VSO or Voice Search Optimisation is the optimisation of digital content to directly respond to voice searches made by those using smart devices.
The numbers don’t lie – the number of people using voice assistants on a daily basis are growing at an unbelievable rate and as a business owner, or marketer now is the time to make sure your brand is the number one search result.
A study carried out by SEMRush in 2020 concluded that 20% of the global online population is already using voice search, and 58% of those users employ it to run a local business search.
Think about how much you are using a voice assistant day to day. Whether it’s whilst driving to get directions, to reply or send a text or email, to set a reminder to book an appointment, you might be in the kitchen cooking and have dirty hands and need to know how hot the oven needs to be. The possibilities are endless and the technology is only getting smarter to adapt to the needs of us in our daily lives.
This episode of Talk’n Shop, our eCommerce experts discuss how voice search has progressed in the last 5 years, where it is headed and what you need to do as a business owner, eCommerce merchant or marketing manager.
Here are our top tips to get your business ranking for the number one voice search result.
1. Create quality blog content that directly answers the search query.
2. Put yourself in the mind of your customer.
What are the questions our customer is going to ask about your product? Try a tool like Answer the Public to help get suggestions on similar top searches around your product category.
3. Target long-tail keywords
Most voice searches use 7-10 words (where can I buy v neck T-shirts that will be delivered this week? where is the closest cafe to me?). Target your content to include these longtail keywords and phrases. The average answer length for all analyzed assistants is 23 words, and Google Assistant devices return the longest answers, at 41 words.
4. Write content to suit every stage of the buyer journey
Does your rich snippet address each of the Awareness, Consideration, and purchase stage? Think about what your customer is looking for and needs at each stage, and respond to this directly in your content using the language of the customer.
5. Localisation
Is your content localised and directly targeted to consumers within your local area? Have you optimised your Google My Business listing to be correct, include relevant keywords and rich information to help the consumer find you? This is extremely important for your SEO and VSO rankings – also helps consumers locate your business when they are searching for a solution near them. How often have you searched for a petrol station, o cafe, or pet store near you?
Implement these 5 steps and you should be on your way to VSO success.
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