We know a lot of our senior living clients and colleagues are paying more attention to SEO these days. That includes the senior engine results page and the “People Also Ask” box.
The COVID-19 pandemic shined a spotlight on just how few providers actually understand digital marketing. Now that it’s become one of the primary sources of leads, it’s time to learn at least a few of the basics.
One question we’ve received more than a few times lately is where the “People Also Ask” (aka PAA) content comes from and how your site can be featured there. So let’s tackle what PAA is and what you can do to increase the likelihood of appearing there.
Understanding Search Engine Results Page (SERP)
Let’s first chat about the different parts of the SERPs…
What you see on the results page can vary greatly by location, industry, and if you are searching on a desktop or mobile device.
Since the majority of senior living searchers are still using a desktop, we’re featuring those results.
You’ll usually see paid Google ads at the top, and many times at the bottom too.
They generally look like this. Typically two or three ads are featured here.
Then what’s known as the “Local Pack” comes next…
It’s a map followed by three local results that Google believes answer your search query. (You’ll often find a cue at the end telling you to click to expand the results.)
On a mobile device, you might see a longer list than three.
What’s frequently next is the section we’re going to focus on in this article.
It’s called the “People Also Ask” Box.
It’s a great place to see other relevant searches and keywords.
Finally, we get to the first of the organic listings as most people think of them…
One factor to note is that by the time you reach the first organic result, you are at least half way down the first page of the search engine results.
Added to that concern is the another one. In nearly every search query we tried, it was a lead aggregator of some type that was at the type of the organic search results.
In many cases, it was one lead gen company after another. APFM followed by Caring.com, followed by SeniorHousing.net… and so on.
But that’s a topic we’ll tackle another day. For now, let’s dig deeper in to the “People Also Ask” box.
Senior Living “People Also Ask” Box
The PPA box starting popping up in results here and there in 2015. Now it’s fairly standard in SERPs for our industry.
Like many things when it comes to Google and SEO, there’s no clear way to tell how sites are selected to answer these questions.
Again, another bummer for our industry is that lead aggregators dominate the answers in the “People Also Ask” box.
What we do know is that lead generator sites tend to have oodles of senior care content that educates visitors and answers questions.
With a few exceptions (like our clients, for example!), senior living providers tend to focus on themselves instead of on providing older adults and their families with resources and information.
So our advice is to answer more questions. Put yourself in a family member’s shoes and start with the basics. Build from there.
Make sure your language is clear and concise. No advertising and no sales jargon. Educate. Answer.
One last tip is to make sure your webmaster adds Q&A schema. (Learn more about what the heck that is here.)
Drop us a note if you have questions or need help creating educational senior living content.