When Siri, the famous virtual assistant for Apple devices first came onto the scene in 2011, it was a game changer for voice search technology and task management.
People could easily instruct Siri to remind them of a dentist’s appointment next Friday or ask for the Liverpool vs. Manchester United game score. It was the highlight of pop culture, which resulted in a series of memes beginning with the trademark greeting to use it, “Hey Siri.”
Since then, voice search has evolved to include voice recognition for wearables, smart televisions and cars. Other companies have also designed their own virtual assistants such as Cortana, Alexa and Google Assistant.
Therefore it’s not just a fad anymore. If it’s not included in your SEO strategy already, then you definitely need to pull up your socks.
We can tell you how to keep up with the changing times by using these optimization strategies in 2021:
- Get a Google My Business listing
This free of cost tool enables customers to quickly locate a business and its information, such as their products, address, working hours, contact information such as an email address, phone number and website URL. It’s like an online business card for search engines.
Ensure that you optimize your profile listing for Google, Bing and Yelp, as the latter two are also frequently used for accessing information by search assistants.
If a customer wants to know, “which pharmacies are open at 9:30 PM near me?” Google will retrieve this information from the pharmacy’s GMB information.
It’s also easier for voice search users to find answers to general questions like, “Italian restaurants near me”. If restaurants’ GMB profiles mention that they serve Italian food, the restaurants’ names and contact information will be displayed quickly at the top.
The review section is also an equally important aspect of the GMB profile. Previous customers can write reviews of their experiences with a business. Voice search can read these comments and the user can choose whether to visit a particular business or its competitor.
So remember to verify that all of the details provided in your listing are accurate, especially the address and phone number. Many customers might be using Google Maps to find the address mentioned in your GMB profile. If the address mentions the wrong road or lists an old location, you’re likely to lose business.
- Understanding various types of customers and common device behaviours
You need to have updated data records to understand how people use voice search and the types of devices they use.
Voice search also relies on algorithms which uses the consumer’s location in addition to various data points.
This helps to understand the context of the search query. For example, if a consumer says, “OK Google, display pizza outlets near me,” the consumer’s geographical location is required to show relevant results accordingly.
- Concentrate on conversational keywords
People often tend to use an informal tone and long tail keywords while using voice search.
When people type a question, they usually use about four words like, “the best phone covers.” Due to the fact that users don’t have to manually type their inquiry and just have to say it, they end up saying more specific information such as, “What are the best phone covers available under 3000 INR?”
Although short keywords are unlikely to vanish completely, there’s a considerable chance that their importance will reduce. That’s why you should focus more on longtail keywords for voice search such as, “best mobile covers to buy online” “mobile cover shops near me” and “top mobile covers at affordable prices.”
Your website must provide complete answers to users’ questions so that they’ll be directed easily to your website which will increase your traffic.
- Create content that’s centred around buyers personas
Content optimization for voice searches must involve:
- Writing in-depth answers for common queries
- Answering questions clearly and concisely
- Schema markup and context go hand in hand
Make use of schema to mark your content and inform search engines about the subject of your website. This enables search engines to comprehend your content’s context, which ensures that you rank higher for specific voice search questions.
- Add a FAQ section to your web pages
Most users ask voice search queries beginning with “what”, “why,” “who”, “how,” “when” and “where.”
Therefore, it’s necessary for you to feature a FAQ section on your website. The answers should be written in a conversational way and respond to users’ pressing concerns.
If you are unaware of the questions people generally ask, you could look at websites such as Answer The Public and Quora.
- Obtain top-notch backlinks
Backlinks lead from a website to a page on a separate website. They direct prospective customers to a website where they might buy a product. For example, a link on Cosmopolitan’s website could include a link for face moisturizer to your skin care products website.
Backlinks indicate that the content is useful, reliable and valuable. Businesses which have multiple high-quality backlinks are more likely to be listed in the top results when voice search users seek information.
In order to build good backlinks, you must focus more on quality than quantity. Quality backlinks come from well-known and trusted websites which are related to your business.
- Assess your website traffic
Website traffic analytics reveals who a company’s target customers are and what they’re searching for. Information on bounce rate, the number of website users and the geographical locations of website visitors can be viewed.
These traffic analytics can be used to improve SEO by indicating which keywords and questions people search for which directs them to your website.
Google Analytics is a practical option that marketers can employ to boost their search engine rankings.
