Is Your Business Prepared for Voice-Driven & “Near Me” Search?

Nowadays, speaking to do a search is commonplace. People are using home-based devices like Amazon Alexa, Siri, Google Home, OR apps on their cell phones. That’s right, our phones can be set up with an app’ for Voice-Driven Search. And so the question business owners should be asking is, “are we prepared for Voice-Driven Search?” NOTE: Regardless of how a person searches (computer, laptop, phone or voice app), the results are still coming from the same search engine indexes THAT ALREADY INCLUDE YOUR WEBSITE PAGES & LOCAL BUSINESS LISTINGS. Those results are coming from a search engine index like Google or Bing. So beware of those who suggest there is some ‘silver bullet’ registration solution for getting great voice-driven search results.

Voice-driven applications offer such searching convenience that people will inevitably use them on their phones. In adding an app’, we allow for the identification of our location to answer searches with hyper-localized results. What does a business need to know? We’ll cover what’s necessary as well as how Amazon Alexa, Apple Siri, and Google Home (or Google Voice Search for a phone) actually get their voice-driven search results for you in what follows!

Where Do Alexa, Siri, and Google Home or Google Voice Search Get Their Results?

Research does show that “near me” search growth is at over 1,000% in the last 5 years, including for phrases like “contractor near me” or “Chinese food near me”. It also shows that your business is prepared if you have a web presence. Again, beware of those who suggest there is some ‘silver bullet’ solution for getting immediate or better search results. How does a business actually get into Alexa, Siri, and Google Home or Google Voice Search Search Results? If you have ever thought about how – then this should help you. First off, where do these services get their search results? 

A) Google Home, Google Assistant, or Google Voice Search: Google draws directly from its vast & current index of web pages, including those in its locally-specific organized indexes. This can be managed aggressively and efficiently, for instance, by pursuing Local SEO Services!

B) Apple’s Siri: First off, Siri draws on a few databases including its own Apple Maps, also Google for the lion’s share of its responses and it uses Bing for image-related search data. Note: this can change in time. If you are not an Apple device user and do not want to get into their setup process, a Local SEO and/or Search & Directory Listing service will cover Apple Maps. If you are up to their setup process, you must have an Apple ID# or you can also go to Apple Maps Connect here: https://mapsconnect.apple.com and begin their registration process – direct. Optimization for Siri also requires that other local directory listings be consistent. Good reviews are going to matter and, being that they are competitive, it’s likely Siri will not draw upon Google listings for any there.

C) Amazon’s Alexa: As with the above, Local SEO and/ or Search & Directory Listing services cover Amazon Alexa. The belief is that Alexa draws on Bing, Yelp, Apple Maps, and its own search results. Good reviews are going to matter! And feeling competitive, it’s not likely that Alexa will draw on Google listings. Ultimately and as a result, Alexa is believed to trail in terms of its’ local search results.

Preparing For Voice & Near Me Search With Content!

If you haven’t optimized your business for voice-driven searches, including locally-driven “near me” searches, maybe it is time. In looking at how you optimize for voice & “near me” searches, we also need to look at the importance of website content and also at enhanced trusted listings. 

It starts with content: what is your target consumer’s intent and are you ready for them? We recently wrote on the subject here, “DOES YOUR CONTENT MEET YOUR TARGET CONSUMER INTENT ONLINE?” in order to get business owners thinking about their content. Using content to meet target market searches. To use a Google recommended strategy, it’s a matter of anticipating micro-moments and having published content that supports them. Google actually introduced the concept of micro-moments broken down into I-want-to-know, I-want-to-go, I-want-to-do, and I-want-to-buy moments in order to remind business marketers to think about addressing ‘intent’ with their content.

As locally driven business owners, we need to think more specifically: what do they want to learn about my products or services? Under what circumstances do they want to learn about them? What are they doing with our products or services (e.g. Home Inspection, Home Addition, Liability Insurance, MRI, Rehabilitation)? Would education and/or instruction, maybe even ‘how-to’ content support them or build trust as the right resource for them?

Consider, are the answers to their questions available on my web presence? Reinforce this information through your important listings and/or your social media via detailed descriptions, categorization, posts, images, reviews & Q&A when/where possible?

Preparing For Voice & Near Me Search With Local SEO!

Let’s look at locally-driven priorities with our websites, content, listings, and citations. Note: search engines cross-reference the most specific information on directory listings & citations (that they trust) with your website. They do it in order to determine consistent accuracy.

A) Does the website communicate a business location? Search engines look at the location in order to consider a business for hyper-local searches.
B) Does website content leverage opportunities to mention the areas where products or services are offered? This requires experience, tactics & finesse, depending on how broad that geographic target is. For example, have a look at GEO-TARGETING AND LOCAL BUSINESS AUTHORITY!
C) Have we created consistent accurate business listings at the leading directory sites, at least, including each one’s verification process? This can be managed aggressively and efficiently, for instance, by pursuing Local SEO Services.
D) Have you created a Google my business profile, including listing? Do you leverage its enhanced information opportunities? This is the no. 1 off-website and most important listing!
E) Have you created a Facebook business page?
F) Can you clean up inconsistencies in any existing listing or citation? This can be a headache, Local SEO and/ or Search & Directory Listing services can make managing this more efficient.
G) Prepare to manage these listings, one by one, as is necessary.
H) Find and build niche (e.g. your associations) and/or location-specific citations (e.g. town directories).

Where Do Alexa, Siri, and Google Home or Google Voice Search Get Their Results? 

And so we’re hoping this post answers any questions you might have had about being prepared for Voice Search via Google Home/ Google Voice Search, Siri, and Alexa. If not, please do not hesitate to get in touch with questions. Our Local SEO and/ or Search & Directory Listing services can make managing it affordable and simple.

Strategic Content & Keywords Drive The Genuine Leads!

 

Competition is fierce online, including for the local small to medium-sized business that hopes to rank products or services in search results. The serious consumer searches very specifically, so let’s look at a strategic approach to content & keywords that MOST of the competition will fail to execute. It is about targeting ‘long tail of search‘ keywords and it requires identifying, then optimizing, content with those keywords (or key phrases).

‘Long-tail keywords’ are less obvious | more specific phrases that should be used in website pages and off-website citations. While these keywords may have fewer actual searches, they will also attract much more serious consumers AND have less competition. For the business optimizing content & keywords correctly, being visible to the serious (=highly qualified) consumer becomes highly likely. This is about working to be visible to the person who looks harder and who is more specific when they want something that you offer!

Specific or ‘Long Tail Keywords’ Explained

 

The Long Tail theory was originally explored by a forward-thinking Chris Anderson in his Oct 2004 Wired Magazine article describing how the web might influence getting new business. Anderson, Editor of Wired Magazine at the time, later authored his best-selling book ‘The Long Tail’ to better detail his theory.

As it applies to better search engine optimization and to marketing – the idea with ‘The Long Tail’ is to be visible for the specific keyword variations related to one’s ‘business focus’ that serious consumers search.

Proven below this theory shows that, while a business may generate less search discovery per ‘long tail’ keyword (i.e. 3 Bedroom Condo Greenwich Village) than it will for the most competitive keywords (i.e. NYC Condo), the collective impact for those ‘long tail’ keywords is likely to outperform the most obviously targeted. Again, the more specific the content’s keywords are the less competitive it likely is in search results. The assumption is that most business competition has either only focused on the most obvious keyword searches or that they are not bothering to optimize content & keywords at all. The assumption is also that serious leads are searching much more specifically than the less serious masses.

An SEO strategy placing focus on ‘long tail’ keywords is one capable of not only capturing traffic but the better more highly qualified & serious traffic. This is NOT meant to suggest a business should give up targeting the obvious searches (i.e. New York City Real Estate). On the contrary, the argument is to target more specific … less competitive … terms (i.e. 3 Bedroom Condo Greenwich Village) in the search engine result pages (SERPs). It can mean being visible when extremely serious people, demonstrated by their hyper-specific search effort, search. Search visibility to serious consumers can be a cost-effective marketing strategy; whereas, solely pursuing the less specific and more competitive keyword search topics (i.e. NYC Condo) will increase the marketers’ competition as well exposure to the LEAST qualified consumers.

Analysis Shows The Specific Keyword SEO Strategy Works!

Research shows that serious people do search more specifically. To demonstrate the ‘Long Tail’ content & keywords theory below is traffic analytics data (2007) drawn from a ‘publish lots of specific content Vail CO Real Estate Agency’. This agency had broad keyword indexing for both the most sought after (and then also the not so sought after or specific) keyword targets. Their pages and blog posts focused on being indexed for everything going on in the area & community as it related to local Real Estate. We examined one month of data to demonstrate ‘long tail’ keywords search discovery success for this (remains anonymous) agency in Vail, CO.

A. Total ‘Short Tail’ search discovery equaled 190/ 1,015 searches bringing new visitors to a website = 19%

• Short Tail being the town’s name and state plus the words 1) property, 2) real estate, 3) home, or 4) homes

 

B. Total ‘Long Tail’ search discovery equaled 825/1,015= 81%

• • • Long Tail being as many variations relating to obvious local searches as is possible

a.) different areas of town were equal to 130 total searchers arriving on the website
b.) condominium complexes equal to 299 total searchers
c.) new developments equal to 89 total searchers
d.) local clubs equal to 101 total searchers
e.) local business news or info equal to 27 total searchers
f.)  listings or specific local streets equal to 32 total searchers
g.) local builder-developer news equal to 56 total searchers

h.) random/ miscellaneous news equal to 91 total searchers … hey, they blog about what’s going on locally a lot! 

 

Albeit anonymous, the data above demonstrates ‘Long Tail theory‘ success based upon discovery for less targeted keyword variations; that discovery amounting to 81% of the overall search traffic and 435% more visitors than what the short tail of search delivered. That’s a lot of traffic and a lot of potential for highly qualified leads! We’d argue the Agency is not only a cost-effective marketer but one that is capturing the most highly qualified eyeballs!

About Kinetic Knowledge NJ Digital Marketing Services 

 

Based in Monmouth County NJ, Kinetic Knowledge is a full-service digital marketing firm offering Local NJ SEO, website design & managed host service, social media, graphic design, content, and more. We advocate local SEO strategies, particularly the targeting of ‘Long Tail’ keywords in on and off-website content, so contact us here or give a call to learn more about ‘Long Tail’ strategies at 732-722-5915.