Instead of typing out search terms, many users find it much easier to employ the benefits of voice search. Is your website optimized for this type of search?
Some users will simply speak into the microphone of their smartphones and recite search terms. These search results should bring the most authoritative and relevant websites to their list, but only if those companies have set up their advertising and search terms for voice search usage. If this sounds a little foreign to you, don’t worry; there are some easy steps to help you get to the top of the search pages through this process.
Keywords should be conversational
Keywords are still the bread and butter of search engine optimization, or SEO, as it is better known. Despite the movement away from keyword stuffing, these terms are still used as the starting point for any search engine to find content for users. That said, your keywords need to be conversational and make sense. If you say them aloud and they sound more like broken English and not how people speak, the term needs to be adjusted to be more conversational.
Audit your website content
Before you try anything new, such as voice search, it’s a good idea to audit your website to ensure it’s optimized. Do all of the links still point to the correct pages? Do your drop-down menus work properly? How long does it take for a page to load on a mobile device? You could have the best search performance, but if your website doesn’t function well, users will turn to other companies and leave your site behind.
Add SERP features
The Search Engine Results Page features, such as snippets and local packs, are important to be selected when the search engine looks for the right pages to display. This means you’ve got to create content with quick and concise answers to common questions. Thankfully, this could be pretty easy, especially if you have a FAQ page for users from which to glean information. Check out what’s already showing up on SERPs and create your content in a similar fashion. Sometimes, mimicry makes the most sense to gain better results.
Focus on local results
You want users to find your car dealership, but it doesn’t do you a lot of good if someone thousands of miles away sees your pages. Focus your voice search terms on the local area and local results to gain potential customers in your area. The entire goal of digital marketing and your website is to get shoppers to buy vehicles and take advantage of the services you offer. This means you need to focus on the benefits of local search terms and provide voice-associated terms that sound conversational.
Focus on natural language queries
Check out your FAQ pages and audit the questions. Do the questions read the same way a person would ask a question to a voice assistant? If not, they should be changed to reflect natural language. Your success with voice search has everything to do with how well your information reflects a natural language and speaks to users the same way that you might ask a question to another person. The days of broken terms to create clickbait and keyword stuffing are over, and your content will only be pushed to the bottom of search results.
Where are your FAQ pages?
Does your dealership website have FAQ pages? If not, why not? These pages are likely the most common results for questions asked via natural voice queries. These pages can cover everything from the car buying process to some helpful hints for customers to learn about maintenance or what they should do when faced with a challenge, such as a punctured tire. Phrase your questions naturally and your answers the same way. Some users will utilize a voice assistant to read the answers to them, and these answers should sound conversational.
Use longer-form blog posts that are voice-optimized
Blog posts are extremely important or SEO and offer unique scenarios that make long-form content extremely helpful. Articles of 2,000 to 3,000 words provide a much higher level of authority than those that are much shorter. This makes long-form content more beneficial and more likely to reach the top of SERPs. These longer blog posts also provide much more content, which means more opportunities for users to find your pages through voice search.
More users than ever are turning to voice search to find content online. Is your website optimized for this type of search? If not, use these tips to gain a foothold in this new search landscape.
