Voice Search is undeniably growing at a rapid pace, and for good reason — it’s fast, convenient, and allows you to search on the go. It’s becoming well integrated into the devices consumers are using. Voice search has taken a good percentage of total searches across the world, thanks to AI assistants like Siri, Alexa, Google Assistant, etc.
With mobile impacting desktop in terms of search queries, and home automation devices becoming mainstream, voice search will power many future local search queries. Optimizing for voice search conversational terms will be a key differentiator.
Here’s a list of things we at Envoca recommend businesses do for Voice Search optimization:
Verify an accurate Google My Business listing.
Most voice search queries will ask for directions to your business address. Make sure that your business is listed accurately on Google Maps. Without verification, it would be very difficult to rank for voice search queries.
Ensure consistency across local sites.
An accurate map listing – in terms of your name, address and contact number – across multiple map databases will help search engines to be more confident about your location. It will form part of your site’s ranking algorithm. Ensure that your business information is consistent across other top tier and second tier local search engines, directories, and review websites.
Generate positive reviews.
Customer reviews are a critical part of ranking algorithm for voice search. You can get positive reviews on Google and Yelp for your business with help from programs like Plug and Play Review Widget and Survey Review Booster.
Create a mobile-friendly website.
Since most voice searches are done on mobile devices, a mobile-friendly site is a must. If your website isn’t mobile-friendly, we can help you set it up.
Offer conversational content.
Mobile voice searches use natural language. So, long-tail keyword phrases are more important than ever. A way to add natural language to your website is by using words and phrases that people actually speak (versus words they type into a search box). The content used should be more conversational in tone. Keyword phrases will probably resonate more with a person performing a voice search.
Set up microdata and advanced schema markup.
Google will start using schema markup both as a site quality and richness indicator (read: affecting rankings), and for creating carousel-like results for certain searches, with Knowledge Graph-like summary data on each result in the list. Setting up structured data on your site can offer helpful insights and improve search engine optimization (SEO).
Track rankings.
It’s helpful to track rankings in mobile search results for voice based terms like “near me,” “close to me,” “around me,” etc. around physical location across all verticals and reporting these rankings on our dashboard.
Need Help? We’re Here.
If you’re interested in improving SEO or using Google’s resources to better market your company, feel free to call Envoca today.