In recent years, voice search has taken center stage in the world of marketing.
Today, users make more than one million voice searches each month, and 40% of adults now use at least one voice search per day.
This makes sense when you think about it: voice search is convenient, accurate, and ideal for our on-the-go world. What’s more, the growing number of home assistants (think Cortana, Alexa, and Siri) make voice search even more streamlined.
The big question, though, is how marketers go about adapting their approaches to the voice search revolution. Here’s what you need to know:
One of the first and most notable places voice search impacts marketing is in the world of SEO. Before the rise of voice search, people who wanted to find information or locate a product, good, or service would head to Google and type their question in manually. Today, however, it’s much more likely they’ll tap the microphone and ask the question verbally.
In the world of SEO, these two methods are very different. For one, people write differently than they speak. Here’s an example: say someone is looking for a coffee shop in New York City. If they were to type that query into Google, it would probably say, simply, “coffee shop NYC.”
If they made the query via voice search, though, it’d be more conversational - something like, “what’s the best coffee shop in NYC?”
If marketing is going to adapt to these changing search methods, the first step is for marketers to start responding to the “who, what, when, and how” of new search queries. While short keyword-focused pages made sense in the days when we used our thumbs to find information, voice search requires marketers to arrange content so it focuses on longer, more personalized questions.
Take your voice search preparedness a step further with these four must-dos:
This content should be robust, compelling, exciting, and designed to answer your visitor’s questions and concerns. It should also seek to identify and solve their pain points.
Not only will creating more content help you rank in search listings, but it’ll also ensure detail-oriented voice searchers find what they’re looking for when they land on your page.
Long-tail keywords should be optimized for semantic search and integrated throughout your marketing. While long-tail keywords commonly have lower search volumes, they’re better at attracting qualified leads and voice search users.
This tells search engines what your site is about and can help you pop up in the SERPs in response to voice search queries. If you’ve never used schema markup before, this guide can help you learn the ropes.
Last but certainly not least, be sure to optimize your site for mobile. This is an essential consideration since upwards of 20% of mobile queries are voice searches. Utilizing responsive design ensures your site will function beautifully, no matter what platform your visitors see it on.
While maneuvering to adapt to voice search can feel challenging, these simple tips and considerations are a great place to start ensuring you capture the voice search traffic you deserve.
At Relevance Advisors, one of our core values is “Love What You Do,” so it’s no secret that we love digital marketing. On this Valentine’s Day, we’re giving you the inside scoop on what we do and why we love it. In a chocolate-covered nutshell, it’s our job to drive customers to our clients’ sites, grow their businesses, and increase their return on digital marketing investment. We strive to serve your needs and your customers’ needs while focusing on results and long-term success.
Think of us as the matchmakers of digital marketing. We help customers find the perfect business for their needs while businesses find the type of audience that is already in search of their product or services. Here are the top 5 ways we help companies and consumers achieve this.
When searching online, it’s easy to choose the first result that pops up. In many cases, the first results under the search bar are paid ads. With potential customers already searching for your products and services, we can drive traffic to your site and help these customers find you. Google Ads estimates that businesses get $8 in profit for each dollar they spend on Google Ads. We love helping you get the most value for your hard earned dollar, and we do that best in paid search marketing.
Although some paid ads display organic search results, search engine optimization (SEO) is a great way to make sure your site is found by potential customers who are looking for the specific products or services you offer. A BrightEdge study found that 51% of website traffic is from clicks in organic search results. We understand the way search engines operate and we can ensure your site is as competitive as possible when it comes to search result rankings. What’s not to love about that?
Having ads that drive traffic to your business is one thing, but understanding the data behind search and engagement behavior can help you reach your target audience. Using Google Analytics, we can gain consumer insights like the demographics of your audience, what they’re searching for, and which pages are being visited most or least. When we use analytics to find what your potential customers love, you can understand how best to maximize your keywords and landing pages so that your campaigns can bring in the most traffic and conversions.
With the ever-growing number of social media users, advertising on social media platforms is one of the fastest and most effective means of contact between your company and the larger audience of the internet. According to Pew, 79% of American internet users are Facebook users. Companies like Airbnb utilize sites like Facebook for their ads to emphasize “experiences” versus a mere place to stay. Ads and sponsored posts that are tailored to your social media accounts will attract the kind of audience that loves your brand because you are able to more effectively show the value your product or service brings to consumers.
Working in e-commerce can be difficult when you’re competing against what seems like an infinite number of online storefronts. But by utilizing Amazon’s marketing platform, we can optimize seller listings and profits by utilizing this unique algorithm (known as A9). For instance, their rules state that customers can only find your products if their search inquiry is matched to the product's keywords. Intentional marketing will help keep you ahead of the curve when it comes to online commerce and your customers will love how streamlined ordering from your company on Amazon will be.
In the past, Google has made the proper changes to allow sites to be viewed on modern devices. Now, they are making it easier for users to discover more mobile-friendly content.
On April 21st, mobile-friendliness will be integrated as a ranking factor, affecting mobile searches in all languages around the world. This makes it especially important for digital marketers to craft their mobile websites to be user-friendly in order to compete with other search results. Here are some tools that will help guide your mobile site development:
Google has also recently introduced App Indexing-- a way for users to surface relevant content from their downloaded apps shown on the search results page.
Google is currently using information from indexed apps as a ranking factor for signed in users with the app installed. Learn more about how to implement App Indexing by following Google’s step-by-step guide on their developer site.
SEO is no longer about meta tags and PageRank. Yes, on-page optimization and links still matter, but there is so much more. The current landscape of SEO is about content, trust and authenticity - it's about building a strong brand that is particularly relevant for a certain set of topics. Panda, Penguin, Hummingbird, Pigeon and hundreds of unnamed updates changed the game. Are you ready to compete?
Join me for this Village Workshop session at Atlanta Tech Village, and we will take a look at the current landscape of SEO, what works and what doesn't. We'll cover the basics of accessibility and site description, but will also address intangibles such as brand awareness, authority and trust. Participants will have the opportunity to submit their site for live review and will be engaged in discussion about SEO strategy and the latest best practices.
Each company will have a unique set of SEO challenges and roadblocks along the way. You will leave with increased knowledge of the SEO landscape, context for where search is headed, and a practical understanding of the steps you can take to bring your digital brand to the next level.
Where:
Atlanta Tech Village
3423 Piedmont Road Northeast
Speakeasy Boardroom
Atlanta, GA 30305
When:
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
2:00 PM to 3:30 PM (EDT)
Google announced in early August that they now use HTTPS/SSL as a ranking signal in their algorithm. This signal affects fewer than 1% of global queries and carries less weight than other signals, but Google may increase the impact of this signal in the future.
With HTTPS, information is secured by three key layers of protection:
Users increasingly want privacy and security on the web, and we recommend ensuring your users have a secure experience with your website.
