You Can’t Just Tell Voice Search About Your Business
Voice search is when a human tells Alexa or Siri or another voice activated device to go on the internet and look for an item or information rather than typing their query into a search engine browser themselves.
“As far back as 2014, Google’s official blog reported that 55 percent of teens and 41 percent of adults in the U.S. were already surfing the Web with voice search. Now, Google predicts that half of all search traffic will use voice search by 2020.” – Website Magazine.
This is great for Google, Apple and Amazon, but it also means websites need to be sure their search engine optimization is prepared for voice search.
Long Tail Search Keywords
People tend to talk naturally to their devices, generally they are asking a question, contrary to just typing in a few keywords and a city to find results traditionally. This is known as “long tail search terms” versus “keyword terms”.
Example:
Voice Search: “Okay Google, find a union printer near me”
Google Web Browser: “Union Printer Pittsburgh”
Local Search Optimization
Mobile device searches frequently are for services or products “Near Me” so it’s vital that your local listings are up to date and fully optimized. The big directory sites are also starting to be sources for the voice search engines, so make sure your listings are accurate and up to date on the credible directory sites.
Online Reviews
Siri wants to send users to the best rated organizations near their users. This means online reviews are vital to help your site be the answer Siri gives, rather than your competitor.
Mobile Optimized
Google started penalizing website that were not search engine optimized a few years ago. We still have unions and organizations coming to us to get their old websites up to 2018 standards so their website loads quickly and is responsive on devices. If someone is on the move doing a mobile search they are not going to wait for heavy images or files to load on your website.
Alexa, Where’s My Business?
When we launch a new website for a client or perform SEO services our packages include submitting the websites to the biggest search engines our list, that list includes making sure Alexa and Siri have the information and tracking codes they need to find the website.
