Voice Search Optimisation for Local Businesses: Are You Ready?

Hey Google! Hey Siri! Hey Alexa! Have you heard that before? Since we have said goodbye to the manual typing of search queries, voice search has taken over. Experts say by next year, half of the searches will be through voice search. With the rise of voice-activated speakers like Amazon Echo Google Home, and personal assistants like Siri and Alexa, people are getting more used to the convenience of giving voice commands. Therefore, voice search optimisation has become more important than ever.

Here are some reasons why every local business needs to adapt to Voice Search:

Voice search saves time

Modern customers want to get quick results with minimal time spent on search queries. With voice search, they can directly ask for what they want instead of typing long queries. As a business owner, it is important to ensure that your business appears on the first page of Google search.

Voice search is more conversational.

When people search via voice, they speak naturally, translating their verbal queries into search terms. Businesses need to understand the importance of conversational queries, which are usually in the form of questions, and answer these questions with their website content. This will enhance the chances of ranking for voice search.

Voice search is location-specific

When the user searches for businesses nearby, voice searches are location-based. Hence, having a critical business feature integrated like Google My Business with accurate and up-to-date location, opening hours, customer reviews, and a list of services/products will increase the chances of being found via voice search.

Voice search needs long-tail keywords.

As conversational queries carry natural language features, it is essential to focus on long-tail keywords instead of just one or two words. Your content needs to answer queries, so it is important to add context and details via phrase-based ranking factors, which will adapt to voice recognition.

Voice search provides a competitive advantage.

With a vast number of local businesses making their mark in the field of digital marketing, voice optimisation has become vital to gaining a competitive edge over others. Focusing on optimisation factors like voice search-friendly content, location-specific searches, and long-tail keywords will help businesses rank higher in voice search rankings.

The rise of voice search has transformed the way we search queries, and it’s natural for businesses to go along with the trend. As virtual assistants continue to evolve and diversify, there is no doubt that voice search optimisation will continue to play a critical role in the marketing landscape in the future.

Local businesses that invest time and resources in voice search optimisation and adopt strategies to make their business more visible on voice search platforms will ultimately benefit from this new technological paradigm shift. So, it’s high time that you optimise your business for voice search before your competitors take up the lead.