these topics to specific questions. 

In the research, data collection was carried out based on questions that contain highlighted fragments and terms that include PAA results. 

The data indicates that the featured snippets are targeted and created less frequently in the “other user questions” section that usually appear alongside maps and other queries, this leads to the deduction that this section acts as a query clarifier for questions Google has a hard time interpreting. 

What do the PAA results contain?

The research data mentions that there are 4 types of sections that are displayed when you click on the questions in the PAA. 

As with featured snippets, 75% of PAA results have paragraphs retrieved from the website, followed by lists, videos, and 25% of tables combined. Thus, the total of 43% of results are focused exclusively on paragraphs or 54% have at least 1 paragraph along with other content. Next, the results will be indicated by content

This data shows the potential of this type of content and states that texts are more optimized than unordered lists, videos or tables. In addition, as observed, the Google robot can benefit the video format in relation to the text. 

Analysis of the length of the PAA text

-The PAA paragraphs are the longest answers in the database in a set of only 132 words and the smallest of a single word. In the same way as with the optimization of featured snippets, the number of words in a paragraph is based on the answer to the question asked in order to appear in the table of other questions from users. 

-List of PAA, as clarified at the beginning of the article in the research carried out by SEMrsuh, a database that exceeded a minimum of 2 and 5 elements was not used, which is why it is unlikely that results of lists greater than 8. 

PAA table, the data showed that the tables in other questions despite appearing less times show more data, these can appear in 7 rows and 2 columns. The tables in other queries show tables with a minimum of 1 column and 2 rows.

Take advantage of the “People Also Ask” feature 

Boosting the website next to the user’s query destination returns to the preferred page for recommending or throwing similar solutions, also, having a section with general questions helps these users become customers. 

Due to the increase in PAA boxes and the competition that appears in a prominent place in the search results it is essential that an action plan is created and used to achieve this section. 

Get a description of the SERPs 

To do this, you must use a positioning tracking tool, so you can begin to detect if the keywords activate the characteristics of the SERP. You must use filters and choose the option “other questions from users”. In this you can compare competitor sites with the specific keyword and detect whether or not they occupy a site in the SERP. 

Find missed opportunities

Check if your website lacks opportunities through the research tool and thus define where the keywords that are classified in the domain do not generate PAA results. 

Stand out from the competition

If you have a hard time outperforming your competition in Google results positions, the above questions may help you. 

The organic research tool can detect the keywords that competitors do not make appear in the SERPs and take advantage of that free niche. 

Get content ideas to win other questions on the SERP

To get a lot of ideas you can use the AlsoAsked.com  tool, it offers you Google data regarding the question of other users, including the following result when you click. 

You can also use the questions in the box as a source of ideas, since people search on this topic with recurrence or it is the result most driven by Google 

-Advanced advice within this you can go from the tab called “All” to the “questions” to detect what type of questions generate the PAA boxes. In addition, in this section you can also search for questions asked by voice. 

-Check if your content meets the SEO requirements, since it will not help you activate or position yourself in the SERP, for that reason if you want your content to appear in the box of other questions you must make sure you meet the SEO requirements. 

The importance of defining a strategy for other user questions

It is the intention of satisfaction for users in all SEO activities since if you want to increase the possibility of appearing in the SERP of the search engine it is essential. A key aspect of Google’s strategy to meet user needs is mapping entities and relationships to run knowledge graphs. 

Finally, with everything explained based on research to get a website to appear in the SERPs of search engines or question boxes and increase your visibility, you must first make sure you meet the SEO requirements.