How To Optimize for Voice Search Local SEO
Boost Local SEO with Voice Search
Once upon a time, voice search local SEO may have seemed like far-flung science fiction. Now, talking to your computer is no longer an oddity. It has become the norm and is essential for the success of your local business.
By now, most of us have used voice assistants including Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant. They are easy to use and great for searching for information, products, and services. This has made it more important than ever for small local businesses to implement voice search local SEO.
Voice search is a convenient way for potential customers to browse the Internet and get answers to their burning questions. It also has the bonus of being localized, which is great if your business relies on local traffic.
Local businesses are facing more challenges than ever, so voice search is not something you can afford to ignore.
Ask Us Voice Search Local SEO
What Is Voice Search?
So how does voice search local SEO work and how can optimizing for voice search help your business?
We love starting things off with a handy definition.
Voice search allows users to use voice commands (rather than typed queries) when they want to open an app and/or search for an answer online. This is possible thanks to virtual assistants on our phones, computers, and smart speakers.
You probably already have a few virtual assistants in your home, such as:
- Google Assistant
- Amazon’s Alexa
- Cortana on Windows
- Siri on Apple devices
AI Machine Learning
Voice search local SEO is only getting better thanks to AI machine learning on your smart devices. This allows them to adjust to your different speech patterns and accents to better understand your spoken commands and questions. Pretty cool, right?
With voice search continually improving and more and more users turning to voice commands over typed text, local businesses shouldn’t ignore the writing on the wall. Voice search local SEO is here to stay – so your website should definitely be optimized for it.
How Does Voice Search Impact Local SEO?
The biggest difference between SEO for voice search and regular search is the type of language used. Voice search local SEO queries are far more conversational, much like we speak in real life.
Voice queries may sound like this: What are some good SEO agencies near me?
A text search, by comparison, would be far shorter: SEO agencies near me.
When done right, your voice search and local SEO efforts can work together to help you reach a wider audience.
Tailor your written content and long-tail keywords to align with voice command searches to make it easier for potential customers to find you.
Why You Should Optimize for Voice Search
One of the main reasons why voice search optimization is important for your small or medium-sized local business is that it can help you reach a wider audience.
When people use voice search, they are more likely to use natural language and long-tail keywords, rather than short, specific keywords. This means that if you optimize your local SEO for voice search, your website will be more likely to appear in search results for these types of queries.
Another reason why voice search optimization is important is that it can help you provide a better user experience.
When people use voice search, they expect to receive quick, accurate answers to their queries. By optimizing local SEO for voice search, you can ensure that you are providing this type of experience, making it more likely that people will return to your website in the future.
Humans seek ease above all else, and voice search is nothing if not easy. It allows users to multi-task and ask questions in straightforward, everyday language. It’s fast, it’s convenient, and everyone is jumping on the bandwagon.
Check out our post on the Benefits of Using Voice Search. This article discusses how people use voice search to:
- Find local businesses – 75%
- Order food and drinks – 54%
- Check prices of products – 46%
- Check product availability – 40%
- Book appointments – 35%
Don’t Miss Out on Potential Customers
If you’re not optimizing for voice search local SEO, you may be missing out on potential customers. Voice search isn’t a fad. It’s been around for years.
About 40% of U.S. internet users use a voice assistant at least monthly through their phones and smart speakers. The number of smart speakers in the U.S. alone was expected to surpass 200 million in 2023. And it has!
Not only does optimizing voice search local SEO allow you to tap into this group of searchers, but it can also help your website’s overall SEO and ranking. A website optimized for voice search local SEO can boost your site’s authority and land you a higher spot in result pages – maybe even in a voice search result!
How To Optimize for Voice Search Local SEO
Make Your Website Mobile Friendly
One of the most important strategies is to ensure that your website is mobile-friendly.
There are now a lot of people who use voice search regularly on their mobile devices. This means that the website should be easy to navigate and load quickly on mobile devices.
That means your website must be mobile-friendly! It should be lightning-fast, easy to navigate, and stellar on a mobile screen.
Keep Your Website Up to Date
Another important aspect of voice search optimization is to make sure that your website includes accurate and up-to-date information about your business. This includes things like your location, hours of operation, and contact information.
This information should be included in your website’s metadata and structured data so that search engines can easily understand it.
It’s a good practice to update your website quarterly (as needed) to ensure that all the site information is accurate and current.
Optimize for Long-Tail Keywords
You can also optimize your local SEO for voice search by including natural language in the site page content and using long-tail keyword phrases.
For example, instead of just optimizing for the keyword “pizza delivery” you might use the phrase “pizza delivery in [city name].” This will make it more likely that your website will appear in search results for voice searches that use natural language and long-tail keywords.
Use natural language in your content and target long-tail keywords that mimic how a voice search might be phrased.
Claim Your Business
Don’t forget to leverage the power of review sites and directories, such as Google Business Profile, Yelp, and TripAdvisor. Use this to your advantage when optimizing your local SEO for voice search.
By claiming your business on these review sites and directories, you can provide accurate and updated information about your business, as well as encourage customers to leave reviews. This can increase your visibility in local search results and make it more likely that your site will be found through voice searches.
Utilize Schema Markup
Another important aspect of optimizing for voice search local SEO is to make sure that your website is properly structured. You can do this by using schema markup. This strategy uses structured data to assist search engines and help them understand the content of a website.
As part of Structured Data and Schema Markup, you’ll also want to take advantage of rich snippets. These are special search results that include additional information about the website, such as reviews or prices.
Rich snippets can make your website stand out in search results and make it more likely that it will be found through voice searches.
Make It Secure
Finally, your local business website can be optimized for voice search local SEO by ensuring that your website is properly secured with an SSL certificate. This will encrypt the data sent between the website and the user’s device. It not only improves the user’s experience but also makes it more likely that they will return to your website in the future.
Safety first! Optimize for voice search (and SEO in general) by ensuring your website is properly secured with an SSL certificate. You’ll recognize this as the https:// in front of the URL, meaning the data sent between the website and the user’s device is encrypted and safe.
Both Security and Voice Search are included in our Top 10 Best SEO Tips post.
Get Help with Your Voice Search Local SEO
Since 1997, we’ve been helping small and medium-sized businesses across the United States and Canada.
Do you still have questions about voice search local SEO? Our team is here to answer all your questions! Let’s work together to develop a voice search local SEO optimization strategy that makes sense for your industry and your business.
Call us toll-free at 1-877-567-1341 to talk to our 1st on the List SEO experts.
You can also reach us through our contact us page.
