Search engines have come a long way, even just in the past couple of years. Today, you can search with only your voice and find almost anything you’re looking for incredibly fast. Your customers are using voice search to find places, local services, and more. You can leverage this innovative search capability to drive online traffic (or foot traffic depending on your industry) to your business.
The local voice SEO tips for small businesses we’ll discuss in this blog will help you get a good head start on your competition still stuck in the days of the Yellow Pages. Whether you’re an optometrist, lawyer, or roofing company, optimizing for voice can increase your “visibility” among locals who are likely to become your customers and clients.
Just think about it; people can speak on their devices. They can ask for the nearest personal trainer, veterinarian, or cosmetic surgeon. And your company pops up first. Sounds great, right?
But this isn’t automatic. Voice SEO strategies for local companies can get you there.
All About Local Voice SEO
First of all, voice can help you “get local”. You don’t need to engage people in other states or across the country. You want to reach people where you are, in the zip codes and neighborhoods where your customers live and work. This targeted approach makes optimizing for local search doable with the right local marketing tools, even on a small business budget.
People are increasingly shifting from typing to talking when they want to find local companies.
So, local voice SEO involves applying strategies, tactics, and tools to get the search engine to choose your company when locals are looking for your services.
Platforms like Siri, Alexa, Google Assistant, and Cortana are at the forefront of this change. Voice assistants like these are becoming the new front door for local businesses. They drive the traffic that leads to more appointments and repeat customers.
Why Voice Search Matters to You
Voice search isn’t some futuristic technology. It is right here and now. It’s useful. And it’s growing fast. People who use local search have become accustomed to getting fast results.
They’re often intention-driven people who plan to do something today, within the next hour, right now.
Now, imagine your small business is the first thing they hear or see in response to a voice prompt. That’s powerful stuff. And it’s an opportunity you can’t afford to miss.
With the right local voice SEO tips for small businesses plus marketing software that’s built around smaller budgets and less time to spend marketing, you can get there.
Now, let’s get into these local voice SEO tips for small businesses.
Voice SEO Strategies That Work
1. Local Keyword Research
Did you know you can see what people in local areas are asking search engines? This highly targeted data lets you know what potential customers in the region are looking for as it relates to your company. You can answer their questions directly and talk about the relevant topics that matter to them. You’ll uncover long-tail keywords and keyword insights that deliver an edge.
You can use tools like Google’s keyword planner for free to identify essential terms to target on your website, along with common questions. Answer these questions to snag the opportunity to become the go-to answer to a question in your area.
2. Optimize Your Online Presence Locally
The Internet is vast. But much of it is very regional, even down to the zip code. For example, directories and business profiles like Google Business Profile include your address, show you on a map, and allow you to add hyper-local information to show you’re connected in the community. Your presence is local. People across the country see different companies in their search results.
Bing Places, Yelp, Apple Maps, and your local chamber of commerce are other high-profile, highly visible local business resources.
Did you know you can create an Apple ID for your Apple Maps listing? This simple step not only enhances your visibility on one of the most popular mapping services. It also optimizes your business for voice searches, where users frequently ask for directions or business information via Siri.
Fill these profiles out completely, and track reviews, questions, and messages from these pages. Regularly update your content to keep it fresh with new photos, customer stories, offers, and relevant local topics.
3. Make it Mobile-Friendly
Anybody using voice search will do so using their phones, tablets, or watches. They’re often in the middle of doing something already. They might even be driving down the street, using hands-free voice search to find you…because we all remember things we need to jot down on our phones during moments we can’t access our phones via touch.
A mobile-friendly website adjusts seamlessly to fit any device’s screen size, providing a user-friendly experience. Its text and images adjust to look great on a smaller screen. A mobile-optimized site not only caters to voice search users but also improves your overall search engine rankings.
If your website isn’t mobile-friendly, you’ll lose them. And voice search engines will take note. The technology will think something’s wrong with your user experience and send that person who is already right down the street two miles out of their way to your competitor.
Make sure your website is responsive and fast on all devices. Many voice searches, like Siri, often guide people to your website rather than providing information from it. So, your website must be easy for people to read and interact with.
You can test your site’s mobile responsiveness using tools like Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test. It can identify issues like slow-loading sites that can send visitors fleeing.
4. Schema Markup is Your Friend
Now, this gets a bit technical. But schema is a specialized code that search engines use to better understand what a page is about. It does this by organizing information in uniform ways.
For example, business schema can communicate your:
- Business hours
- Provide prices
- Offer up a list of services
- Show your star rating
- Contact information
- Closest location (if you have multiple)
- Driving directions
- How to schedule a consultation
Each of these can help would-be customers quickly assess whether they want to schedule an appointment. And in some cases, it allows them to take that action right then and there. You can use local SEO tools that make entering schema information easier without coding experience.
5. Consistency is Key
Your business information needs to match, everywhere it is online. That’s your NAP consistency: name, address, and phone number. It sounds simple, but it’s crucial. Discrepancies can confuse search engines and customers. Consistency builds trust. Trust builds business.
If you have several locations, that’s okay. You can create several listings with different NAP. But it’s critical that each one is formatted similarly and that it’s easy for customers to find the location nearest them on your website and places like Google Maps.
You can utilize tools and services to manage and monitor your business listings. This ensures any changes in your business details are updated across all platforms simultaneously.
6. Engage with Your Community
Voice search and local go hand in hand. And the more you interact within your community, the better you’ll rank because, without a shadow of a doubt, you’re a part of your neighborhood. Highlight local landmarks, events, unique regional slang, and interesting facts in your content. Show that you’re not just in the community. You’re a part of it. This zip code-specific flair will resonate with voice search algorithms and users alike.
Engaging with your community can also involve sponsoring local events, working on a project with other local businesses, or participating in community service. This is also a great way to showcase your dedicated employees. Share these activities on your website and social media channels, emphasizing your local involvement.
7. Leverage Customer Reviews
Reviews become proof to others of both your quality service and your standing in the area. Encourage customers to leave reviews and develop a system to automate it to grow this valuable social proof. And remember to respond to reviews. Show you value customer feedback. This can further enhance your business’s credibility and visibility in voice search results.
8. Monitor, Measure, Adapt
Like all lasting trends, voice search evolves. So should you. Once you have the right systems in place, it will become easier to listen to your audience and wider voice trends and adapt to what the data is telling you.
Use Local Voice SEO Tips for Small Business Success
Optimizing for voice isn’t just a novelty. It’s quickly becoming a necessity for local companies, in particular. People overwhelmingly use their phones when searching for a local service. Invest in the above tips to dominate local voice results.
At Surefire Local, we understand the value of reaching your local community with highly targeted and effective small business marketing tools. We help you create local signals across platforms that tell search engines you’re connected and respected in your area. These signals include locally-focused content, visual media, reviews, and ads, along with complete and consistent NAP.
We’re the #1 local marketing software company for a reason. We get local and help you optimize your presence for voice SEO.
If you would like to learn more, please consider attending a demo.