1. Introduction
  2. What is Local SEO?
  3. How Does Voice Search Work?
  4. The Impact of Voice Search on Local SEO Rankings
    1. Increased Website Traffic
    2. Improving Local SEO
    3. Instant Answers
    4. Increase Footfall
  5. How to Optimise for Voice Search?
    1. Understand Your Customer’s Type and Device Behavior
    2. Focus on Conversational Keywords
    3. Curate Relevant Persona-Based Content
    4. Provide Context with Schema Markup
    5. Think Mobile and Local
  6. Tools for Optimising for Voice Search
    1. Google Keyword Planner
    2. Wordstream
    3. Word2CleanHTML
    4. Ahrefs
    5. Varvy Pagespeed Optimization
    6. Plugin SEO
    7. Google Analytics
  7. Does Your Local SEO Package Include Voice Search Optimisation?
  8. Conclusion

Introduction

Multiple AI-enabled voice search technologies, such as chatbots and digital assistants, have significantly influenced the digital landscape. Moreover, continuous voice search developments are aligned with Local SEO strategies to grab the digital audience.

As artificial intelligence technology advances, voice search grows faster than typed local searches. As a result, almost every business understands the significance of organic search. Therefore, they formulate an effective SEO strategy and incorporate it successfully in their marketing campaign.

Voice search is now significantly influencing the landscape of SEO, specifically local SEO. According to research, around 58% of consumers use voice search to find local businesses. Voice search has a long way to evolve and match traditional text-based search.

Still, marketing professionals should optimise voice search for local SEO with a robust Local SEO Package.

Read further to know what local SEO is, how voice search works, and how voice search can impact your local SEO rankings.

What is Local SEO?

Local SEO is defined as a practice of search engine optimisation to increase rankings and visibility in local search results. In terms of Google, it means helping your website or business to rank higher and appear more often in the local search results.

For instance, you are searching for some product or service online. Google’s primary aim is to deliver the best answer to your query. And if your website is optimised for local search and the searcher is looking for something in the nearby area, Google will show your business listing on the first page of the search results.

Now that local search is a crucial channel for local businesses, marketers leverage Local SEO Package to improve business local search presence.

How Does Voice Search Work?

Voice search enables users to leverage AI technology to learn about a business or answer questions online. Chatbots or voice assistants transform voice signals into text using the automatic speech recognition system (ASR).

  • Any time a user conducts a voice search query, a specific voice assistant, in turn:
  • Filter the sounds so that it focuses on the voice query and has no background noises.
  • Digitise the voice search query by converting sound waves into digital data.
  • Process the digital data and conduct a voice analysis.
  • Find and deliver appropriate answers by connecting to external data sources, like Google Search.
  • Translates the information to satisfy the user’s intent.
  • Recognise patterns and compare the searcher’s query to existing database samples in the search engine, like Google.

The Impact of Voice Search on Local SEO Rankings

Voice search is significantly transforming approaches to technology and the internet. But the question here is how it’s affecting Local SEO optimisation. The below-given points highlight the impact of voice search on local SEO rankings:

Increased Website Traffic

As a local businessman, are you looking for ways to increase traffic on your website? If yes, you will need your target customers to locate your business easily. Voice search optimisation makes it possible for the website to be found effortlessly by increasing its ranking in search engines.

The professionally available Local SEO Package at ZealousWeb features voice search that will help you improve user experience. A voice search local SEO-optimized website will deliver the answers a user wants more efficiently. In return, your website will attract more traffic from local areas.

Improving Local SEO

When searchers use voice search technology to search for local businesses, the results are mostly based on location. Optimising the website for voice search can help local businesses elevate their chances of appearing in the top local search results. It will further improve your local business’s visibility, and your brand will reach a wider audience.

Instant Answers

Unlike traditional, time-consuming text-based searching, where users visit the search engine, type their queries, and wait for the results to appear; voice search provides prompt answers. As a result, it speeds up finding a local business. Furthermore, if your website is optimised for local SEO, it becomes easier for voice search to find the relevant website for the search queries.

Increase Footfall

Voice search is often utilised by searchers when looking for something nearby. It is the best way to bring more customers to your local store and elevate your footfall.

Research stated that around 46% of people use voice technology to search for information on local businesses daily. Moreover, these searchers quickly stop by the local store and buy products or services.

Voice search SEO optimisation increases the possibility of attracting more customers by improving the website’s ranking on the result pages.

How to Optimise for Voice Search?

Strategies used to optimise a site for voice search are similar to SEO optimisation but require a refined focus. Here listed are some tips that can help optimise for voice search:

#1. Understand Your Customer’s Type and Device Behavior

Like voice search algorithms use a huge database to understand the search context, marketers must research in-depth to understand their target consumers and their behaviour.

Researching consumer insights based on real-time can help learn how different people use voice search. In addition, you can know what voice-enabled devices potential customers use.

#2. Focus on Conversational Keywords

Although short-tail keywords are here to stay, they can become far less relevant when it comes to voice search using natural phrases. With voice search influencing local SEO, marketers must discover more conversational long-tail keywords. They should figure out the questions for which consumers seek answers.

#3. Curate Relevant Persona-Based Content

Brevity, context, and relevance are the key elements when optimising voice search. However, what you need to focus more on is the following:

  • Create detailed answers to the questions commonly asked by your target consumers.
  • Answer simple questions more clearly and concisely.
  • Try to curate rich, compelling content that can answer the most common questions of your users and solve their pain points.

Considering these three points, you can create content that appeals to Google’s ranking algorithms.

#4. Provide Context with Schema Markup

Using schema to mark up your content is one of the most effective strategies to optimise voice search. The HTML add-ons will help different search engines understand what your content is all about. It implies that your website will rank better in typical searches. Moreover, it will be seen as more relevant for solving specific queries via voice search.

It becomes easier for Google to understand language by using schemas. Also, they are a great way to add more information to the web pages so that they are ready to answer voice search questions.

#5. Think Mobile and Local

The world is evolving into a mobile-first phase where both devices and people are mobile. As a result, always remember that mobile and local are co-dependent, especially when voice search and local SEO is concerned.

With mobile devices and voice search, users can perform on-the-go local queries. In addition, voice search enables users to search hyper-local questions.

Marketers should ensure that directions, brick-and-mortar locations, sitemaps, XML, etc., are readable to your site’s search engines and visitors.

Your mobile strategy should be sound and focused on improving page speed and load times.

Tools for Optimising for Voice Search

The most jarring difference between text-based and voice searches is that searchers have less time to think about phrasing their questions.

When a searcher asks a question to the search engine, he uses conversational language as if speaking to his family or friends. In 2017, 70% of queries used natural language on Google Assistant. Therefore, Semantics is critical when addressing voice searches.

These tools can provide powerful local SEO services for voice search optimisation:

Google Keyword Planner

In addition to supporting Adwords, Google Keyword Planner also helps you look into keyword data retrieved directly from Google searches. Now that Google has incorporated voice search into its system, this tool can be a great source for keyword research.

Wordstream

Although this tool is designed for paid research, Wordstream features Keyword Niche Finder. This feature enables SEO optimisers to get terms frequently used by the target audience.

Word2CleanHTML

With Word2CleanHTML, you can clean up any content created on different software. In addition, you can get a clean and safer HTML version to use in web pages and eBooks.

Ahrefs

Ahrefs can help you gain valuable insights from your and your competitor’s websites’ performance. Its huge index is regularly updated with actionable data, including traffic and referring domains earned by the content.

Varvy Pagespeed Optimization

You can take a speed test with varvy and get helpful details on speed issues.

Plugin SEO

With Plugin SEO, you can take a quick look and know what might be up with your site. In addition, this tool delivers reports suggesting some actionable information to aid in fixing any issues.

Google Analytics

You can track your website performance based on click-through rates, impressions, bounce rates, and other aspects. Analysing the activity on your website will help you improve it further.

Does Your Local SEO Package Include Voice Search Optimisation?

In today’s world, when everything is online, SEO, especially local SEO, is crucial to local businesses. Moreover, since people are shifting to voice search, optimising voice search has also become the need of the hour.

A Local SEO Package featuring voice search optimisation service is valuable to drive traffic to your site and increase your revenue. With ZealousWeb Local SEO Package, you can optimise your website for local SEO and voice search.

Conclusion

The impact of voice search on Local SEO is certain and will only rise. With a huge rise and the adoption and use of voice technology, the impact on offline and online businesses is considerable. And those brands trying to adapt to changes will surely reap the benefits in the coming days.

Therefore, marketers should develop effective strategies to optimise their websites for voice search. A robust Local SEO Package can be used to optimise the site for local voice search results, which, in return, will improve your site’s performance and rankings. ZealousWeb Local SEO Package is known for offering local professional SEO and voice search optimisation services at a competitive price.