How to Rank in People Also Ask: Tips, Examples, Tools + Checklist

People Also Ask (PAA) is a rich snippet feature in Google that answers other questions a searcher may have that’s relevant to their initial query. Learn how PAA works and how to win it to drive more traffic to your website.

Imagine this. You’re online performing a search to see who’s competing with your ranked content.

You’re ranked fourth on the first page, while your biggest competitor is showing up in the People Also Ask snippet, like they always do.

Now, you’re confused. You’ve worked hard at creating content, you have a good strategy, and you target all the right words. Yet, somehow, you can’t figure out how to rank in People Also Ask.

This guide provides insight into Google search tactics that help you rank in the People Also Ask box.

What is People Also Ask?

People Also Ask (PAA) is a Google rich snippet feature that answers additional questions relevant to a user’s search query.

For example, let’s say you’re searching for information on local SEO. In your initial search, you may gather search results for the definition of “local SEO.”

In the box below the first snippet, there’s a PAA box that offers other questions others ask that are related tot he topic of the search results.

In this case, you’ll see HawkSEM shows up in PAA for “How do you add local SEO?” It optimized this piece of content to show up in this box of related questions.

How to rank in the People Also Ask box

To rank in People Also Ask snippets, put together a great content and SEO strategy. Here’s how to get started.

1. Conduct keyword research

Use keyword research tools like Semrush, Ahrefs, or Keyword Planner to discover the appropriate keywords to use. These tools identify the user’s search intent and reveals relevant questions you should answer in your content.

Finding those specific questions, or long-tail keywords, can also inform how you create your content. Try to rank for keywords with high search volume and low keyword difficulty

2. Create quality content

To create the proper content PAA schema, focus on genuinely answering your user’s queries. If you answer the query effectively, you have better chances of getting them to click through to your content.

“Content is the main driver for ranking under the “People Also Ask” section of Google,” says Rambod Yadegar, President of HawkSEM. “

If your content is packed with relevant info, provides value add, covers the topic extensively, and offers “bonus” content around the topic, you’re positioning your site to be listed under the people also asked section.”

Make sure your content is well structured, easy to read, and provides value.

3. Make question-based headings

Since long-tail keywords can be difficult to naturally incorporate into your content, position them as headings instead. Using H2s and H3s not only improves readability for the user, it also structures your content so it’s easy for Google to understand.

4. Answer questions directly

Think about what you look for when you ask Google a question. You’re looking for a simple, glanceable answer, right? It’s the same in this case. You want to provide a quick and concise answer to the question, something that can be summarized in a sentence or brief paragraph, so it’s easy to extract from your content.

5. Apply schema markup

People Also Ask schema requires the same process of creation as any other rich result does. Some websites offer plugins or built in tools that automatically generate the schema for you. If you’d like to manually code your own, you can use a schema markup generator.

6. Improve website SEO and update content

As we know, Google loves when marketers and brands are actively involved in their website’s success. So if you have web pages or blog posts that need updates, get them going. If you’re low on relevant backlinks and need more link juice, start investigating backlink opportunities.

Improving any on-page, off-page, or technical SEO issues can greatly improve your chances of showing up in search results. You can also use AI-powered optimization tools like Clearscope.

At HawkSEM, all of our clients benefit from the data pulled from ConversionIQ (CIQ), our proprietary software we use to improve website and landing page SEO.

7. Observe and analyze competitors

See who and what is ranking in the PAA box. Examine the content that ranks there — analyze their website metrics and SEO mistakes, and see how competitors answer questions people ask.

For instance, if you see bullet or numbered lists, then use the same format. Or if you see a simple paragraph, then opt for that instead.

8. Keep tracking performance

The only way to see results is to constantly monitor your progress. Tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console show what’s resonating with users and what isn’t. From there, refine your content and focus it more to help acquire those PAA positions.

Once you’ve a set plan for your content, put proper tracking in place to accurately measure the ROI of specific campaigns. We use ConversionIQ (CIQ) to track our campaigns.

Need help ranking in People Also Ask and other rich results? Learn how HawkSEM helped Happy Ears Hearing grow organic traffic by 396%, while increasing conversions by 44%. Contact us to see how we can improve your rankings as well.

17 quick steps to creating content that ranks in PAA

Google loves structured content that’s well formatted and readable. User’s love it too. And with humans’ short attention spans, it’s important to break up content and make it more digestible.

This is because only 27% of people thoroughly consume content. This means the other 73% are skimming your content for important details. If you have a giant wall of text, you’ll likely lose the reader.

Here are a few quick steps to create content that ranks in PAA:

1. Understand your audience
2. Optimize your mobile SEO
3. Identify the primary keyword and supporting relevant keywords
4. Avoid keyword stuffing
5. Have a compelling and optimized headline and tagline
6. Use jump links or a table of contents
7. Write a eye-catching introduction
8. Use headers and subheaders (H2s, H3s, and H4s)
9. Use bulleted lists for items of two or more
10. Use shorter paragraphs and sections
11. Include high quality images, relevant videos, infographics, and other visual elements
12. Add alt text to your images
13. Include definitions or direct answers to questions
14. Implement external and internal links
15. Shoot for a lower Flesch Reading Ease score
16. Identify which rich result you want to rank for
17. Proofread and edit
18. Always keep updating your content

Great content is readable, searchable, and valuable. Without those three elements, your content strategy will suffer and you’ll risk losing your rank to a main competitor.

How does the People Also Ask SERP feature work?

The PAA answers are algorithmically generated based on several factors. It starts with using schema markup, which is structured data that better tells the search engine about your content.

SERP features are dynamic and interactive. The PAA box, for example, will generate more related questions as you investigate current options. The results in the People Also Ask box populate with content that’s indexed and ranking.

People Also Ask Google snippets can also:

• Appear in different search positions of SERPs
• Have varying formats
• Always trigger the same answer from the same source

Here are examples of how they appear in each scenario.

Showing up in different positions of SERPs

Depending on the search query, a searcher may see the People Also Ask box in the second position on search like the “local SEO” example below.

Or at the end of the page, like in this “blog post templates” example.

Depending on the query, the location of the user, search history, and the nature of the query, the PAA box may not show up in SERPs at all.

Having varying formats

Depending on the target keyword and search intent, the user will find different results in Google’s People Also Ask.

For example, users may find a video or image in the PAA box.

Others may see a short paragraph with their answer, or a bullet list of information like this example on “how to make cupcakes.”

Common questions may also appear as a table of information, like in this example of “the fastest toy car.”

The same answer from the same source

No matter how a user asks the question, Google will always pull from the same source.

In this first example, when we search “how to make fluffy cupcakes,” this blog post shows up in the People Also Ask questions.

In a different search query, “fluffy cupcake recipes,” with the same search intent, the source for the answer was the same.

For nearly every instance in a Google SERP for the PAA, the generated answer will always pull from other queries if it’s already been pulled before.

Why should I care about ranking in People Also Ask?

Optimizing your content to show up in featured snippets is important because they account for over 35% of clicks.

Snagging featured snippets, such as PAA, also:

• Increases visibility: Showing up in these snippets offers a greater chance of your content getting clicked.
• Generates organic traffic: Featured snippets provide answers quickly. So if the user finds the initial portion of the answer useful, they may click into your content to keep reading.
• Improves credibility: The higher you are in search engines, the better your credibility is perceived. Snippets can act as an accolade for your content’s quality.
• Offers a competitive advantage: If your SEO is superb and your competitors aren’t showing up in People Also Ask or other featured snippets, you have the advantage.
• Improves voice optimization: These questions are normally direct, making them ideal for voice search, which is becoming more common.
• Sheds light on user intent: The popular questions found in People Also Ask can tell you a lot about the user’s interests and other information they’re searching for.
• Gives more content strategy insights: Analyzing PAA in search results can spark new content ideas.

People Also Ask, and other rich snippets like FAQ, can expand your content’s visibility. Plus, it can aid content creation, making it easier for people to discover and notice your brand. If done correctly, you may see an increase in click-through rates and conversions.

If you care a lot about ranking in PAA, but need some support, request a consultation with HawkSEM today.

Best People Also Ask tools to help you rank

Luckily, you won’t have to conduct your research manually. There’s an abundance of tools that can help you win the PAA position.

Here are some of our favorite tools.

1. Semrush

Semrush’s all-in-one toolkit includes features like keyword research, site audit, competitor analysis. There’s even a feature for identifying questions related to your target keywords.

• Pricing: Between $129.95 and $499.95 per month
• Pros: Great for competitor analysis; reliable keyword and backlink data
• Cons: A bit expensive for small businesses and has a steep learning curve for beginners

2. Ahrefs

Ahrefs offers a suite of SEO tools like Keyword Explorer, which finds questions related to specific keywords. It also offers site auditing, backlink analysis, and competitor insights that may be useful for ranking in PAA

• Pricing: Between $99 and $999 per month
• Pros: Great backlink and keyword database, easy and intuitive user interface
• Cons: Higher cost for enterprise and some features may be complex for beginners

3. AnswerThePublic

The AnswerThePublic tool specializes in taking a seed keyword and finding questions, prepositions, comparisons, and alphabetical keyword suggestions.

• Pricing: Freemium subscriptions available; Between $9 and $199 per month
• Pros: Easy to use with great reporting features and great for brainstorming content ideas
• Cons: Very limited features especially for the free version

4. BuzzSumo

BuzzSumo’s question finder tool helps marketers and brands uncover popular questions from various platforms across the internet.

• Pricing: Between $199 and $999 per month with a 30-day free trial
• Pros: An easy to use resource for social insights and content trends
• Cons: Focuses primarily on content and social media trends and may pose issues if users are looking for traditional SEO metrics

5. AlsoAsked.com

AlsoAsked.com is a tool specifically providing “People Also Ask” data. It demonstrates how questions are topically grouped and how each question branches into other relevant and specific queries, making it the ideal People Also Ask SEO tool.

• Pricing: Free to use with limitations; paid plans are between $15 and $59 a month
• Pros: Easy to use, affordable, and dedicated to collecting PAA data
• Cons: Limited functionality outside of PAA. Compared to larger SEO tools, there’s less comprehensive data.

It’d be ideal to use a few of these tools simultaneously, if your budget allows for it. Before choosing a PAA tool, do thorough research. See which option is cost effective and provides long term benefits and results.

Checklist for optimizing content for PAA

Ranking in People Also Ask

• Conduct thorough keyword research using tools like Semrush, Ahrefs, or Google Keyword Planner
• Create high-quality content that directly answers user queries
• Use question-based headings (H2s and H3s) in your content
• Provide direct and concise answers to questions
• Apply schema markup to help search engines understand your content
• Regularly update your website content and improve SEO
• Analyze your competitors who are ranking in the PAA box
• Continuously track your content’s performance using tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console

Content Creation for PAA

• Understand your target audience’s needs and preferences
• Optimize your content for mobile SEO
• Identify and integrate primary and supporting relevant keywords without stuffing
• Craft compelling and SEO-optimized headlines and taglines
• Include jump links or a table of contents for easy navigation
• Write engaging introductions
• Use headers and subheaders (H2s, H3s, H4s) to structure content
• Employ bulleted lists for items
• Keep paragraphs and sections short and to the point
• Incorporate high-quality images, videos, infographics, and other visuals
• Add alt text to images for SEO
• Define or answer questions directly in your content
• Implement both external and internal linking strategies
• Aim for a lower Flesch Reading Ease score for better readability
• Determine the type of rich result you aim to rank for
• Proofread and edit your content thoroughly
• Keep updating your content to maintain relevance

The takeaway

You have the keys to crafting successful SEO-optimized, structured content that addresses the People Also Ask queries. This knowledge will aid you on your journey toward boosting your visibility, credibility, and traffic in PAA.

Remember to focus on competitors and conduct detailed keyword research that enriches your content creation. Your journey to mastering PAA is about understanding and responding to your audience’s needs.

If you need help with building a content strategy that generates organic traffic from the SERPs, including PAA, then consult with our expers for free today.