Learn about a powerful Google Search feature called the People Also Search For to skyrocket your blog’s SEO.
Suppose you search for a query on Google and click on one of the top results.
However, the result does not satisfy you. Either no relevant content is available online, or your search queries are not precise enough to get the expected result.
How will you know if you can come up with better queries?
The natural course of action will be to find what people also search for in your particular domain.
Then, you get to know the exact keywords or phrases that users use to find something similar to your query.
Such results are exactly what Google gives you through its “People Also Search For(PASF) widget.”
If you fail to find what you expect in the top results, Google provides a list of other popular search queries in its PASF section.
Targeting PASF for your blog’s SEO is a great hack to improve your visibility, even if a user does not use your exact focus keywords.
From this article, we will learn how to target keywords from the “People also search for” section and optimize your blog post for improved SEO.
What is People Also Search For?
The People Also Search For (PASF) is a widget introduced in 2018 as part of Google’s search engine result pages (SERPs).
However, this does not appear immediately like the top search result, Featured Snippet, or the People Also Ask suggestions for a query.
When a user clicks on a result and doesn’t find it satisfactory, the immediate course of action will be to scroll down further to look at more results.
As you scroll, Google floats a section called People Also Search For, with the top popular search queries similar to the user’s query.
Let us see some people also search for examples.
I query, “Is blogging difficult?”
I get the best result on the featured snippet, followed by the People Also Ask (PAA) queries, some videos, and top result pages.
As I scroll down without opening the top results, I see queries containing the keywords I have used in my search query.
When I click on any query in the PASF section, it triggers a new search and provides a new list of SERPs with relevant results.
How does the People Also Search For Widget Work?
The PASF widget consists of a set of popular user queries containing keywords from a search query.
This section comes much after the user has scrolled through the most relevant top results listed by Google on the first page of SERPs.
Scrolling activity on SERPs indicates that a user is not satisfied with the results provided.
They are looking for something different but can’t figure it out.
So, Google uses the keywords from the user’s query to find other popular searches made in different combinations.
PASF consists of popular user-framed queries containing one or more keywords from a search query.
Clicking on each “people also search” option in turn provides a different set of search results that may satisfy a user’s search intent.
Why PASF Widget Important for Bloggers?
As a blogger, I have always emphasized the importance of keywords in blog posts.
Every blog post must have a focus keyword, followed by supporting keywords to enhance semantic relevance.
Moreover, the keyword research process requires various tools and sources to find out what solutions or answers people want.
- The People Also Search For is one of the richest sources to find relevant keywords for your blog post.
- The PASF section consists of popular relevant searches made towards your intended blog topic.
Even if you are unable to rank at the top for your focus keywords, you can rank if your blog is optimized with content for PASF queries.
Naturally, your SEO improves because organic traffic lands at your blog with a strong search intent.
Why Use “People Also Search For” Data for Blog Content Optimization?
If you observe the queries in the PASF section, there will be highlighted words in every query. These highlights are the keywords present in your search query.
So, the PASF section shows the various keyword combinations people use to query with the same search intent as your query.
However, the search results for each of these queries can be different.
There are high chances for your blog not to rank for queries containing your focus keyword.
But your blog can rank for a different keyword combination or some other secondary or long-tail keyword.
Such alternate keywords are best found from PASF insights.
Incorporating keywords obtained from analyzing PASF queries improves your content relevance and quality.
You may include these keywords as H2 or H3 subheadings, add relevant multimedia, and answer them as FAQs.
Also, you must incorporate these keywords naturally at strategic locations along with the main content flow.
Difference between “People Also Ask” and “People Also Search For” Widget
If you have not read my previous article on People Also Ask (PAA), I suggest you have a quick glance or read it in detail once.
Both of these widgets target popular queries made on the topic related to a user’s search query.
Then, aren’t both the same?
Why do we have two different widgets called PAA and PASF?
Let us see the differences between the two.
| S. No | Factor | People Also Ask | People Also Search For |
| 1. | Definition | Consists of queries in a question-like format with inline solutions from the most relevant search result. | Consists of actual search queries made using or targeting a user’s query keywords. |
| 2. | Appearance | Appears in a Q&A format followed by another chain of PAA questions. | PASF consists only of the top few search queries made as-is by users. |
| 3. | Triggering Conditions | Instantly appears on top of search results after the most accurate result(s). | Appears as the user scrolls past the top results, being unsatisfied. |
| 4. | Purpose of these widgets | To enhance the user’s knowledge with detailed information on a query topic. | Helps users re-frame their queries with a new or different perspective. |
| 5. | SEO benefits | Shows bloggers’ domain authority to answer genuine questions asked on a semantically relevant topic. | Provides different keyword combinations to target in your blog post. |
| 6. | How can bloggers leverage it? | Providing answers to PAA questions as blog topics, sub-topics, FAQs, multimedia, etc. | Get insights for different long-tail and secondary keywords to include in a blog post. |
Table showing the differences.
Tools for Analyzing “People Also Search For” Data
Just as there are tools to analyze for People also ask, there are various tools available for people also search for queries.
Most SEO tools have this feature built into their recent updates, so as to make your keyword research and domain analysis easier.
I will list some popular tools that I use and recommend for PASF insights.
Google Search Engine
The most direct way to analyze the best PASF queries for your blog posts is using Google search.
Type your blog post title, focus keywords, or any other format through which you wish users will reach your blog.
Analyze the PASF suggestions for each search you make and find the semantic correlation with your blog topic.
Choose and filter the queries that give potential content or topic opportunities.
SEMRUSH
The Keyword Magic tool has some excellent suggestions for queries similar to Google’s PASF.
When you search for a keyword, you will get a set of metrics like search volume, cost-per-click, etc.
Additionally, several tabs help you with suggestions, like Broad match, phrase match, exact match, and Related.
Here, phrase match comes up with suggestions having words before and after your search keyword.
The Related tab consists of keywords similar to a keyword’s intent, giving you a list of suggestions and their metrics, just like PASF results.
Keywords Everywhere
This is the best free keyword research tool, which surprisingly comes as a Chrome browser extension. The results are shown just as Google search results in SERPs.
Additionally, you get several keyword metrics for the keywords you type.
For instance, if you type a query in the extension’s search box, you will get a set of keywords under the People Also Search for tab.
You get to see the volume, CPC, and competition factor for each PASF keyword that Google would have shown you.
Blog Post Optimization with People Also Search For Data?
Now, you must have understood why it is so important to address what people also search for in your blog posts.
Let us now move on to how we must look for ideas from the rich data we get through PASF.
You may find some similar to what I had covered in People also ask.
Remember that it is important to leverage both PAA and PASF queries and come up with meaningful content.
Follow these steps to optimize your blog posts with keywords from PASF.
1. Identify Relevant PASF Keywords
We had discussed the tools one must use to get PASF queries. If you had read my blog post on keyword research and top SEO tools, you would have come across these tools and their features.
You can use any other keyword research tool to find highly relevant keywords and their traffic metrics.
List out and filter the results from various keyword combinations and phrases you target for your blog posts.
Also, look at the top search results for each of your keywords and corresponding PASF queries.
Analyze how your competitors are treating and inserting those keywords in their blog posts.
2. Incorporating PASF Keywords into Content
Once you get a list of focus, secondary, LSI, and long-tail keywords, you can start planning your blog skeleton with appropriate topics and sub-topics.
Plan on adding your potential keywords to your blog titles, headings, and body text. Recall my blog post on how to add keywords to a blog post.
I will also reiterate the best practices you must follow while including keywords.
Make sure that they appear natural and are not force-fitted just to satisfy the criteria.
Keyword stuffing can lead to serious impacts on your SEO scores and reduce relevance to the original goal of your blog post.
3. Enhancing Content Depth and Relevance
In most cases, the keywords you obtain from PASF analysis have a high potential to become topics and sub-topics for your blog posts.
They could be prerequisites for a particular topic or more detailed topics covering when, what, and why your blog post is significant.
Also, PASF queries consist of various ways to approach a blog post.
If your blog can comprehensively address every possible search intent, it has the potential to rank high for at least one search query.
As a result, organic traffic flocks to you through many possible ways.
4. Optimizing Meta Tags and Descriptions
When a user looks at the results on SERPs, the meta title and the underlying description help them judge if a particular result solves their search intent.
If you make use of keywords obtained from PASF in your meta descriptions, there are chances they might match your user’s intent, even if the keyword isn’t your main focus.
Optimizing your meta title and description is one of the best ways to improve your SEO and satisfy user queries effectively.
I have already covered a blog post on how to craft compelling meta titles and descriptions.
So, incorporating keywords derived from PASF definitely increases your blog’s click-through rates and brings organic traffic.
5. Structuring Content for Better Engagement
It is not sufficient to merely add keywords that you derive from PASF.
As much as you create and explain them as separate topics, you must also add sufficient supporting data for a clear understanding.
Adding flowcharts, short videos, images, infographics, etc., can help readers understand the relevance between various topics.
Your readers will never know about the topic relation or how you derived topics from PASF when you maintain coherence through engaging content.
Also, formatting your content is important to improve readability. Adding bullet points and inline citations helps search engines recognize key points to highlight for relevant searches.
Including an FAQ section and a table of contents with PASF-derived topics can make users quickly jump to what they want to know.
6. Monitoring and Analyzing Performance
Just as in PAA, you can monitor traffic coming to your blog from PASF search queries.
You can set up tracking in Google Analytics or Google Search Console to know the source of your traffic and which pages in your blog attract more traffic.
Also, tools like Ahrefs show the various keywords or topics in your blog posts that bring the most organic traffic.
From these results, you can refine your content and reassess your keywords and their priorities.
Traffic from PASF queries shows that users are coming to your blog post even when they are not using your focus keywords.
Therefore, it is a positive sign that you are targeting a wide range of relevant keywords.
7. Advanced Techniques for PASF Optimization
PASF queries help you get several possible combinations of long-tail keywords for your blog post. Recall or revisit my blog post on long-tail keywords and how they improve your blog’s SEO.
Long tail PASF keywords can definitely improve your chances of visibility for various possibilities of user queries with the same search intent.
Also, creating a schema markup based on relevant PASF queries helps you identify potential topic clusters to address through your blog posts.
PASF is one of the best strategies to target semantic search queries without always targeting keywords from search queries.
Incorporating content related to relevant PASF queries improves the semantic relevance of your blog and increases your rank on SERPs.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Using “People Also Search For”
Like any other SEO quality factor, PASF can cause your blog to get negative SEO scores if you fail to treat the derived keywords properly.
So, keep these points in mind when using People also search for keywords.
- Over-optimization – do not deviate from your blog’s main topic and provide excessive content targeting PASF queries.
- Ignoring user intent – target queries relevant to your blog post and a user’s search intent instead of looking at search volume and other number metrics.
- Failing to update content regularly – search patterns and keywords can change with time and trends. Make sure you rewrite or repurpose your content with the latest PASF queries relating to your blogs.
Conclusion
People Also Search For is a rich and promising section in Google SERPs that is beneficial to both search users and content creators.
It helps bridge the gap between a user’s search intent and the right content by providing various combinations of search queries that people use to find a topic.
Using keyword combinations and queries from the PASF section is a high-traffic-yielding SEO strategy.
You get to understand what exactly most users are searching for related to your blog topic.
PASF is a great area to cover as part of your keyword research and creating a blog skeleton.
You can use most of the popular keyword research tools to get results inspired or directly from PASF queries.
So, do not skip this important section from Google SERPs and optimize your blogs to rank high for as many meaningful search queries.
FAQs
The “people also search for” is a section in Google search results that appears after the top few results for a query. This section contains several ways that people search for the same or similar queries, with minor differences or the addition of keywords.
The queries listed under PASF come from Google’s search statistics databases. Depending on the traffic volume for the various keywords in your search query, Google lists the top 8 queries in PASF. So, the updates are purely based on users and their search patterns.
Ranking among the top results of a PASF query shows that a user has arrived at your blog, even without using your focus keywords. This result is because of the high domain relevance of your content to a user’s search query. So, you can infer that PASF has definitely improved your SEO and, in turn, fetched you a top rank on SERPs.
