Did you know that over 50% of smart phone users utilize voice search to look for local businesses?
That's right, voice is now the #2 mobile search method after the browser. However, only 4% of businesses are voice optimized. That is because voice and manual search optimization is technical, expensive, and time consuming. Most businesses simply do not know where to start when it comes to voice or local search.
This post will provide a general overview of how to optimize for voice so you can have the right conversations with your clients.
To optimize for voice, the business website needs to have the following components in check:
1. Speakable - Speakable is a type of schema developed by Google to identify sections within a webpage that are best suited for audio playback using text-to-speech (TTS).
2. Schema - Schema is used by developers to structure metadata on the website so that search engines can understand the content published on the page.
3. Speed - Site speed is one of core factors used by Google's algorithm to rank pages. Speed is key because longer load times result in higher bounce rates and lower average time on page.
4. SEO - Onpage SEO, offpage SEO, and technical SEO all play an important role in how robots find, read, and serve content across web, mobile and voice search.
5. Security - SSL certificates are a security measure for websites. Google’s algorithm looks for websites using SSL certificates as a factor of their ‘trustworthiness’.
6. Seamless - Google rolled out the mobile-friendly algorithm, meaning that website content must be formatted properly for any device accessing it.
7. Synchronized - Business information content must be consistent around the web, it helps to increase the trustworthiness of the brand. That is why products like listings and citations are so important.
8. Scale - Every page on the website must be properly optimized and enhanced with the key factors to ensure it has the best chance to rank for web, mobile and voice search.
All of these pieces must be in check to generate results.
While this can seem like a lot of work, performing these enhancements can help the business to rank for voice-triggered searches and generate better local search rankings.
If you are looking for low-cost solutions that can help you scale this out to your clients today, check out the Vendasta marketplace.
Thanks!
Aaron
References:
https://backlinko.com/voice-search-stats
https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/artificial-intelligence-is-here
https://www.pwc.com/us/en/advisory-services/publications/consumer-intelligence-series/voice-assistants.pdf
https://partners.vendasta.com/marketplace/products/MP-VWQWMLK2ZX22CCSFG3KHPCKQ4DB2QKFC