How to use PAA to rank high on Google - part 1
- 4 years ago
However, few people have come across infinite PAAs. These occur when you expand a PAA question box to see 2 or 3 other related questions appear at the bottom. These infinite PAA lists can continue into the hundreds, and I've been lucky enough to come across 75+ of these gems!
So, grab a coffee and buckle up! I’d like to take you on a journey of my infinite PAA research, discoveries, machine learning hypothesis, and how you can find PAA opportunities.
Why PAAs should matter to you
AAs have seen a 1,723% growth in SERPs since 7/31/15 via Mozcast! ← Tweet this stat!
Compare that to featured snippets, which have seen only a 328% growth since that timeframe.
Research has also shown that a single PAA can show up in 21 unique SERPs! How 'bout dem apples?! PAA opportunities can take over some serious SERP real estate.
My infinite PAA obsession
These mini-FAQs within search results have fascinated me since Google started testing of them in 2015. Then in November 2016, I discovered Google's PAA dynamic testing:
The above infinite PAA expanded into the hundreds! This became an obsession of mine as I began to notice them across multiple devices (for a variety of different searches) and coined them “PAA Black Holes.”
I began saving data from these infinite PAAs to see if I could find any patterns, explore how Google might be pulling this data, and dive deeper into how the questions/topics changed as a result of my expanding question boxes, etc.
After seeing a couple dozen infinite PAAs, I began to wonder if this was actually a test to implement in search, but several industry leaders assured me this was more likely a bug.
They were wrong.
Infinite People Also Ask boxes are live
Now integrated into U.S. SERPs (sorry foreign friends, but get ready for this to potentially migrate your way) you can play with these on desktop & mobile:
Why does Google want people to spend more time on individual SERPs (instead of looking at several)? Could they charge more for advertisements on SERPs with these sticky, expansive PAAs? Might they eventually start putting ads in PAAs? These are the questions that follow me around like a shadow.
3 big infinite PAA discoveries:
#1 - Google caters to browsing patterns in real time
It took me a while to grasp that I can manipulate the newly populated question boxes based on what I choose to expand.
Below, I encourage more Vans-related PAAs by clicking “Can I put my vans in the washing machine?” Then, I encourage more “mildew”-related ones simply by clicking a “How do you get the mildew smell out of clothes” PAA above:
Another example of this is when I clicked “organic SEO” at the very top of a 100+ PAA Black Hole (the gif would make you dizzy, so I took a screenshot instead). It altered my results from “how to clean leather” to “what is seo” and “what do you mean by organic search”:
#2 - There are dynamic dead ends
When I reach an exhaustive point in my PAA expansions (typically ~300+), Google will prompt the first two PAAs, as in: “W
So, grab a coffee and buckle up! I’d like to take you on a journey of my infinite PAA research, discoveries, machine learning hypothesis, and how you can find PAA opportunities.
Why PAAs should matter to you
AAs have seen a 1,723% growth in SERPs since 7/31/15 via Mozcast! ← Tweet this stat!
Compare that to featured snippets, which have seen only a 328% growth since that timeframe.
Research has also shown that a single PAA can show up in 21 unique SERPs! How 'bout dem apples?! PAA opportunities can take over some serious SERP real estate.
My infinite PAA obsession
These mini-FAQs within search results have fascinated me since Google started testing of them in 2015. Then in November 2016, I discovered Google's PAA dynamic testing:
The above infinite PAA expanded into the hundreds! This became an obsession of mine as I began to notice them across multiple devices (for a variety of different searches) and coined them “PAA Black Holes.”
I began saving data from these infinite PAAs to see if I could find any patterns, explore how Google might be pulling this data, and dive deeper into how the questions/topics changed as a result of my expanding question boxes, etc.
After seeing a couple dozen infinite PAAs, I began to wonder if this was actually a test to implement in search, but several industry leaders assured me this was more likely a bug.
They were wrong.
Infinite People Also Ask boxes are live
Now integrated into U.S. SERPs (sorry foreign friends, but get ready for this to potentially migrate your way) you can play with these on desktop & mobile:
Why does Google want people to spend more time on individual SERPs (instead of looking at several)? Could they charge more for advertisements on SERPs with these sticky, expansive PAAs? Might they eventually start putting ads in PAAs? These are the questions that follow me around like a shadow.
3 big infinite PAA discoveries:
#1 - Google caters to browsing patterns in real time
It took me a while to grasp that I can manipulate the newly populated question boxes based on what I choose to expand.
Below, I encourage more Vans-related PAAs by clicking “Can I put my vans in the washing machine?” Then, I encourage more “mildew”-related ones simply by clicking a “How do you get the mildew smell out of clothes” PAA above:
Another example of this is when I clicked “organic SEO” at the very top of a 100+ PAA Black Hole (the gif would make you dizzy, so I took a screenshot instead). It altered my results from “how to clean leather” to “what is seo” and “what do you mean by organic search”:
#2 - There are dynamic dead ends
When I reach an exhaustive point in my PAA expansions (typically ~300+), Google will prompt the first two PAAs, as in: “W