Voice recognition is becoming a normal part of how we interact with technology. Have you ever caught yourself asking Siri, Google Home or Alexa for store hours of your favorite restaurant or shop? It’s fast and convenient! And voice is now being used more often to find other local services including health care providers.
The Facts About Voice Search
More businesses, especially local, should focus on honing their websites for voice optimization. It’s predicted by eMarketer that by next year, 67 million voice assisted devices will be in the U.S. And Google says that by 2020, 50% of searches will happen by voice.
So how does that affect local businesses? Well, according to the Search Engine Watch, mobile voice-related searches are three times more likely to be local in intent than text-based searches.
Based on the 2018 Voice Search Survey conducted by DAC, the phone number (68%), directions to (67%) and hours of operation (63%) of a business are the things people are looking for. And more importantly, people are using voice to search for health care providers. Someone might ask “Siri, what is the highest rated family practice doctor near me.” Businesses need to capitalize on the increase in voice assistants.
Some Easy Tips to Optimize Your Practice or Business for Voice Search
As voice optimization is becoming more crucial, we have narrowed down some helpful tips to get you started.
- Ensure that your website is compatible with HTTPS. According to a Backlinko study, 70.4 of Google Home result pages are secured with HTTPS
- Verify that your site loads in 4.6 seconds or faster for optimization results. 4.6 seconds is 52% faster than the average page.
- Build an authoritative domain. Include links, social shares, user experience and post daily content. Authoritative domains tend to have more voice search results than non-authoritative domains. Google needs to be very confident that they are giving searchers accurate information.
- Keep your answers short and simple. The typical voice search result is 29 words in length and the average Google voice search is written at a 9th grade level.
Voice search is a challenge and an opportunity for local businesses- don’t wait to get started!
Steel brings together data, technology, creative and influence to deliver spectacular growth for brands that are marketing to the American family. Working side-by-side with client marketing teams and in-house agencies, Steel extends your leverage by contributing strategy, creativity, bandwidth and best practices. For healthcare, education, government and CPG clients especially, Steel’s full service, integrated agency capabilities and knowledge of marketing automation makes ideas possible and execution practical. Call Steel with your marketing challenges, and if we are not the right fit, we will point you in the right direction.
By: Jennifer Hernandez and Jesus Aleman
