Voice assistant devices aren’t going anywhere. In fact, there are about thirty-three million devices in circulation right now. That’s thirty million people asking Alexa, Siri, or Google to do their bidding.
In the SEO world, voice search assistants are just as important. They’re the third biggest SEO trend and that data is from 2017.
Researchers only expect it to grow, with more people realizing their assistants can make their lives easier.
The best proof that they’ll grow? Teenagers are the ones that use chrome voice search the most. They’re going to rule the market in not too long.
So how do you optimize your website to take advantage of these talking searchers? We’ve got your guide.
Step 1: Think About the Questions
What kind of questions can your customers ask about your business? Think bigger than the where and when hours simplicity.
Explore the potential questions your clients have with the five w’s.
What:
What kind of services does your business offer? Make sure you have an updated services page. It needs to be fast loading and easy for a bot to scan.
What are wait times like? What is your price level? If an alien came down to earth and you had to explain your business to them – what would you say?
Who:
Who’s welcome at your business? Is it kid friendly? Can people without kids come (think Legoland)? Who owns the business? Is it a local business?
When:
When are you open? What are your hours? Are they different on different days? When are your hours different?
When are your specials, your happy hours, and your deals?
Wouldn’t it be great if someone asked your hours and a voice assistant could tell them your happy hour specials at the same time? We’re not saying that’s possible . . . yet, but it might be in the future.
Where:
Do you have multiple locations? Does each have their own Google Business page? Do they have separate hours?
Why:
Why depends on your business. Maybe you have your frequently asked questions formatted as answers Google can pull.
Need help coming up with your questions and answers? This tool takes your keyword and researches the questions people ask related to it.
It divides results into when, where, who, which, what, why, how, and are. Not all the results are relevant to your business, but it’s worth glancing at.
You can also get ideas for SEO blog posts from these questions. If people are asking, why shouldn’t you answer and get the traffic?
When you use the queries for blog posts, make sure your SEO description and title are clear. That, having relevant keywords, and fast loading information will keep you on Google’s good side.
Step 2: Long Tail Keywords
Think about all those questions we just looked at, what did they have in common? They were long. Longer than a classic 4-word long tail keyword.
In the industry, people are calling these keywords longtail +. To figure out your longtail+ keywords, figure out how people would phrase your current keywords to a voice assistant.
If you target “mattress store online”, someone might ask, “what’s the most popular mattress store online?”
Voice search marketing is all about turning things from the technical back into person to person content.
Step 3: Update Google My Business
Especially if you’re targeting Google home users, you need to make sure you use Google’s business features.
In Google’s eyes, the more you take part in the tools they give you, the more willing they are to advertise you. It’s like a free version of pay to play.
Make sure each of your locations has its own Google My Business profile. The title of your business should have different qualifiers, like “mattress store south”.
Make sure your hours are up to date and you go through Google’s verification process. This will help the bot’s easily scan your website and profile for quick answers.
Step 4: Have Fast Loading Pages
We know that a quick loading page makes all the difference for SEO page rankings, right? The same is true for voice search.
In fact, your page speed needs to be even faster for voice search. The average voice search quoted page loads in 4.6 seconds. That’s 50% faster than the average page.
Step 5: Be Secure
Google doesn’t ever want to jeopardize its user’s safety. That’s why we’re seeing them rank fewer unsecured pages.
If you don’t have an httpS qualifier, you’re not getting chosen. Google doesn’t trust unsecured pages and it’s not going to lead your customers to your site.
Google likes secured pages for SEO on-screen rankings too, so it’s worth your while to pay for that s.
Step 6: Long Content
Google likes long content nowadays, which is difficult for site owners who don’t write as a hobby. The average google voice search page is around 1000-2000 words long.
When you’re paying someone for your SEO blog pieces, you want to make sure they’re writing in that number range.
Step 7: K.I.S.S.
Keep it simple, stupid, as the saying says. It’s not a relevant strategy to create a new page for every possible search query. If anything, that will give the spiders more to crawl and take longer.
Focus on providing value in blog posts, not overloading your site with pages and keywords.
Your Chrome Voice Search
After you follow all these tips on chrome voice search optimization, watch your own use. How do you talk to Siri, Google, or Alexa?
What kind of questions are you asking them? Your behavior isn’t that much different than a potential customer. Keep that in mind and adjust your strategy as you go.
Do you need help putting a strategy in place or figuring one out in the first place? Our agency can help – no Google Home required.
