Voice search and local SEO: How to get started?
by Admin
Posted on 21-12-2022 03:20 AM
Voice search will grow rapidly in the coming years. Therefore, in local
seo
, it’s vital to
optimize
for how people ask questions when they speak into devices, as opposed to how they type out their searches. Essentially, your customers use more long-tail keywords when doing voice searches compared with regular search. Because of this, you’ll also have to adjust the
seo
of your content to fit the more conversational tone of someone speaking. For example, you’ll want to account for the traditional question starters (who, what, when, where, why and how).
It’s also crucial to consider
user
intent when optimizing for voice , as these searches are most often performed when the user needs a specific piece of
information
.
If you're not thinking about local seo strategies that emphasize voice search , then now is the time . People are starting to use their voices more and google predicts this will only continue as we move into a future where everyone conducts searches through devices like amazon echo or siri. Google says 20% of searches performed online are now voice searches. Twenty percent! among other things voice search is generally longer and uses natural language compared to keywords. In order for your local business to rank well in voice-specific search you'll need to optimize for it.
Having a frequently asked questions section, or more than one, on your website is a great way to provide to questions that your customers always ask. If they ask you in person, there’s a good chance people are also asking it on google. Take those faqs you have on your website and see if you can expand them into larger pieces of content . One of the big new trends in local seo is voice search, and one of the most common types of searches people do is asking a question. If you have good quality answers to popular questions that your business can answer, you’re more likely to both rank higher or even get a featured snippet.
Keyword research for local seo is the process of finding keywords that people use when searching for local products and services. Ranking for these keywords drives highly-targeted local traffic to your site and sends more customers your way. To get started, you need a short list of keywords that people can use to find your local business . Here are a few different ways to start.
There were over a billion voice searches a month, as of january 2018 and 40% of those mobile searches had local intent. This strongly suggests that local seo now requires optimizing for voice. The human brain is wired to love convenience. Voice search is enabling people to search with the help of their voice and search engi n es have become accurate enough to provide direct answers to their voice commands. As an seo , how should you revamp your strategy in order to gain an edge over your competitors? in this guide, i’ll tell you what you can do to make your clients’ local business websites the superstars of voice search.
Let Your Business Be The First To Answer
There is no one-size-fits-all answer to this question, as the best local seo strategy will vary depending on your business’s unique needs and goals. However, some general tips for improving your local seo
include
claiming and optimizing your
google
business profile, creating listings on other directories like yelp and yellow pages, and using local seo tools to improve your website’s ranking.
Additionally, make sure that your website’s content is
relevant
and informative.
When it comes to growing your business locally, you need to know the basics. Here are the questions we’ll answer about all things related to local seo marketing : what is local seo?.
It’s imperative that you get your nap out on the street, so all are aware of who you are, where you are, and how to get in touch with you. Just as important: all your naps match precisely. Handing out brochures? business cards? references? great! make your nap easy to see on all of your business documents. This will help you kill it at brand awareness, too. Go online and add your matching nap to relevant directories, gmb, yelp, yellow pages , and jump over to quora and answer some questions (again, relevant to your biz and be sure your answers are top -notch) and leave your nap there, too.
People rely on search engines to get answers to questions, learn more about products and services , and find and compare businesses . And, this isn’t just limited to new and potential customers. Existing customers are more likely to search for your business on a search engine than they are to type your url into the address bar. At the very least, don’t you want to make sure they can find you when they’re looking for you?.
If your business operates locally, how do most people find you? perhaps it’s through networking or word of mouth? maybe you print leaflets or brochures? whatever the answer, it’s almost definite that your customers are also searching for you online .
Get The ‘Context’ Perfectly Right For Your Local Business Website
If you have more than one brick-and-mortar location, create location pages. Location pages provide readers with your name, address, phone number , store hours, unique store descriptions, parking/transit information, promotions, and testimonials from happy customers. Image source it's also important you avoid duplicating content across multiple location pages. For single-location businesses, create a locally descriptive about us page . You can even get bonus points if you add a google map to your website on your respective location page(s).
As a local business you need to show up on a search engine like google. That's all there is to it. You also need to make sure you are showing up for the right terms. If you don't show up for the right terms then you are just getting website traffic that doesn't produce leads or customers. Small businesses that understand local search engine optimization (seo) practices are most likely to succeed in today’s digital marketing driven world. google remains the main search engine people use to find products or services in their area. To grow as a small business, you need to understand the basics of how local searches work on the google search engine, and how to make local seo a part of your digital marketing efforts.
First off, not all businesses need local seo. Only businesses that serve a specific geographic location (or several) need to rank in local search for the key terms potential customers are searching for in their area. Google considers many different local search ranking signals when determining how to rank a website in the mappack. This is why it’s important to be strategic about your local seo – being sure to cover all your bases and give your business a competitive edge.
Organic seo stands for all non-adbuy methods of ranking websites higher in the serps. Local seo is pretty much the same, with the main difference of strict geographical focus. The nature of local seo is to make sure that you appear the highest on location-based searches. Let's say the user searches for restaurant + location. The search engine detects the query with strong local intent and jumps your business right upfront. According to the research , 33% of the local searchers click on the snack pack results , while 33 visit the web pages from organic search results.
Gmb or google my business is essentially the most critical part of your local seo strategy. This tool from google allows you to create free business listings. And according to moz , it’s one of the top factors that google will consider when ranking businesses in organic local search and snack pack results. To start, go to the google my business website to claim or create your listing. You need to provide the following details for your gmb listing: your full and correct business name your physical store/office address your exact location on a map your business category your phone number and website (if applicable) once your listing goes live, you’ll need to verify it usually through a phone call or via postcard.
What to do with Long Tail, LSI, and Question Keywords?
As we have discussed earlier that people use more “natural” keywords when using voice search, so targeting long-tail keywords is a must. To do this, you must “think how people speak. ” how would you ask particular questions? or what kind of spoken questions might bring others to your site ? this might be a different kind of long-tail than you’re used to. It’s more about real speech and less about keyword variations. You need to know and target as many variations as possible. If you're wondering how would you find those long-tail keywords, don't worry. There are free web tools to help you out.
Let’s go back to the example of a boutique that sells kitchen accessories. If you go to google and type in “kitchen accessories” you’ll see a “people also ask” section. This will give you insights into the most commonly asked questions about kitchen accessories. If you’re writing a blog article you can incorporate some or all of these questions into the post. When you scroll down to the bottom of the search results page you’ll see a “related searches” section. This is also a great place to look for additional long-tail keywords that you might consider using. You can use this tactic to search your product type and location in google and then analyze the results in the same way.
How long does SEO take to show results?
Local seo is a game of two halves because google shows two types of search results for local searches. These are “map pack” results and organic “blue link ” results. You can rank on both of them.
Let me ask you – have you ever used google maps or yelp to find a restaurant or a salon or any business near you? that’s what local seo is. In fact, local seo and being shown on these map finders has become the number one way that customers are finding new businesses. You can probably relate because you’ve used it yourself. Local seo has been continuously shown to be the highest roi marketing avenue that local businesses can take. Not only that, but unlike paid ads where once your budget is gone those ads no longer help you, using local seo marketing you’re building marketing assets that will benefit your business for the rest of its life.
Now that you have a better understanding of seo basics and how google ranks local search results, you can start to concentrate on signals that will optimize your site’s digital footprint in the local oriented search ecosystem. This way your business can show up higher on the results page, which can lead to more potential customers finding your business. There are many factors that influence your visibility in these searches, but keep in mind that local search continues to grow and change. To keep up with what signals are increasing and decreasing in importance, you can refer to moz’s annual survey to form your strategy playbook.
You may already regularly create high-quality content like blog posts, videos, ebooks, etc. If so, you’re off to a great start! content is one of the most effective ways to show google (and potential customers) that you’re an expert on certain topics. As you focus on local seo, however, you also want to shift the topics you write about. What questions do customers have that are specific to your area? for example, if you sell gardening products , you could write about plants that are specific to your region, along with harvest times. If you sell custom dog collars, you might share a guide with the best dog parks in your city.
The next step in the local seo journey is to know exactly where you’d like to be found by your customers online. You need to have your marketing goals set before you can start working. The steps below will help you figure it out: know which search engines people use in your area to find your type of business. Know how these search engines display the results. Define the displayed goal for your local seo: where you’d like to appear in search results. Google has two main display zones showing local businesses to users : organic search results and ‘snack pack’ results up on the top of the search page.