An Intro. to Voice Search

So how do we start, at least in terms of voice search SEO, a new ‘hot button topic’ to explore this time around? Well, it’s easy:

  • We begin at the beginning.
  • But where is that?

We start with Google Voice Search, the number one SEO voice searching tool in America — no, in the world, and that’s no joke.

  • You’ve heard of our friend Siri, right?
  • She is practically the face of every iPhone, smartphone, tablet and many other devices out there.
  • Perhaps you’re familiar with Cortana, her cousin.
  • And we can’t forget Amazon Echo, Google Home and the others, of course.

Voice Search – Oh, How the Times Have Changed, Toto!

Let’s keep a few things in mind, shall we?

  • The first is that we are not in Kansas anymore! No, far from it, the times have changed — and all for the better!
  • As a result of the drastically advanced age we now found ourselves living in, Search Engine Marketing, for one, has certainly evolved, and that’s not a bad thing.
  • But we as SEO experts would certainly be wise to “keep up with the trends and the times”, as they say, or lose all online business altogether; it’s that simple.

Voice Search – Devices You Can Use and More

Here are the seven top-recognized devices you could use for your voice searching; these are the absolute “best of the best out” there, so far:

  • Siri/iPhone
  • Amazon Echo/Alexa
  • Google Assistant
  • Google Home
  • Android Phones
  • Microsoft Cortana
  • Tablets for iPad and Android

And to further whet your collective appetite on the matter, here’s a few search questions you can ask your faithful voice bot:

  • What is the status of my flight?
  • Can you book me a flight today?
  • Can you make reservations for two at my favorite restaurant (“favorite restaurant” saved as preference on device)
  • Is my trip or flight delayed?
  • When will my UPS, USPS, FED-EX, or FED-EX Express package be arriving? Is it still on time or delayed?
  • Pull up my current reservations.
  • Pull up my previous purchases.
  • Cancel my reservation, please.
  • I confirm the cancellation.
  • Cancel my Netflix or Hulu subscription. (But are you sure? It’s only a few bucks per month.)
  • Cancel my gym membership.
  • Open my newest email.
  • Show me the last email I sent to Bob Carson (or any other name, email address, etc…).
  • Pull up trending topics about Donald Trump or the Right-wing party.
  • Show new photos of London’s sunset, taken this morning or yesterday.
  • Show me the most popular TV shows by lineup.
  • Show me the pictures from my album, “Summer 2017 in Rome: The Time of My Life”, or open album, “Summer 2017 in Rome: The Time of My Life”.
  • Open Word (or a certain document by name).
  • Show me my latest pay stub.

And I think you get the idea….

Tips for a Perfectly Optimized Voice Search Through Content, Keywords and Beyond!

Additionally, you can try the following tools as a means to see which topics or keywords are currently trending, for that day, at that very moment. How cool is that? Try these:

  • Blog Search Engine
  • Story Base
  • Answer the Public
  • Blog Topic Generator by Hubspot

Now let’s discuss a few tips on optimizing through voice and keywords, respectively. You’re in for a treat, my friend:

  • First, optimizing your content for a voice search can mean a lot more than the sound of it will initially entail, but don’t let that scare you….
  • It means you’ll need to generate a varied keyword strategy.
  • It also means you’ll need to come up with a new way of writing your site content, which can even mean hiring an affordable freelance writer, for some.

Let’s further probe the issue, shall we? To continue, ask yourself the following:

  • How do we start with SEO for voice searching?
  • What strategies do we unattestedly NEED?
  • What has been known to work?
  • What has not?
  • Where do our budget, business needs, business message and all else fit into the frame?

Well, you may like what I have to share here, but take it only as a first step into a much-larger world, and take one small bite at a time…..

  • First, we must change our looking glass, the way we see content and keywords as well as their very strategies. From this, it all starts.
  • Here’s a tip: Most known voice searches contain five words or more. Have you ever considered it?
  • Also, use phrase strings or words that you’d actually use when asking a question verbally.
  • The question’s answer you seek to optimize ought to lie within the web page’s very first page.
  • Ultimately, you want to find commonly asked questions and common words or phrases to ask them through as well as the best answers for them, something direct but satisfying.

A Google Answer Box At Our Disposal, Too? Oh, My!

  • Have you ever played around with the Google Answer Box?
  • Did you even know you can?
  • Ah, there is hope after all, then, Toto.

The Google Answer Box is made for such a purpose and more:

  • Getting featured in it simply means you’re at the top of Google’s voice search results, a first step to getting noticed as well.
  • It also shows that several other people have the same mind and are asking the very same question you did, or at least something drastically similar.
  • It also allows Google to kill off multiple birds with a single stone as it pulls up the question and instantly answers it for any who begin to type it in, saving time and showing them that “Google has answers”.

Keys to Success

Concluding, you’ll want to keep the following in mind as you begin your new “voice search success journey”:

  • Google!
  • Talk like normal people do when using the device; don’t be a robot.
  • Use keywords around H1 tags.
  • Employ schema.

Locate “trigger words”