“Siri? Show me conveyancing firms near me”
“OK”
And whoosh – your personal assistant Siri has a selection of firms for you to choose from while you wash the dishes, have a bath or put the children to bed. No need for typing – a multi-tasker’s dream.
More people are using search engines like this. Fact. 60% of searches are made through a mobile device, and it was estimated that around 55% of teenagers and 41% of adults use voice search to avoid typing on a small screen.
Voice search isn’t going to go away. The surge in sales of Amazon Echo proves this further. People want to interact with technology and get clear and concise results. This is why you need to optimise for voice search, not only to remain high on Google rankings, but also to rate higher in user experience. Here’s how to achieve it…
- Make sure you’re optimised for local search…
According to the Internet Trends Report 2016, 22% of voice search is used to search local businesses. This means you have to work on getting noticed on search engines within your local community. I recommend claiming your Google My Business Listing to find more in-depth and up-to-date information about your business. This will ultimately make you more visible in voice search results.
- Long-Tail, Conversational Keywords.
Voice search has a more conversational tone, so searches tend to be longer. Think about what prospects and clients tend to ask you on a regular basis and start from there – these are the kinds of questions people are asking on search engines every day. By mimicking their exact wording as part of your keyword strategy, you can start creating content on your site that answers those questions, which will help you rank higher in voice search. A good place to start is your FAQ’s page.
- Try it out for yourself!
Chat to your phone, ask it different questions based on your sector and see what it comes up with. What could your firm be doing differently to get to those top spots?
- Structured Data Markup
To provide these devices with even more information about your firm, it’s a good idea to use structured data markup from http://schema.org/ This allows search engines to decipher more specific information about your firm, and pick out the context of your content. It’s worth investing in now more than ever since the rise of voice search.
It only takes little changes like this to make your firm more prominent on Google Search. It’s all about making your search engine optimisation more - you know…human.
“Now, Siri, where can I get a decent pizza around here?”