Constant change (and keeping up with it) is one of the most exhausting elements in the known universe. And yet, it exists everywhere, especially online. Google changes its algorithm every day. Still, most businesses that sell services or products online haven’t updated their website from the days of dial-up.

 

And I’m not talking about design, here. Sometimes, “Ugly” gets the best conversions.

 

What I’m speaking about is visibility: do people know you exist?

 

Well, Google just changed the way people find you through search.

 

People are now searching not with their thumbs, but with their voices. And it makes sense: we humans can speak faster than we can write.

 

With products such as Amazon Alexa/Echo and AI chat interfaces in your phone like Siri and Google Assistant, surfing the web hands-free has become quite accessible.

 

This is why it’s important that your content serves the human voices of your customers as much as it does their thumbs.

In this article, I am going to break down some basic tactics you can use now to update your content for voice search.

 

Voice search and your humanity

 

When SEO first dropped online, people were employing all sorts of cheap tricks to get easy eyeballs from Google. A common work-around was plugging hundreds of keywords into your webpage, and painting the words the same color as the background to make them all blend in.

 

Over the years, Google has updated its search algorithm to battle these spammy methods, ultimately creating a better experience for its users.

 

In 2013, Google’s Hummingbird update allowed the search algorithm to start inferring what we want to say, for example:

 

If you’re searching for “Beyonce” and want – after sifting through the first page of results – to know her age, you might ask, “How old is she?”

 

Google would automatically assume that you’re talking about Beyonce, and will deliver information based on Beyonce’s age (versus anyone else’s.)

 

While there are limits to this new technology, the reality stands: Google now serves its users with information it thinks you are searching for.

 

No longer do direct keyword results hold as much value. Now, you must dig deeper into the wants and desires of your customers. Then, you can start crafting content that will serve their problems at the deepest levels.

 

“You must dig deeper into the wants and desires of your customers to solve their problems.”

 

3 ways you can start crafting your content for voice search

 

1 Model your content after human speech

 

That is, when people are searching on their phone, they speak casually. Compared to a search they’d do on a desktop, the search queries are phrased as a conversation.

 

“Where is the best Japanese food near me?”

 

Compared to a desktop search:

 

“Best Japanese food near me”

 

By tailoring your content to answer these types of conversational questions, you have a better chance of solving that person’s problem.

 

2 Make your content mobile-ready

 

Voice search is almost exclusively used on mobile devices. This means, if your website is not mobile-optimized, people leave quicker when they visit your website, and you take a dip in the  rankings.

 

3 Create content for the long-term

 

Long gone are the days where you could pop out five 200-word articles to boost your Google rankings. You now need to create content that is specifically aligned with your site’s brand, and that solves problems.

 

Create content that you wouldn’t be ashamed of sharing a year later.

 

Move and Do

 

These are easy tactics you can put in place today to prepare for the future that is Voice. Learn more and boost your business by liking our Facebook page here >>> https://www.facebook.com/BeatCreative/