Beginners Guide to Voice and Local Search Optimization
Voice Search
A feature that I'm sure we've all become familiar with is voice search, and it seems to be everywhere. On your phone, in websites, or maybe even placed throughout your house. Now all it takes to interact with technology is a simple Hey Siri.
This technology has come a long way in a relatively short amount of time, and it's no wonder that so many people are implementing this kind of technology into their devices.
Why Use It?
There are a variety of reasons to use voice search, but I think the main reason for most people is ease of access. If you're driving and don't want to pick up your phone and text your friend Dave back, simply ask Siri to do it. You can script out entire messages just by asking it to text someone. I know my dad loves this idea of voice activation, as he struggles to type out long text messages. So he gets Siri to send them for him, and it saves him time throughout his day.
Can it Help Marketers?
Absolutely. Voice search introduces a plethora of information marketers can use to better understand consumers, such as: specific verbal terms and phrases, accents, dialects, mood, age, gender and much more. Gathering this information through voice introduces a new layer of factors marketers can observe and utilize, and allows us to better understand consumer's frame of reference and how to effectively segment markets.
Local Search
Another large factor in the optimization process is the use of?local search. Local search is very similar to a previous topic I've spoken about (SEO). Local search is a strategic process that focuses on emphasizing your optimization efforts to local businesses. It includes a location modifier to search only in the area in where you are located to optimize your search. This ability to search for specifics in your area has become extremely prevalent in current marketing for all businesses.
Why Should I Use This?
Local Search is an extremely important factor in marketing a local businesses because if you aren't searchable, you aren't marketable. In a blog from Hubspot they speak about exactly how powerful it can be. "Local search is powerful for small businesses:?46% of all Google searches are looking for local information, which means if your business isn't optimized for local search, you could be missing out on potential customers who are ready to shop in your area. In short, local SEO is critical if you want your business to stay relevant."
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How Can I Optimize My Local Search?
There are a plethora of different ways you can become more marketable using Local Search, and this pyramid lays out the groundwork for your marketability:
Let's look at a few other important steps to get yourself on the map:
Maintaining a high quality site is critical to staying marketable. Your website needs to load quickly, render properly on all devices, have a sensible structure, feature high-quality content, be free of malware or other malicious elements, and be easy for people to use. If all of these are true, you’re golden. No amount of public marketing can make up for a poor UX (user experience) on your website.
The best way to conceptualize and market your local business will be based on the?Guidelines for Representing Your Business On Google. If you fail to comply with Google’s guidelines it can result in ranking failures and even listing takedowns. By playing it smart, your business will be able to be seen by the average consumer and grow as a result.
Lastly, you need your?website to accrue some authority. This authority can come?simply by virtue of its age, or you can actively pursue authority by earning links and mentions of your business from other quality, relevant sources. But beware that you only want links from other high quality sites, as having links from low quality businesses can actually lower your search rankings.
I hope this blog helped shed a bit of light on how to create a better local voice and search optimization or at least kept you moderately entertained.
Either way,
Thanks for reading!
Dylan