Best answer and SEO

[Abhi]

This is nothing new. Since some time, Google is showing answers in the search results page itself. And now they are prompting webmasters to mark the _best answer_ in a discussion. Hopefully, that will end up in Google search result page as an answer to the query.

It is helpful to the end-user when you are looking for something. There will be a topic with lots of replies and the user gets confused. Once you have a _best answer_ mark, it is quite easy for them to identify the answer.

What is your take as a webmaster on this SEO trick ?

 

[admin]

Do it or Google will hate you for it. It will make your URL visible on top of the search page. Yes, there is a good chance that they will never enter in your website. But if Google puts your URL on top of their search page, there is good chance that for other irrelevant results, you might get good ranking. In areas where you do not have strong SEO or popular keywords.

 

[Abhi]

> @admin Do it or Google will hate you for it.

Is it ?

> @admin for other irrelevant results, you might get good ranking.

Sounds like a deal.

 

[admin]

Email is also a fine choice if you can play it right. No one wants to put their private information in the hands of Google or Microsoft. Gmail will even finish what you are writing in a reply. So it reads the whole emails, learn the meaning and even suggest to complete it for you.

 

[Abhi]

I see more and more CMS allowing users to mark " Best Answer ". Looks like it is going to stay.

 

[admin]

I get that a lot too. That fits fine if you are into a Q/A mode. Otherwise it will only be a procedure that either staff or the thread starter does.

 

[phenomlab]

> @admin So it reads the whole emails, learn the meaning and even suggest to complete it for you

And there goes your privacy

 

[admin]

We never had privacy. During the old days, people complain about having their letter opened before delivery. It has only changed to electronic means.

 

[Abhi]

Today I found out that Flarum has a `Best Answer` plugin. It is wonderful to have something _on the edge_ when the core itself is going through the development phase. It is a much better option than adding a `Solved` tag for Q&A websites.

 

[admin]

Flarum had it before as well. I saw it some 6 months back. I wanted to add it here now that it is available on this platform. But the more the plugins, the more it takes toll on loading speed of the page. Let us go with the minimum for some time. But nice pick, it is definitely useful.