SEO

SEO, or search engine optimization, is such a hot buzzword in online business that it’s become its own meme. It’s listed as a job requirement for new applicants for a lot of companies. It’s a selling point for B2B relationships, and it’s even worked its way into a subcategory in some business fields. But with all the hype surrounding broad-scale SEO, it’s easy to forget that local SEO is just as important, if not more so. In the 10 years that my company has served the business world with digital marketing services, we’ve conducted numerous SEO audits and provided visibility support to companies across every type of industry.

And no matter the business, SEO concerns are usually quite similar. Local SEO gives businesses in different industries just as much of a boost as broader, geo-specific SEO. Local businesses have just as strong a need for ease of searchability, new client connections and brand recognition as large companies, even if the scale is somewhat smaller and more regionally confined. But that’s where the similarities end: Everything you think you know about global SEO does not apply when you’re narrowing the scope.

The future of the Internet will be decided by the spoken world, if the popularity of voice search continues to grow at present rates. Voice search is gaining popularity with every passing year, and online businesses are adopting and incorporating this feature to enhance their digital identity. Voice search is not only making life easier for existing Internet users, it is helping make the web accessible to millions of people around the world, who might earlier have been unable to utilize the resources of the Internet, fully.

One of the unique characteristics of voice search is that it doesn’t force users to compress their queries into short phrases, comprising as few words as possible. Instead, people using the voice search feature can simply talk to their digital assistants – such as Apple’s Siri or Microsoft’s Cortana – as they would have a conversation with a friend in real life. This allows them to browse the Internet in a more natural and intuitive manner, forming their queries in full sentences and speaking as they would in a regular conversation.

The Emergence of Voice Search

The rise of virtual assistants such as Siri, Alexa, Google Assistant, and Cortana has made voice search marketing and voice search optimization of the chief concerns of online businesses, big and small. In order to stay competitive in the market and increase traffic, it has become necessary for online businesses to incorporate voice search features into their website.

Voice search, as a concept, originated almost two decades ago, with Google filing a patent for a ‘search engine voice interface’ in 2001. However, it was the emergence of the smartphone that gave this feature the popularity that it now commands. Smartphones are essentially computers that are portable and mobile.

People use their smartphones for to perform various functions, at all times of the day. The GPS on a smartphone is used during travel and commuting. You might want to search for recipes while cooking or watch a video as you wait in line at the billing counter of the supermarket.

This is why the voice search feature has gained such prominence over the past few years, as it allows the user’s hands to be free while they are using the Internet. Thus, you can ask your digital assistant for directions while driving, pull up a recipe video on YouTube while cooking, and read the latest news on the Internet while dropping your children off to school, all without ever having to use your fingers to type out a query on your phone.

Some Optimization Techniques for Voice Search

There are many ways in which you can optimize and improve your voice search SEO. Some of the most popular voice search optimization techniques have been listed below.

Incorporating Long-Tail Keywords Focusing on User Intent

One of the first steps to take when implementing a voice search marketing plan is to replace shorthand keywords with long-tail keywords. Long-tail keywords are both longer and more specific in nature compared to the types of keywords commonly used in text searches. According to digital marketing expert Neil Patel, long-tail keywords are the heartbeat of voice search technology, as they help in capturing the exact intent and meaning of a query. Apart from long-tail keywords, therefore, content that has been optimized for voice search must focus on specificity and intent. The content must answer, in explicit detail, every question that a potential customer could have about a topic.

Extensive Usage of the FAQs Page

In the modern world, almost all businesses that have a website also have an FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) page. FAQ pages are ideal for voice search optimization because the content is written in a question and answer format, similar to that of voice searches. Most FAQ pages consist of a conversational question, followed by a clear, concise, and informative answer. FAQ pages are full of content that can be optimized for voice queries, as the questions answered therein are the ones that customers and other site visitors are most likely to ask. Therefore, a good FAQ page, with the intelligent usage of voice search SEO, will allow a business to attract website visitors who are specifically interested in the products and services that they provide.

Think and Write Like the Customer

The primary feature of voice search is that users say their questions out loud, rather than typing them. As a result, the queries are more direct and conversational in their approach. Therefore, voice search optimization works best if you write in the tone and style that a customer is likely to ask his or her question. People tend to speak to their digital assistants, such as Alexa, Siri, or Cortana as if they were speaking to their friend. Therefore, they are unlikely to use formal or overly pedantic language. When writing content for a voice search enabled website, the writer must use a conversational style that best replicates the way people normally talk to each other.

In Conclusion

Digital assistants such as Siri and Google Assistant are all set to become a permanent fixture in the lives of smartphone users in the near future. Voice search technology is also evolving and becoming more sophisticated and intuitive with the passage of time. In order to stay competitive and profitable, businesses must undertake voice search optimization and incorporate voice search SEO in their digital marketing strategies.

Is Your SEO Company Using Schema?

If you aren’t sure whether or not Structured Data has been used on your website check the Structured Data Report in your Google Search Console or right click and view your page source. This will tell you if there is any structured data on your page and where it is. It will also help debug any errors resulting from an improper markup. If you haven’t started using Structured Data but want to improve your sites SEO, simply audit your site for opportunities where you could use this helpful tool. However, make sure you are following Google’s recommendations for proper use or you could be penalized. Remember to let the type of business you have guide your choice in the best type of Schema.org to implement.

Although employing the use of Structured Data can be a bit confusing to navigate if you are unfamiliar with it, your business may be well positioned for using a tool like this. If you take your time and determine the type of markup your business would benefit from the most, the results will make it worth your effort. However, do your homework and understand Google’s general recommendations for the proper use of Structured Data. This will help you avoid being penalized for its improper use. In addition, use the tools that Google provides to make sure that you avoid bugs and errors in your coding before you launch a page. You may even have questions regarding whether or not Structured Data has been used on your site before.

Google has a tool to determine that as well. Use everything that’s available to you to properly use Structured Data for optimal results. It’s not difficult, but you will need to follow all the proper steps to ensure its success.

Structured Data Important a  Necessity for SEO!

Structured Data is used to provide additional information about a web page in order to improve the relevancy of search results from search engines. This additional information is utilized to create more information for search engines in order to return more relevant and enhanced results. This information is referred to as a markup.

However, it should also be noted that search engines provide incentives for websites that properly use Structured Data. These incentives include a variety of different helpful features in search results. Keep in mind that these enhanced features ultimately improve click-through rates and boost traffic, which in turn improves rankings. This makes sense because the search results are more visually appealing and provide more information. Some of these features include:

Markups need to be consistently understood and parsed by search engines and people. As a result, there are standard formats, syntaxes, classification concepts, relationships, and vocabularies that should be used to achieve this. There are three syntaxes that are supported by most search engines, as well as two vocabularies. However, it should be noted that Schema.org is the vocabulary used most often for SEO purposes.