Help More Customers Find Your Business
When someone asks their voice assistant a question about businesses nearby, how can you help ensure your company shows up in Google Assistant’s, Siri’s, and Alexa’s recommendations?
Voice search has become increasingly more accurate, user-friendly, and popular over the years. The convenience of simply asking a robot to look something up outweighs the effort of manually searching, scrolling through results, and making decisions. However, gaining visibility and earning the coveted recommendation of voice assistants requires more than a simple click or flip of a switch—it requires leveraging the power of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and implementing best practices to establish your business’s authority and increase the likelihood of being recognized by voice assistants.
So, when someone asks, “What’s the best X company near me?” how do you earn the robot’s coveted recommendation for your business?
With all things SEO, there’s no guaranteed formula to get Alexa or Siri to robotically sound off your business’s name. However, there are a handful of things you can easily do to increase the chances of someone hearing your business’s name in voice search results.
What Should You Know About Voice Search?
Voice Search Statistics
- According to eMarketer, in 2020, 5% of the U.S. population will use a voice assistant at least monthly on any device—that’s about 128 million people.
- According to Statista research, 32% of Americans own a smart speaker as of 2021.
- According to a 2018 study by Narvar, 51% of voice searchers use voice to research products, 36% to add an item to their shopping list, and 22% to make a purchase.
Consider How Voice Search Works
There’s a big difference in how people use voice search compared to how they type words into a search engine.
Consider you’re researching IT companies in San Antonio, TX. If you’re on your laptop googling something, you’re probably going to use keywords like “best IT company San Antonio” or “IT companies in San Antonio.” On the other hand, if you’re using voice search, you’re more likely to use complete sentences in your query, like, “Hey Alexa, what’s the best IT company in San Antonio?” or, “Hey Google, can you give me a list of IT companies in San Antonio?”
If your website can’t answer questions in a natural way, it could limit your chances of appearing in voice results.
Search Engines Used by Voice Search
When you use voice search, the search engine triggered will depend on the specific device.
- Google products, including Google Assistant, Google Nest, and Android devices, use Google Search.
- Amazon devices, including Amazon Alexa and Amazon Echo, and Microsoft’s Cortana, use Bing.
Apple products, including iPhones, iPads, and any Siri devices, use Safari.
How To Get Your Business Found by Google’s Nest, Amazon’s Alexa, and Apple’s Siri
Update and Publish Your Listing Data, Everywhere
Your business must have a significant online presence if you want to get noticed on voice searches.
What’s one of the easiest ways to build an online footprint? Ensure your business listing data, including name, address, and phone number (NAP), is up-to-date and consistent everywhere online. When researching digital locations, your list of updates should include search engines, mobile apps, social networks, and websites—don’t forget the dated websites that no one really uses anymore, like MapQuest and YellowPages.
Updating your business’s NAP data everywhere can be a tedious task; however, with Business Listing Management services, you can ensure your business’s listing data is up-to-date for over 200 online locations, including voice assistants.
Make Sure Your Website Is Mobile Friendly
Consider where people are doing voice searches where your website might come up. A good chunk of the time, they’re probably using a mobile device.
A responsive website is more than a should-have; it’s essential. If you want your business to be found in voice search, you need a mobile-friendly website that meets modern website standards, like loading in under two seconds.
Ask Your Customers for Reviews
Reviews are critical to your business’s search engine presence and online reputation. Virtual assistants tend to recommend businesses with high ratings when requesting companies that align with voice search results.
Put yourself in your customer’s shoes. Are you more likely to spend your money at a business with a 5-star rating or a 1-star rating?
When talking with customers you have a good relationship with, encourage them to leave ratings online. Even better, make the process easy for them when having follow-up conversations by providing a link to your Google Business or social media profiles.
Optimize Your Website for SEO
How do you talk to voice assistants? Even if you don’t use them, you’re probably familiar with how they’re used.
People talk to voice assistants in full sentences. Since a computer is interpreting what a person is asking, it’ll try to find an example that most closely matches the question. The closer you can come to answering the exact question, the more relevant your website is to the voice assistant.
Structuring your website’s content to match user intent is critical to getting your business found on voice search. If it’s been a while since you’ve updated your website, consider Website Development work to modernize your content and layout to match contemporary web standards.
We Put Your Website To Work.
As a technology partner, we help businesses get the most out of their website. Contact us to learn more about our Website Services, including Website Development, SEO, and Business Listing Management.