The way people do things has changed over time. Searching over the internet has become more digitized through voice searches.
The voice search feature of devices has gained a lot of attention these days and is nearly replacing the classic way of searching for things on the internet. Finding a definition of a word, trying to call someone, or searching for music to play can be done through voice commands using our smartphones, laptops, Google devices, and Alexa.
It has become a part of our daily lives and surprisingly also beneficial for small businesses. How? A survey shows that 53% of people use voice search to find information about local businesses nearby. Reserving a table in restaurants is on the top of the list. Exactly why if you are a small business owner, take advantage of the trend.
Finding offers, sales, and products are some of the things people are trying to find using voice search. If you have established your business online already, bring your strategy to the next level using both voice and typed searches to let your business be seen.
Knowing how voice search work in boosting your business and the things that you need to consider before implementing it will ensure a smooth sailing journey for your business improvement. Below is what you need to know about voice search:
When the trend started, the food business industry was the first one to benefit from voice search. As technology advances, people are now using voice search in every business industry. Users or potential customers make a query, check availability of schedules, set an appointment, view business hours, avail services, or purchase the use of voice search. It’s like the sky is the limit on what this feature can do.
Smartphones appear to be the most popular device people are using to perform voice searches. A single person can own multiple devices where the voice search feature is activated. Older people find it difficult to type due to other vision and that is why they will 100% prefer using voice searches than agonizing themselves in typing. As a business owner, you should realize that voice searches can give results a lot faster compared to typed searches.
Your main goal in optimizing your strategy should be bringing you on top and with the voice search usage rapidly rising, being on top will guarantee you a boost in your business’ performance. To get a deeper understanding of voice search here are the characteristics of voice search:
Voice search is natural but longer
The classic way of searching will require you to type phrases or common words to get the result that you want but with voice search, be natural, “Give me a list of cafes near my location” or “What restaurants are already open near me?” Very different with typed search since you will have to rephrase frequently to get the results you wanted. Make sure to include in your SEO keywords that would answer questions when, what, how, why, and where to give you bigger chances of being on top of the search results.
Local information
Optimizing your meta descriptions, anchor texts, keywords, and hashtags such as including “near me or ”near you“ will most likely get your business seen. 22% of people find local businesses and knowing these key phrases will boost your online presence. Specify the areas where your business caters by including landmarks and other buildings or institutions near your physical store.
Customers prefer instant results
Make sure all the information on your GMB (Google My Business), social media page, or website is updated. Your address, contact numbers, business operating hours, and great quality photos that your prospective customers will see will help you convert them to availing of your products or services.
Customers prefer seeing the answers to their questions when doing voice searches. They would rather see the raw information from your listing or websites rather than see links that they still need to click. Reviews of your products and services will also do well when trying to optimize what they see.
Setting up your Google My Business profile will help a lot of taking advantage of this voice search feature. Aside from it will help you manage your listings, you will be able to get your business to rank higher in the Google search results.
More and more people are starting to use voice assistants and while voice search is still starting to dominate typed search, avoid losing profits and customers by using this strategy. Yes, it will require effort to get your website optimized for voice searching, the result is quite promising.
Set up and/or optimize your GMB profile today!
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