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Alexa, Hey Google, Hey Siri, Hey Cortana. These commands have become common in households. Per Comscore (a U.S. based media measurement and analytics company), 50% of all searches will be voice searches. Potential in this market is growing tremendously and your brand needs to be voice search ready to capitalize on this opportunity. Voice search is here to stay. 

Voice search will become increasingly important to promote local businesses. In fact, Google informs us that voice searches have a high local intent.  It is critical to your local SEO (Search Engine Optimization) juice to optimize your keywords for voice searches. What are some of the criteria to be optimized for voice search?

1. Text searches in a browser are usually shorter, more focused, while voice search queries are longer and contain more question phrases. For voice search optimization, a good tool to start your research with is https://answerthepublic.com/. 

2.  Optimize your search queries for local intent. For ex., incorporate the phrase “near me” in your SEO strategy. We can guide your business in the right direction for an optimized SEO strategy. A solid SEO presence also includes a polished and current Google My Business listing. Contact us to get started. 

3. Since most voice searches happen on a mobile device, it should be clear that your site needs to be mobile-friendly. Google has a free mobile-friendly test tool that you can use: https://search.google.com/test/mobile-friendly. 

4. Voice searches are more conversational and thus it’s good to rework your site’s content to reflect this. For ex., including a well-developed FAQs (frequently asked questions) section on your site can improve your voice search ranking. 

This is not to say that brands shouldn’t have a good paid search strategy. PPC (pay-per-click) is still going to be an important strategy to drive relevant traffic to your site for conversions. Voice search is not a temporary trend phase rather it’s growing quickly and it’s here to stay. Everyday life will increasingly embrace voice search. 

Do you have any more questions? Shoot us an email at info@4elementsglobal.com. For now, be safe out there and practice responsible social distancing.