For years, web design and online marketing companies like ours have been trying to help businesses to make their way to the top of Google’s search engine listings. In the last couple of years, though, that process has been changing dramatically. That’s because a lot of searchers don’t even use Google search bar anymore—instead, they turn to the Google mobile app, or digital voice assistants, to find what they’re looking for.
As with most things in the online world, this creates both challenges and opportunities. If you want more customers to find you, you have to have content that is voice search-friendly. Here are a few things you can do to get started…
Get an SEO Audit with a Focus on Mobile Search
During a search engine optimization audit, we take a deep look at your website, examining technical factors (like website structure, page loading speed, link naming, etc.) that can affect your search visibility. Additionally, we can pay special attention to search patterns and content to discover whether your content is accessible to mobile searchers. A website audit is fast, inexpensive, and perfect for getting more search traffic, particularly if you’ve never optimized your pages for voice search in the past.
Post Content with Lots of Natural Language Strings
Until recently, the essence of search engine optimization was working specific (and sometimes awkward) phrases into the fabric of your website. That’s because people tend to type in incomplete strings. However, when using voice search most of your customers will speak in complete phrases and questions. That means you should have lots of FAQs, natural-language blog posts, and other forms of related content on your site if you want to be found through voice search apps and digital assistants.
Ensure You’re Maximizing Schema on Your Website
We don’t know everything about Google’s search algorithms, but we are aware it uses schema to categorize things like events, news, and other pieces of web content. If you make the most of HTML indicators to point out different parts of your page or post, search engines will have an easier time figuring out how to “read” your content and decide what’s relevant for searchers who are asking specific questions.
Build Your Content into Scannable Blocks and Topics
You don’t just want people using voice search to find your website; you also want them to absorb the information and possibly take a next step. To do that, you should put your content into scannable blocks that are easy to browse on a small screen. Otherwise, a searcher might be overwhelmed by what they find when directed to your website and take their attention elsewhere—even though you had the information they were looking for.