Voice search had initially started as a small concept, however today it is one of the most important topics of the search industry. It is very easy to search with the help of voice and most people cannot get enough of it. That’s why local voice search SEO is so important.
The basic concept of voice search had started with smartphones; however, it has escalated to smart speakers as well as voice assistants in the past few years. Today, we can look at the voice search revolution with every generation welcoming the idea of voice search.
With the rise in voice search, it is important to create content that is optimized. Otherwise, one may find it difficult to get organic traction. In this article, we would be talking about local SEO strategies that can be used to capitalize on voice search.
Strategies To Optimize Your Content For Voice Search
In today’s era of voice search, the competition is getting tougher with each passing day. Marketers and agencies such as Stan Ventures are working to optimize the content of their clients for voice search as this would help a business in ranking higher for voice searches while increasing the organic reach.
Below are some proven strategies for voice search optimization that can be put to use:
1. Optimize The Content For Rich Answers
According to a voice search study by SEMrush, it has been found out that 70% of the answers that are returned from voice searches contain a SERP feature. Thus, most of the smart devices that have voice search capability give out similar answers for a particular search query.
The answer received is generally a rich answer to the specific question. To understand this better, it is important to understand the following SEO terms:
- Knowledge Graph – This is the knowledge base of Google which stores as well as absorbs different facts about places, people, and things.
- Knowledge Panel – This is the information that we see in a small box on the right side of the search results while searching for a business on Google. This information is obtained from the Knowledge Graph.
- Knowledge Box – Just like the Knowledge Panel, the knowledge box is the factual information that comes from the Knowledge Graph and appears just like regular search results.
- Featured Snippet – Featured Snippets display the information that comes from a third-party source. These are displayed on the top of the organic results with attribution to the source. This provides users with concise and quick answers.
- Rich Answer – If a search result has any of the above features, it is referred to as a rich answer. Google aims to provide the best experience to the user and thus it displays rich answers to the questions.
2. Use Google My Business Listings
Most of the people use voice search for “near me” searches. The main factor which determines whether a business can rank for such searches or not is the Google My Business listing. This listing is an effective way for Google to know whether the business is located at a specific place or not.
When a user asks Google for a similar business in an area, your business can rank for that particular search query. You can also check the status of your website using the Google Search Console.
The Name, Address, and Phone Number (NAP) of the business should be included in the listing. Additionally, one needs to choose the right category of business in addition to providing the correct area code.
One can also include posts that have special deals, updates, or news to make the business stand out from the others. So, in case your business does not have a Google Business listing, you must get one today. This will improve your local SEO, and one can see positive results immediately.
Another way that a business can rank for “near me” searches is to go for local keywords and get higher search rankings. A business can take the help of an agency such as our friend that provides affordable local SEO services or local SEO here in St. Louis to get at the top of the search results.
3. Give Attention To Mobile
In 2019, all the big announcements of Google were directly or indirectly related to mobile or mobile tools. Google gives importance to the mobile experience and wants to make it better. Mobile beats other devices in case of voice search queries as most of the verbal questions are asked on mobile.
One should be prepared to give an amazing mobile experience to the users. Create content that is mobile-friendly using a mobile-first approach. This can be done through the following points:
- Build a mobile-responsive website.
- Conduct a mobile-friendly test for the website and optimize it accordingly.
- The website needs to be crawlable to ensure visibility as well as exposure to the content. (This can be done by using the mobile-friendly test. This is all you need since Google is going to Mobile only very soon.)
Today, mobile is the future of the search industry and this also includes vocal queries. Having a mobile responsive website is an important SEO practice that shouldn’t be ignored.
4. Improve The Page Load Time Of The Website
Even though page load time is an essential factor for voice search, it often goes unnoticed. The websites which take a long time to load are not able to retain visitors. The loading speed of a website has a direct impact on the bounce rate and thus one should optimize it at all costs.
To include necessity, Google has issued a Speed Update that gives importance to optimizing the load time of a website. Similarly, voice searches also need immediate results and in case a website is slow, it would not be used to answer the verbal queries of the users. Thus, the websites with slow page loading speeds can affect the bounce rate as well as the conversion rate of a website.
Conclusion
Voice search has been increasing with each passing year. Thus, marketers need to be better prepared to meet the expectations of the users with local voice search SEO. Besides finding out the most searched terms from Google Trends, a business needs to optimize its website for voice search. The above strategies would help you in ranking better for voice search while helping you create an effective voice search optimization strategy.