What You Should Know About Local SEO and Voice Search
Search engine optimization (SEO) is a multifaceted aspect of digital marketing to make your brand and your content more visible to search engine users. An effective SEO strategy requires constant attention and consistent effort, and the rules of the game are constantly changing as search engines alter their algorithms in an attempt to maintain a level playing field for all the advertisers using their platforms.
While it’s important to attract as many potential leads as possible with your SEO strategy, it is imperative to have a strong local focus when it comes to SEO. Nearly half of all searches performed on Google have local search intent, so it is vital to craft a regional SEO strategy that increases the chances of capturing the local audience. It’s also important to know how local searchers are performing their searches and to capitalize on the methods they prefer.
Local SEO and Voice Search
Digital assistants like Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri, and Google’s Google Assistant are more popular than ever before, and mobile technology is all but universal in the modern world. When most people conduct searches via Google, they do so through their smartphones or other mobile devices, and many of them are using their digital assistants by conducting voice searches.
A few examples of how many Americans are taking advantage of this technology might sound something like this:
- “Alexa, which pizza place is closest to me?”
- “Hey, Google, who is the best car accident lawyer in Toledo?”
- “Siri, what time is the next train from here to Philadelphia?”
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In each of these examples, location is a primary component of the search. Companies that capitalize on location in SEO are going to see the best results as the Google algorithm will match them with searches more frequently and with greater accuracy.
Over the past several years, companies like Google and Apple have invested heavily in making their digital assistants as intuitive and accurate as possible by including natural language processing. Instead of trying to translate user intent word for word, voice search apps can now interpret intention more easily and provide users with the most relevant results when they conduct voice searches. Location is a crucial component of this process, so it’s up to marketers to align their content and their SEO strategies with the core elements of local SEO and voice search applications.
How to Optimize for Local SEO and Voice Search
In a competitive market, there will probably be a broad range of competitive keywords that all the organizations operating within that market will target in their SEO strategies. However, that market likely covers a wide geographic area. While it’s essential to be as competitive as possible with your SEO strategy, you ultimately want to attract the search engine users closest to your business and most likely to do business with you.
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If you’re going to take advantage of voice search at the same time, a few tips can help you optimize your local SEO and voice search strategies:
- Develop longtail keywords. Most voice search users speak naturally when they use these applications, meaning they search using complete sentences, but they might not be grammatically accurate. It’s essential to cultivate a list of longtail keywords and keyword strings that are most likely to connect search engine users with your website.
- Create location-based keyword strings. When most search engine users perform voice searches, they naturally include location data, which can be as simple as saying “near me” or “around here,” or as specific as the exact name of a town or city. Take this trend into consideration and adjust your keywords accordingly.
- Adopt a “FAQ” strategy. People often phrase voice searches as questions, so it’s important to take this into account as you develop the keywords you intend to use with your local SEO strategy. Aim to build keyword strings that answer the questions search engine users are most likely to ask and position your brand as the best provider of useful answers.
- Revise your content creation methods. As you research keyword strings and longtail keywords for your local SEO/voice search strategy, be sure to incorporate these keywords into the content you publish to your website. Do so as naturally as possible, so search engines recognize your site as authoritative, relevant, and trustworthy.
These tips can help you adjust and enhance your SEO strategy to dominate local SEO in your niche. Voice search is more popular than ever, and it is inherently tied to local SEO, so it’s vital to ensure your SEO strategy accounts for this link to see the local SEO results you want.
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Toledo SEO for Growth offers a wide range of digital marketing solutions for companies of all sizes, including business-to-consumer and business-to-business brands. Contact us today for more details about how we can help you enhance your local SEO strategy for voice search., call (419) 540.4437 or email toledoseoforgrowth@gmail.com.