Voice & Near Me Search: Is Your Business Prepared For Google, Siri & Alexa?

Voice & “Near Me” Searches: Are You Prepared?Prepare For Voice Search


Nowadays, voice search is commonplace. People are using home-based devices like Amazon Alexa & Google Home, and they’re using iPhones & cell phones too. That’s right, our phones can be setup with an app’ for Voice Search‘.  And so the question business owners should be asking is, “are we prepared for Voice Search?”

Admittedly old school about search, I have given in to that Google Voice Search mic’ set up on my cell phone. In doing so, I allow Google to identify my location so that it can answer questions with hyper-localized search results. Note: Regardless of how a person searches (keyboard or voice app), the results are still coming from search databases. Those results are coming from a search engine database like Google or Bing=Microsoft, so beware of those who suggest there’s a shortcut. As a business owner who wants to be prepared, you are still going to have to do Search Optimization!

So what does a business need to know? We’ll cover what’s necessary as well as Amazon Alexa, Apple Siri and Google Home (or Google Voice Search) for you in what follows below!


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, it’s time to get into it. In looking at how you optimize for voice & “near me” searches, we need to look at the importance of website content and also at Fundamental Local SEO. Research shows “near me” search growth at over 1,000% in the last 5 years, including for phrases like “contractor near me” or “store open near me now”.

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, if not warn, 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 Edition, Insurance, MRI, Rehabilitation)? Would education and/or instruction, maybe even ‘how-to’ content support them or entrust us as the right resource for them?

So PLEASE consider, are the answers to their questions available? Do you reinforce this information through your listings and/or your social media vis posts when/where possible?


Preparing For Voice & Near Me Search With Local SEO!

Let’s look at locally-driven priorities with our websites, our content, our 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? This is the no. 1 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).


Preparing For Alexa, Siri and Google Home or Google Voice Search

Then there’s the question, “How Does My Business Get Into Alexa, Siri and Google Home or Google Voice Search Search Results?” If you have ever thought Local SEO Services That Support Optimization For Voice Search about how then this should help you.

A) Google Home, Google Assistant or Google Voice Search: the answer is all of the above. 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 SEO Services!

B) Apple’s Siri: how do we prepare for when people ask their Apple devices & iPhones for local services like contractors, legal and/or medical help? 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. If you are not an Apple user and do not want to get into their process, our Local SEO and/or Search & Directory Listing services cover Apple Maps. If you are up to it, 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. 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.

C) Amazon’s Alexa: how do we prepare for when people ask their Amazon Alexa devices for local services and search “near me”? As with the above, our Local SEO and/ or Search & Directory Listing services cover Amazon Alexa. The belief is that Alexa draws upon its own and also Bing search results. Good reviews are going to matter! And feeling competitive with them, it’s not likely Alexa will draw on Google listings. Ultimately, Alexa is believed to trail in terms of its’ local search 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.

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How Long Tail Keywords Drive New Business Leads

Qualified Consumers Search ‘Long Tail Keywords’

 

long tail keywords for business leads

Competition is fierce online, including for local businesses trying to rank their services in search results for local leads. The fact is, qualified consumers search very specifically and we want to present a strategy that most of the competition will fail to execute. It is about targeting the ‘long tail of search’ and it requires optimizing content more specifically.

‘Long tail keywords’ involve targeting less obvious and more specific search keywords & phrases in pages & content. These keywords will have fewer consumer searches … but they will also have less competition. For the business properly optimized, being visible to the most highly qualified consumer will not only become possible but highly likely.

The ‘Long tail’ is about being there when the person who looks a little harder and who is a little more specific when they want something you offer … is searching!

‘Long Tail Keywords’ Explained

 

long tail seo theoryThe Long Tail theory was originally explored by 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 as many keyword variations of one’s core business focus as is possible.

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. New York City Condo), the collective impact on the actual business of those ‘long tail’ variations might outperform that of the most obviously targeted. Again, the more specific the search term is (or keywords are) the less competitive it likely is in search results. The assumption being that most business competition has either only focused on the most obvious keyword searches or that they are not bothering to optimize content at all. The assumption is also that there are consumer leads out there searching much more specifically than most people.

An SEO strategy placing focus on ‘long tail’ keywords is one capable of not only capturing more total traffic but also better more highly qualified 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 … less competitive … terms (i.e. 3 Bedroom Condo Greenwich Village) in the search engine result pages. It can mean being visible when extremely qualified people, demonstrated by their specific effort, search. Search visibility is undoubtedly one of the most cost-effective marketing strategies there is; however, solely pursuing the most competitive search topics limits a marketer to the most competitive searches.

Analysis Supports Long Tail Keyword SEO Strategy


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

the long tail keywords SEO and leadsA. 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 the town were equal to 130 total searchers arriving on 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 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.

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GENERATING LEADS WITH LOCAL SEO

LOCAL SEO, LEADS AND YOUR BUSINESS

local seo expert nj
Is a reliable local SEO (search engine optimization) strategy what is missing when it comes to driving more leads for your business? By optimizing a website, its pages, and various off-website citations you will build a means for targeting those people searching for the very services you offer. The consumers behind those searches are the most highly qualified potential leads on the web, simply because they are already looking for what you offer.

Let’s look at what you need to know about local SEO for your business.

SEO STANDARDS


Generally speaking, a successful SEO strategy must include important consideration for:

  • content or pages that answer the questions a visitor would be searching;
  • in-content optimization or pages that support how a search engine identifies & consumes those answers;
  • off-website optimization or reinforcement of the above from other trusted(?) websites via references, reviews & back-links AND
  • the analysis of what is working, what needs work, and what goals are or are not being achieved.

Visibility from an SEO effort requires work, including the build of the on and off-website signals that search engines value. And respect for a forever moving competitive set of search results is highly recommended! A search engine will re-weight any of the (up to 200) signals it uses at any time to compare one company’s website page to another. They do this in order to protect their search results and to be sure the answers to a search are the very best possible.


LOCAL KEYWORD RESEARCH

 

We cannot recommend good content enough, not to mention active content covering the business and its challenges; however, all of the above also requires keyword research. You must identify the words & phrases that qualified leads search! Then it is necessary to use those keywords well enough to impress search engines to not only rank your business for them but in high positions.

If you know that your business can support a particular area for potential leads then you’ll need to incorporate local geography, towns, counties, and your state in order to minimize who you are compared too. If you are a lawyer licensed to practice in NJ, there is no sense in being compared for (or generating leads from) the state of MI. You must target where you serve or accept that you will increase your competitive set while wasting time, effort, and money. In some cases, a town is all that is necessary. In others, it may be an entire state or a county, or three counties.

And while ‘near me’ searches are all the rage, a search engine must be able to identify how near you are to that search in order to consider you when serving its results. If you run a coffee shop in Austin Texas and target “best dark roast”, then knowing you have structured a web presence that obviously serves Austin matters. Surprisingly to some, search engines actually wish to rank locally relevant businesses over a national brand when possible because in many circumstances the local business is undoubtedly the better result.


LINK STRUCTURE

 

Links are where a lot of people get tripped up. You cannot necessarily control who links to your pages and you should never try to manufacture links either! Only links that a search engine trusts matter; links it does not trust can hurt you! Sure it can be good to accumulate links from directories, social media accounts, and other websites, BUT links only matter if the search engine deems them relevant and from a trustworthy source! Again, search engines protect their search results in order to be sure they are the very best they can possibly be. Is a random site trusted? Maybe, and maybe not. Is a directory listing or an association website trusted? It’s likely, but maybe not relevant!

Linking to different pages on our own website is a good practice so long as it improves the user experience, so far as Google sees it. The effort can help a search engine understand that pages you have linked add value for users. And adding the links in descriptive text matters, but be careful here. If your page is meant to detail authoritative local Mold Inspection experience and knowledge, well then do not link from in the words ‘mold inspection’ out to another page because that could be seen as a vote against the page it comes from.

You should certainly try to link back to your pages from social network account posts. Off-website reactions like sharing or links stemming from other people’s social network accounts may also serve as signals to a search engine that users are having a positive experience. Your Google listings offer a posting option and this is definitely a quality source of back-links! Ensure that all your local citations, search and directory listings are accurate for location, contact, website link, and hours of operation because this is also a signal search engines reference, at least from those directories it trusts. 



REVIEWS

Having positive reviews show up alongside a search for your business is invaluable. For many, you will gain an immediate sense of authority and trust. It can also raise a Google listing in the map pack area of a results page when a search is hyper-local. 

Your plan in place to increase reviews should include the following:

  • identify satisfied clients and ask for their reviews;
  • plan to help them give a review when necessary, possibly with step by step written instructions;
  • be prepared to send follow up requests;
  • setup alerts for all reviews in order to be informed when they occur AND
  • get informed on dealing with any negative reviews!


SEO ANALYSIS: YOU CANNOT GROW WHAT YOU DO NOT MEASURE

Once you begin implementing a Local SEO strategy, you MUST track and analyze your results! In doing so you will be able to see what’s working, what isn’t, and have a basis for what does and does not need work. Results analysis should, at least, include:

  • a reliable keywords ranking solution; 
  • a website traffic analytics solution;
  • an off-website traffic driver analytics solution;
  • a website health tracking solution; 
  • success data, to justify the effort and the cost AND
  • an appraisal of what, if any, needs work. 

 

LOCAL SEO EXPERT | LOCAL SEO AGENCY

At Kinetic Knowledge, we are local NJ SEO experts, a local SEO Marketing Company. We have helped hundreds of local businesses increase traffic, visibility, and leads through our Local SEO Packages and add-ons service solutions. We also offer custom website design packages! If you’re interested in experiencing the benefits of a well-executed local SEO effort contact us today to find out how we can help!

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Consumers Search Local, Are Your Directory Listings Accurate?

Does Your Business Have An Accurate Directory Listings Profile

How To Complete An Accurate Citation Profile | Kinetick Knowledge Monmouth County NJ
Most business owners find that creating an accurate consistent directory listings profile is too overwhelming a project to thoroughly complete. Not to mention, no one enjoys going through a verification process one directory listing website after another. And while no one signal wins the local SEO battle, in what is a very competitive web environment, listings & citations do matter! 

It is important to understand that information inconsistency a) will often confuse consumers and b) be counted by search engines as a negative signal. Listings are an important local search ranking signal, but often they are left untouched due to the overwhelming task at hand. One must work through each one then be prepared for an ongoing (one by one) management process. So get your NAP/ business name, address, phone, website link, even hours of operation consistent between the website and (at least the obvious) relevant business listings. By doing so,  your online presence will present as reliable to search engine algorithms. That’s right, search engines cross-reference information on directory listings they trust with your website.

4 out of 5 consumers search locally (according to Google), so listings & citations matter when it comes to your business being found. NAP stands for name, address, and phone number, but at minimum assume it includes a website link and hours of operation. Listing sites like Google, Yahoo, Bing, Yelp.com and/or Superpages.com can matter! In fact, anywhere your NAP is mentioned – that is considered a citation. If your NAP is on a town or an association website – that is a citation. 

The Downside Of Directory Listings & Citations

 

Maintaining consistent and accurate listings is time-consuming. Going through each listing one by one and completing the following can take more time than most business owners have or wish to commit. To accomplish a consistent listing/citation profile you’ll need to:

  1. Create business listings at leading directory sites, one by one and each via a verification process.
  2. Create a Google my business profile, including listing, which is the no. 1 most important listing!
  3. Create a Facebook business page.
  4. Clean-up inconsistencies and in any existing citations you have setup.
  5. Prepare to manage these listings, one by one, as is necessary. 
  6. Find and build niche (e.g. your associations) and/or location-specific citations (e.g. town directories).
  7. OR, if budget allows, find a service that offers Search & Directory Listings Management.


Listings & Citations Pay Off


While it can be a long and tedious project (or an outsourced cost), having a complete and accurate citation profile is good for business! It’s not the whole picture, so far as search engines go, but your business will see an improvement in local rankings once everything is in order.


The Importance Is Clear


So if it wasn’t clear before, accurate business listings are valuable signals in the local ranking of your business. The competition is always coming online, so it is necessary to consider getting an accurate listing/citation profile. If the time necessary is too much we can help with Listing Plans, Fundamental Local SEO, broader SEO & Social Media Plans. If listings are all that is needed, have a look at our Kinetic Knowledge Search & Directory Listings Management Plan

  • To get the most important citations accurate & consistent (59-60)
  • To gather website back-links
  • To generate review alerts
  • To be able to update or change information immediately across all listings when things change
  • To add enhanced service & management profiles, including images and back-links AND
  • More… have a look and please do not hesitate to ask any questions at all.

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