If you’re like the majority of smartphone owners, you likely rely on voice-powered functions to schedule appointments, send text messages and search for information online. Voice search, in particular, has become a key area to watch for marketers: According to Comscore, half of all online searches will be voice searches by 2020. In other words, voice is the future of internet search.
Recognizing this growing trend, today’s marketers are investing more of their resources to improve their voice-search marketing efforts. To help you keep up, 10 members of Forbes Agency Council explain how to optimize your website content for voice search.
Members of Forbes Agency Council share tips for optimizing your online content for voice search.
Photos courtesy of the individual members.
1. Focus On Location
All of the same search best practices apply to voice search. The biggest difference is the importance of localized search engine optimization. It is critical that your business location is optimized online because voice searches will generally look for local results first. – Stefan Pollack, The Pollack PR Marketing Group
2. Make Your Content Easy To Read
Voice assistance often tries to match the question and answer more directly, so it would be a good idea to keep your content as simple as possible. Also, try giving direct answers to the questions, and make it obvious that this very paragraph has the answer. That said, don’t over-optimize, because algorithms constantly evolve. Focus on the quality of your content; let SEO be the cherry on the cake. – Solomon Thimothy, OneIMS
3. Try Speaking Your Content Aloud
Content creators have gotten into the habit of writing for search engines. Finding the balance between bots and people is delicate. A similar dance is required for the new age of voice search. Be more conversational and publish in audio, video and print. Create content that answers questions; as you write, imagine yourself having a real-life conversation with your reader. – Mary Ann O’Brien, OBI Creative
