Voice Search Changing Keyword Research?
Voice search is on the rise. This new phenomenon is affecting SEO and internet marketing as a whole. Voice search is the act of speaking into your phone and asking it something in place of typing in your inquiry.
Since 2016 there has been an increase of 20% of these type of queries on the Google app according to Sundar Pichai, Google’s CEO. Despite not having any hard data for 2017, it’s clear this trend is on the rise.
The popularity of such items as Amazon Echo or Google Alexa demonstrates how quick everybody is to embrace having an item you could bark into and it produce results. Just say, “What’s the weather today” and viola! You’ll have a detailed forecast and it took all of just a few seconds without any manual entry.
Companies are going to have to adjust they way they market. Simply put, we talk differently then we type. So, what does all this really mean?
Internet Marketing Starts With Keyword Research
The traditional keyword research was focused on establishing what users typed in when they were looking for some information. If you’re a company that sells t-shirts, you’ll want to know what someone is typing in when they go to find a purveyor of t-shirts. Someone looking for an undershirt may type in t-shirts, so unless you sell undershirts, you’re not going to be interested in coming up for the search.
Keyword research will provide all of this knowledge. In a very detailed way. There are short tail and long tail keywords. The short tail may be something like “t-shirts” and a long tail will be “black Led Zeppelin concert t-shirts large”. Long tail is very specific and it’s generally accepted anything more than 3 words would qualify for a long tail keyword.
So while the front end of driving traffic is focused on the use of proper keywords, the back end of closing the sale relies on having a quality page the the user lands on. You attracted the perfect customer, don’t drop the ball. This includes making sure the user experience is high by using good quality text that’s relevant and the use of quality images and video to keep your prospect engaged.
Listen Up Local Businesses
Very often someone using voice search will use proximity as part of their criteria. It’s common for someone to use “near me” or “nearby” when they are talking into their smart device.
If you are a local business with local customers, you can increase your chances of getting these calls by increasing the number of Google My Business locations and making sure each are fully optimized included the use of geotagged images inserting the longitude and latitude of your business.
Social media can give you a big boost in this effort by geotagging your business while posting. It’s also as important to have sites such as Yelp completely filled out since these are the types of sites your prospect may be pulling up in search.
The Difference Between Typing and Talking
When someone goes to their keyboard and is typing in their search inquiry, efficiency is the rule of thumb. They are not going to type in more than they have to type. Incomplete phrases are very common.
On the other hand though if someone is talking into the smart device they will use more of a sentence structure, or at minimum it’ll be closer to the way we all talk.
Going back to our example of the search for a Led Zeppelin t-shirt, it’s more likely someone would ask “Who sells black Led Zeppelin concert t-shirts that’s size large?” It’ll be typically phrased as a question.
What Can I Do To Take Advantage Of Voice Search
You should already be familiar with your keywords. If not, get with us and we can establish a list. From there you will start creating phrases that your prospect may use in looking for you online. You can start with some base information and work your way up.
Who? What? When? Where? Why? How? Use these simple principles that reporters use when you sit down and write out your phrases.
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So the basic need for pillar keywords won’t change or make them any less important. You’ll want to make liberal use of these voice phrases in your content. Instead of keyword stuffing for “t-shirt” the old fashion way, you’ll want to build relevance by incorporating the keyword “t-shirt” into subject matter that is informative by using your predetermined phrases.
SEO is always changing and Google is always changing their algorithms. And it comes as no surprise that voice search has some folks stumped.
There will always be users typing in their searches on their desktop and optimization for these pillar keywords. These will still have a role in local SEO. But in order to stay ahead of the competition you're going to have to be aware of shifts in how your prospects are using search.
You don’t have to figure it out on your own because we’re here to help. Give us a call and we can provide a free report showing how well your website or blog is optimized for voice search.
Are you familiar with the dynamics of listing you business in all the right online directories? Click here for FREE report.
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