Voice and Local Search- Why are they important?

What is voice search?

Voice-search is an advanced technology approach that uses voice-enabled commands to search the internet browser, your phone, or any application. Many different voice assistants are used to discover this information. Some of the most popular ones are Google Voice search, Siri, and Alexa. Others say that voice search essentially allows users to be able to speak into a device instead of typing keywords into a search engine to be able to generate results that they want. This type of technology may seem like it is new but, this type of technology has been around for a while.

4 Tips to Optimize for Voice Search

1. Ensure Your Website Loads Quickly:?Like traditional search engine optimization, Google voice search wants to rank the sites with faster load times first. You need to make sure that your site is responsive and works on mobile; this is where most voice searches happen.
2. Write The Way That You Speak:?When users search for different things on both mobile and desktop, they write short, almost bullet-point phrases to look up what they are looking for. Someone may use Google to search for “tips for writing a blog post,” but with voice search, the users may say, “What are some tips for writing a blog post?” With voice search, you want to make sure that results are typically written at about a 9th-grade reading level at most. To ensure this, you may need to break down high-level information that is easy to comprehend.
3. Include Featured Blocks of Content:?The average voice search result is about 29 words long, but we also know that shorter answers perform better. So, to combat this problem, you create a featured snippet. This also may be referred to as a position zero, answer box, or quick answers- this is a summary answer from the webpage. Some things that are easily readable by Google are H-tags, lists, and bullet points. Also, include any long-tail keywords within the featured snippet.
4. Concentrate On Local Searches:?22% of voice searches are looking for location-based content. So, brands have a higher chance of producing voice search content if they invest in local search.

Why is voice search important?

With voice search, website owners can quickly provide answers users need, with increased traffic to their landing pages. Searches are hungry for faster answers; this technology serves this need and is an attractive alternative to a web search. With the use of voice search, users want to get answers faster. 71% of people prefer searching through voice-over searching by keyboard – which gives you an idea of the potential voice search has. Nearly 40% of all US interest users are voice search users.

How can digital marketers optimize for voice search?

A high percentage of mobile and voice searches are location-based queries regarding location, hours of operation, etc. Do not ignore local search results that you can optimize for by doing something as simple as claiming and updating listings.

Ways to Optimize Content for Voice Search

• Focus on Phrases and Longtail Keywords:?The search focus has shifted from terse, awkward keywords to long-tail phrases or entire sentences. This is because voice search uses natural language. The way that individuals talk is decidedly different from the way that we type. Phases and keywords that we use when talking to virtual assistants are different from how we type a question into Google.
• Anticipated Specific Questions Asked in a Conversational Manner:?When individuals use virtual assistants, people often use complete sentences and are also more specific, and people do not ramble when using voice search.
• Optimize Your Website for Local SEO:?Voice search is three times more likely to be local. Businesses should keep their profiles and contact information up to date since Google will pull for queries.
• Make Sure Your Website Is Ready for Voice Search:?Micro-moments, moments during which users need immediate, relevant, and ready-to-use information, are crucial to capitalizing on any search, especially voice search. Google has encouraged businesses to be mindful of the increasing use of mobile in internet search and accordingly optimize their sites for mobile.

What is local search?

Local search is anything you do on the web to promote a physical business that makes face-to-face contact with its customers. This type of search applies to various companies; these can be single-location small and medium businesses (SMBs), national enterprise brands, and chains. This type of search is not limited to one specific type of business; all types of companies benefit from these types of searches. Others may think of local search as a type of digital marketing service businesses engage in to reach local markets by showing up in local results when their target customers go online and search for things.

A few Statistics on Local Search:

• 50% of people who did a local search on their phone went to a physical store within one day
• 43% who did their search on a computer or tablet did the same
• 18% of local mobile searches led to a sale within one day
• 60% of American adults conduct searches for local services or product information on tablets and smartphones
• 50% of searches on their mobile phones who conduct local searchers are looking for things like a local business address
• 78% of local-based searches on mobile devices end in purchases being made offline
• 71% of people who have been surveyed have said they search for the location of a business to confirm its existence before going there for a first-time visit
• 1 in 3 searches on a smartphone was conducted just before arriving at a store
• 97% of consumers looked online for local businesses in 2017, with 12% looking for a local business online every day

All of these statistics can be found, in Understanding Consumers’ Local Search Behavior

Practices to Increase Search Traffic for Local Search:

• Optimize Your Page and Content:?It is crucial to optimize your web pages to help Google understand the nature of your business. You should include your name, product, and region in the website title, the domain name, or the content (or all for them). This will help you provide maximum visibility to your business.
• Get your Business on Google Local:?Since GPS coordinates and satellite information have become public, Google Maps have been a game-changer. 85% of people find the location of a business on Google Maps, almost making print versions obsolete. If your business is not coming up on Google Maps, they do not exist for many buyers. This is because they do not think your business is local to them, and they will need to find an alternate place to find that product or service.
• Optimize your Social Profiles:?The best way to use social networking sites to improve your SEO rankings is to use them to interact with your customers consistently. Tweet, post, and like other content on social sites that make sense for your business. Companies' job is to educate people about your business by relying on its advantages and giving reasons why these social media users about become your customers.
• Go Mobile:?Mobile technology has been advancing over the last few years. Since mobile users are the most significant part of interest users who perform internet searches, you should look at driving them to your business. It is essential to make sure that all your sites work on mobile because most people do their internet searches.