How Voice Search Is Emerging And How To Use It To Advance Your Brand Online

Without question, we have seen many changes occur in the Digital Marketing landscape this past year. From major events to fast-changing consumer trends, it can be a challenge for brands of all sizes to keep up. One major trend in Digital Marketing that has been emerging is Voice Search.

Voice search has been on the rise this past year. In fact, 40% of internet users in the US along with a third of its population use voice search. That is expected to rise in a big way in the near future. For brands big and small, this makes voice search crucial to helping them increase their online presence. That way, they’ll be able to keep up with fast-changing consumer trends and be able to reach their ideal consumer.

In this blog post, we’ll discuss a few ways how your brand can use voice search to advance your cause. In the end, you’ll be ahead of the game when it comes to fast-changing online trends. Let us explore them, shall we?

Use Conversational Language For Your Content

When it comes to search results, searchers want results that are quick and immediate. Google understands this and has taken steps to improve its search experience. This rings even more true for voice search. With voice search, Google has made direct answers their top priority.

Voice search results are prompt and to the point. At the same time, voice search keywords tend to be longer and more conversational compared to text search. When we use text search, we might type “pocket flashlights” or “recipe for chocolate cookies.” With voice, we might ask “How do I make chocolate chip cookies?”

To have success with voice search, you want to use conversational language in your content as opposed to computer language. When using language that’s more natural, there is a better chance at matching and appearing in search results. That’s why it’s crucial to research the intent of searchers to better understand how they ask verbal queries.

You always want to study the query and conversational styles of the searchers. Likewise, take the time to learn what question keywords or types of questions are being used and asked the most. This helps give you a better idea of what type of answers are the best fit for these query types. By addressing these areas, you’ll gain valuable data-driven insights that’ll help you know what people want via voice search.

Make Use Of Long-Tail Keywords

As mentioned in the previous section, voice search queries tend to be longer. This is where long-tail keywords come into play. With long-tail keywords, they are less competitive and give your content a better chance at getting seen by the right people. On top of that, they give you a better chance at achieving higher conversion rates. It sure makes a huge difference compared to shorter and more competitive phrases.

The best strategy at using long-tail keywords in your long-form content is by using them in the title. You can also use H2 headers with those long-tail keywords in the body text in a clear and concise manner. This helps your content at performing well in voice search rankings.

Make Your Content Readable

Something that gets overlooked a lot is content readability. With people constantly on the go these days, making your content scannable and easy to read is basically a must. This means that you need to create content that is precise and readable via a standard reading level.

You want to achieve a Flesch Reading Ease Score of at least 60 or 70. If you really want to achieve high-quality readability, then aim for a score of 80 or higher. The Ease Calculator here is a great tool that checks your score and helps guide you in writing your content. Grammarly is also a great tool to help you improve your readability and catches mistakes you never thought you’d make.

There are other things to also consider when writing content for voice search. You want to strive for short paragraphs (3-5 sentences long), divide your content with subheaders, and add bullet points as needed. You also want to use the Inverted Pyramid writing style. This means put your key points in the first paragraph and work to gauge readers’ interest as they read along. If readers can derive value by scanning the content text, they’ll be enticed to read more.

Using natural language while avoiding excess long words and sentences is key to helping you succeed at voice search.

Ensure That Your Website Is Up To Speed

One thing that is important for voice search but also gets overlooked is website speed. The speed of a page makes a big difference whether people do business with you or not. Websites with longer load times have higher bounce rates than those with faster load times. In other words, you’ll lose out on potential customers if your site takes too long to load. This makes keeping your website up to speed a crucial issue to address.

GTmetrix is a great tool that checks your and helps recommend steps to help improve it. Taking steps to ensure fast page speed is vital in helping your voice search efforts succeed while attracting paying customers.

Make Great Use Of Google My Business (GMB) Listings

When it comes to voice search, people like to use it for local searches often. This makes Local SEO a crucial factor in determining whether you’ll rank for these types of queries. This is where Google My Business (GMB) listings come to light. GMB listings let Google know that your business is located in a specific place. GMB listings are a vital tool for small businesses as they stand to benefit most from Local searches.

When using GMB listings, always include your name, address, and phone number (NAP) in it. On top of that, make sure that your business listings are consistent with your GMB listings. This is key in helping improve your standing in the voice search results. It’s also advised that you add posts with special deals and updates to help your brand stand out. If you don’t have a GMB listing, then take these steps in order to get top-notch results right away.

Ensure That Your Website Is Built To Handle Mobile

A voice search ranking factor that is perhaps the most vital today is the mobile-friendliness of websites. Today, mobile takes up a majority of our voice search and overall search queries. That’s why it’s vital that you work to deliver your users a top-notch mobile user experience (UX).

The best UX is one that is seamless across all devices (mobile, tablet, desktop). That’s why you should opt for your website to be of Responsive Design. This means work to design your site so that it scales your content automatically to match your device’s screen size. Also, run a test to ensure your site can handle mobile. This tool will also give you advice on how to improve your site to be more friendly to mobile.

Without question, mobile will be important both now and in the future. The same goes for voice search so making your site a mobile-friendly one should be in your plans. This crucial step is a voice search SEO best practice that will help set you up for future online success.

Voice Search Ready Websites Help Bring Your Brand Online Success

Without question, voice search will be a huge deal going forward. With that said, it’s vital that brands take measures like these to help advance their cause online. It’ll help ensure that they continue their success of reaching their audience online and help grow their business over time. By taking steps to optimize for voice search, you’ll be ahead of the game in meeting those fast-changing consumer trends. In the end, your brand shall stand out amongst the crowd and turn site visitors into paying customers.

What do you feel is key in helping a brand’s voice search efforts succeed? What other voice search tips do you feel will attract people to one’s website and inspire them to take action? Questions? Comments? Please feel free to share this blog post and share your thoughts below.

Navigating The Digital Marketing World During The COVID-19 Crisis

These past few weeks have indeed been hectic for all of us whether you’re a worker who has been laid off or a small business facing uncertainty due to this pandemic. With that comes big time changes in the Digital Marketing landscape that we’re already seeing happen. These changes will have an impact on how consumers go by satisfying their needs going forward. Even after the COVID-19 pandemic, the behavior of consumers will more than likely stick so this will make Digital Marketing crucial for those small businesses going forward. There are four key areas of Digital Marketing that small businesses need to get ahead of in order to thrive in these uncertain times. Let’s explore them shall we.

Video

Whether you’re a recruiter looking for talent or a small business looking to show off your products, video is a great way in helping accomplish your goals. In fact, we are already seeing companies conducting their work meetings with their employees in increasing fashion via video conference calls. I know I’ve been in several of these myself with my potential Digital Marketing acquaintances near and far.

A great way small businesses can thrive even in these tough times is via live video streaming. Even before this pandemic, we are already seeing companies in southeast Asia try this and achieve success via this route. Video Streaming has helped in bringing that online shopping experience as if you were in-person at the actual store. South Korea’s LF Corp was able to achieve a 30% year over year sales increase since 2015. The way they accomplished that is by allowing their users to have real-time conversations with the presenter and other users with the ability to purchase the products with just one-click. Video Streaming is indeed a great way for brands to grow their presence in a big way.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

When it comes to building up your online presence during an economic downturn and pandemic like this, SEO is a great way to accomplish just that. Even before this crisis, SEO is heavily utilized by small businesses in order to help accomplish their long-term online goals. With the situation that we’re in now, SEO will be even more important going forward. The search term “SEO” and other related search terms have seen a big time increase in interest since February as Google Trends has indicated.

With these trends in mind, there’s no doubt that investing in your SEO game will be key to success during this pandemic and beyond. People these days are looking towards brands that they feel that they can trust. To build trust with your target audience, get away from those sales jargon and instead work to build content that follows the E.A.T. method. Building content that rallies around Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness will help your cause in helping grow your online presence in a positive way towards your desired customers. It also will help save you money in the long run assuming you continue to always stay ahead of the game in adjusting to the fast-changing needs of today’s consumers.

E-Commerce

With consumers less willing to endanger their health by going in-person to crowded shopping centers and stores during a pandemic, they will be looking towards online options and that’s where E-Commerce comes into play. 42% of consumers are now shopping online more as a result of this pandemic according to a survey by Valassis. These changing shopping habits are more than likely here to stay even after this pandemic so it’s important for businesses to get ahead of the E-Commerce game.

To have success in your E-Commerce game during this time, what you must have to begin with is a banner at the top of your website talking about COVID-19 as far as shipping updates are concerned. Of course, it would also be a great idea to go a step further to keep in touch with your customers via email and social media talking about how your business is responding to this pandemic. This would help make your customers feel safe and in control in doing business with you.

In addition to that, it is important to also keep your site up to date and up to speed especially on mobile devices. Definitely work to give your customers a great shopping experience by having shopping cart/wish list options handy for your online customers as well as a search function and an easy-to-use payment feature to ensure that their online experience is quick, flexible and easy for them. After all, website experience is crucial now more than ever especially in E-Commerce.

Reputation Management

During these unprecedented times, managing the reputation of your business and responding to adversity in a timely manner is important now more than ever. According to a recent study done by Bright Local, 71% of consumers are more likely to do business with brands that respond to reviews. Whether the reviews left by consumers are good or bad, it’s important to respond to them on each review site in a timely fashion. That’s especially true if it’s bad. The way to respond to them is by showing commitment towards resolving the situation at hand.

Today’s customers mean business. With some businesses trying to game the system by getting fake good reviews, customers are looking towards multiple review sites and their peers to ensure that what they’re getting into is legit and will advance their cause in a positive way. It’s also not a deal breaker if you get a negative review. All businesses get them as there are no perfect businesses. What customers pay attention to the most is how you respond to adversity. If you ignore it or are careless towards complaints, of course they won’t do business with your brand. If you show commitment in going beyond the ordinary to listen to the consumer inquiries and work towards solutions, consumers will be more than likely to do business with you. With that being said, it’s important now than ever to work on upping your game when it comes to Reputation Management. It will benefit you greatly long after this pandemic.

Stay Committed To Your Loyal Customers While Staying Safe

Indeed these are tough times for us worldwide whether you’re a customer or a small business looking to achieve great successes. Change is always upon us and this pandemic is another reminder that we must always be adaptive to the fast-changing needs of the customer. We just need to plan accordingly in these four key areas of Digital Marketing and always keep the needs of the customer first before anything else. People-Based Marketing is the name of the game today and every day. By staying true to your customers and showing commitment towards providing them a great customer experience, you will no doubt be set up for success in the long run.

On a special note, may you all stay safe during this pandemic and listen to all the safety measures put forth by our medical community. I look forward to posting even more Digital Marketing articles like these in these next few weeks and I value each and every one of my loyal readers.

What do you feel is important in keep your online presence active during these unprecedented times and setting it up for success in the long run?Questions? Comments? Feel free to share this article & don’t be afraid to share your thoughts below.

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