The first big change in search came with mobile. Voice is the next big thing.
Did you know that, according to ComScore, over 50% of adults will be using voice-based search by 2020?
Coupled with the fact that 50% of B2B queries are made on a smartphone, where most voice searches occur, mortgage industry and fintech marketers need to consider how search is evolving, once again.
This evolution will have an impact on your search rankings for voice in a positive or negative way, depending on how you choose to react.
What Steps Can I Take to Achieve a High Ranking in Voice Searches?
Achieving ranking in voice search boils down to the quality of your website and content, no different than mobile or desktop. The big difference is how you need to build content to accommodate voice-based searches.
Here are some of the top actions you can take to ensure your SERP success for voice-enabled searches conducted by your prospective clients:
- Make sure you have a secure website (HTTPS). According to a Backlinko study, 70.4% of Google Home result pages are secure sites. Google has made a point of emphasizing the importance of HTTPS for years, so switching from HTTP to HTTPS is a no-brainer if you want to do well.
- Page load time is an important factor. According to the same Backlinko study, the average page load time of a voice search result page was 4.6 seconds, 52% faster than the average page.
- Make your content more conversational. Voice searches are typically conducted in complete sentences, or phrases, beginning with who/what, when, where, why and how. For example, a voice search could start off with “How do I…” whereas text will leave those words off.
Therefore, in your copy, make sure that you use popular phrases used to find your offerings as a heading where possible. Then, provide short answers that meet with search intent. The recommended answer length is around 29 words.
- Leverage your FAQ’s. Many of you have FAQ’s either posted on your website already. For those of you who don’t, create a list based on questions you and your customer service team receive every day. Create content that answers these questions in a natural, conversational way, no jargon.
- Use long-tail and broad-match keywords as part of your SEO strategy. Think about the way people speak and interact with search engines, depending on where they are in the buyer path. It becomes clear that an expanded SEO strategy may be in line.
Long-tail keywords are typically 4 or more very specific words strung together to find a specific result. Broad-match keywords are typically questions that include 2 or 3 keywords strung together which lends itself to a broader search result.
This tactic gives your brand additional opportunity to rank on a result page and receive a higher click volume, but lower click percentage. There are pros and cons to this strategy that need to be considered on a case by case basis, but it generally works well and assists with gathering necessary data.
Voice search is on the rise and websites are being usurped in some cases as it becomes more intelligent, which means they don’t really need the answer you specifically provide. They can aggregate the answer from various sites on the web.
However, if you’re deemed a good source of information by Google, this certainly helps your ranking and page authority. Therefore, it’s a good time to jump on this so that you don’t get left behind in the not-too-distant future.
If you would like to know more about creating content and an SEO strategy that includes voice search, contact Seroka today for a free consultation!