Good morning once again from your This Week in Blogging duo. Chris and Jeremy. 

We hope the last week has treated you well, especially with the arrival of spring. Here's a belated Happy Easter to those who celebrate, as well. 

We can only hope that, like always, we've got a few easter eggs featured here to help you along your way. 

Okay, we promise -- no more Easter puns. 

Building FAQs for Today's Content Landscape

We talk a lot about FAQs off-handedly (basically, addressing frequently asked questions in your content), but we thought it was high time we devoted a feature to them.

FAQs were a hot ticket item in the old blogging world, but the conversation is being revived for rather obvious reasons -- AI Search is drawn to FAQs like flies are to sugar water. 

• As usual, we're not suggesting that FAQs are a replacement for unique, quality content, but rather a complement to it. After all, if we all choose to slim our content down to glorified FAQs, then we're essentially becoming poor LLMs ourselves.  
• What we expect is that Search will continue to become more conversational. We're seeing that in how people are able to engage with maps, with websites, in Search, and more -- and having strong FAQs (and simply having a strategy) can be a part of ensuring you're part of the conversation. 
• We're going to break down some strategies for creating a strong FAQ section, but we do feel it's worth mentioning that, in some sense, FAQs are beyond just your site now. How you answer questions publicly (on Reddit, on social media, on review sites etc.) can play a part in how you show up in Search results (especially if you're consistent). We're living in a world of macro thinking when it comes to content. 

Now let's get into the practical and the pragmatic. 

• Typically, you're going to include your FAQ section at the bottom of your article, and it's meant to not only reaffirm some of the information you've included thus far, but also to act as a catch-all for any remaining questions. 
• If you haven't implemented FAQs before, why not try identifying some "low-hanging fruit" (let's say articles that appearing on page 2, but haven't quite "broken through" yet), adding FAQ sections to 5 or so articles, and then tracking the results on analytics? Give yourself a month, and see if anything has changed. 
• With FAQs, the most common misconception is essentially summarizing or repeating what's in the article already. You can clarify some of what you've written, but you're ultimately trying to expand on the topic. 
  • That being said, sometimes it can be quite simple. If you're writing about a theatre, for example, then some of your FAQs will naturally be around opening hours, ticketing, schedule etc. 

• The amount of FAQs you answer will depend on the size of the article and the topic, but aiming for 5-10 questions, give or take 50 words each, isn't a bad starting point. 
• Generally speaking, FAQs should be concise and actionable. 

Alright, so how do you know what FAQs to include?

• It would be somewhat ironic if we said "use AI" and left it at that, but you can use AI with intention. Instead of saying "what FAQs would you include in an article on X?," copy and paste your article into ChatGPT or Claude, note your underlying intention with the article and what you're trying to achieve for your audience, then ask what questions you could include? Pro tip: ask what FAQs aren't addressed in other frequently sited articles (as this could help you rank better, and differentiate yourself). 
• Generally speaking, when you're crafting FAQs, it's never a bad idea to look at common issues people are experiencing on social media and in forums (Reddit, Quora, Yelp). You may find that a particular restaurant regularly runs out of a dish, their hours aren't listed correctly, or they have recurring specials that aren't noted elsewhere. If you can answer some of these questions, you could become the go-to. 
• This all kind of applies to the realm of "They Ask, You Answer" philosophy that many modern SEOs talk about. 
• Search Engine Land talks about one other place that you may not have thought of when it comes to creating FAQs -- reviews. If you're writing about a particular destination, a brand, or an experience, what do the reviews say about where there was a lack of clarity, and how can you incorporate that into your FAQs? 
• Bloom Tools also mentions that you shouldn't hesitate to include links in your FAQ where necessary, as this can increase click-through on your site, as this can combat the "zero-click search" era we're in. 
• Finally, if you're a bit more tech savvy, don't overlook adding schema markups to get your FAQ questions coded via structured data, too. 

That's probably a good place to leave it for today, but we hope we've given you a base to think about FAQs, and perhaps to do a little testing to see if you can achieve some better results on the SERPS and through LLMS. 

Anthropic's No Good Very Bad Week

• Well, it was bound to happen, and Anthropic seemingly accidentally leaked its own Claude Code source code. Whoopsies.
• Naturally, they were pretty quick to try and contain it and that went about as well as you could expect.
• So what was in it? There are a LOT of pieces out there breaking down the findings, like this one from Tech Insider.
• But, as with all things, life goes on. Shifting to Google news now, and ad network Raptive has broken down findings from the Google Discover update.
• Axios has recently evaluated how search traffic has changed in recent years, and to no one's surprise, small publishers were hit the hardest.
• We're still waiting on the March Core Update to end, but an initial loser seems to be none other than Grokipedia. Because something something original content something.
• There has been a long-standing bug in Search Console that increased impression counts, and that has seemingly been fixed.
• Google has a new blog post about all the capabilities of Google Vids, but, of course, it is all AI.
• If you're rocking Trial Reels on Instagram, you will be getting the option to schedule them now. Also, if you do well with Trial Reels, email us because we have questions.
• Although Australia's teen social media ban is in effect, 70% of teens still use apps.
• If you use Snapchat, they are expanding Creator Subscriptions to more accounts.
• Is TikTok moving to become an everything app, like X is failing to be? It certainly seems so. They're on the hunt to provide financial features in Brazil. Can we just see the content our friends post, please?
• If you're really pro-company and want to thrive on LinkedIn, they just shared some tips to increase your engagement.
• Do you use the Perfmatters WordPress plugin? A vulnerability was found that impacts over 200,000 users.
• As always, we recommend checking out Wordfence's Weekly Vulnerability Report to see all the known vulnerabilities.
• We have some great editorial pieces and guides to finish the week. Up first, Backlinko shares marketing automation statistics.
• Moz has a piece about garbage AI content, which really should just say AI content. The garbage is implied.
• Ahrefs shares what AI writing tools get wrong.
• Search Engine Land has a piece about how you have to define the problems your site solves first, because AI won't figure it out for you.
• They have another piece about how AI search is your new reputation risk.
• Search Engine Journal is also on the AI train this week, sharing how Llms.txt was just the first step, and what comes next.
• Finally, we have a great post in our Facebook group about what to do when another brand plagiarizes you. Head over to our group to join the discussion!

What We're Digging This Week

A Fact Worth Sharing

Opportunities

Another week comes another list of opportunities to check out that we have found across the web!

1. Stay22 is looking for a Manager for Partner Education. 
2. Intrepid Times wants a story from "every country in the world." They pay $100-300 per story. Been to an off the beaten path destination lately?
3. Microsoft is looking for a Communications Manger for their Creator Programs. 
4. This Theme Park Creator is looking for an Editor for Youtube. 
5. Public Opinion wants a NYC based Video Journalist on their team.  The Forward is looking for a similar role in NYC. 
6. Creative Mornings has new listings for jobs in the creative tech space. 

That's it for the week! Check your inbox next week for another update from This Week in Blogging®.

As always, if you have any questions, comments, or feedback, feel free to reply directly to this email. Jeremy is still off grid in Madeira this week, likely kicking back and sipping that fine aged wine, looking at the ocean. So Chris has you covered in our inbox this week if you need anything.

-Chris and Jeremy

PS: Our Buy Me a Coffee ☕ is always available if you'd like to chip in too! We also have a tip jar via PayPal, if you prefer that option, too.

Housekeeping Notes

This Week in Blogging uses Mailerlite to send out the weekly news. Be sure to add team@thisweekinblogging.com to your address book to never miss an update. This Week in Blogging is a registered trademark.

Disclosures: Links inside this newsletter may be affiliate in nature. All opinions are solely by their respective authors. More information can be found in our Terms and Conditions.