With more devices like Cortana, Amazon Echo (Alexa) and Apple’s Siri increasing in popularity, the marketplace for such devices is expected to swell. Google voice search queries alone occurred 35 times more in 2016 than they did in 2008. By 2020, experts predict that voice searches will make up 50% of all searches performed online. As voice searches become more popular, digital marketers and businesses must tweak their SEO strategies to capture those using voice searches.
5 Steps for Voice Search Success
Step 1 – Make your Site Mobile-Friendly and Responsive
Most voice searches are conducted on a mobile device like a tablet or smart phone, which means that your website needs to be mobile friendly. With a mobile-friendly site, searches that find your dental practice on their mobile device will be able to easily browse all of your website’s content. Mobile-friendly sites also have a quicker load time on these devices, which boosts your SEO score and reduces your site’s bounce rate. If your site is not mobile-friendly, then people browsing it on a smart phone or tablet will find it difficult to locate important information and have a poor experience. Learn more about responsive, mobile-friendly sites here, and how they can help your dental practice.
Step 2 – Update your Contact Page
In order for voice searching devices (and patients browsing online) to find your dental practice, it is imperative that your practice details are clearly listed on your website’s contact page. Your practice name, address, phone number, and contact email address should all be made available and easy to find for those on your site and voice searches. You can also add a map and simple written directions on your contact page, to improve your local SEO results.
Step 3 – Check Off-Site Directories for Accuracy
When voice searches scan the web for results, they look at a number of factors before delivering an answer. For pediatric dentists, this means that voice searches will check business directories – such as Google my Business, Yelp and Dentists 4 Kids – when a user is searching for a pediatric dentist. This makes it very important that your listings are accurate, claimed and verified. Inconsistent listings are given less SEO clout with search engines, which conduct voice searches. Visit all of the directories that list your dental practice to ensure that your listings are accurate and consistent. To learn more about local search listings, visit our Local Search & Reviews page.
Step 4 – Optimize Your On-Page Content
To capture as much voice search traffic as possible, it’s important that you appeal to a wide range of searches with on page content. To do so, go through the pages of your website and make sure that your services and products are accurately listed.
Another great place to create more on-site content is on a blog. With a blog, you can write about topics that your patients care about, and more naturally employ phrases that capture those using voice searches.
Step 5 –Incorporate Natural Language
Here’s the tricky part about voice searches: people undertake voice searches much differently than using a traditional search engine. When someone uses a search engine like Google to find a pediatric dentist in their neighborhood, they may type in something like “best pediatric dentist near ______.” That’s hardly a complete sentence. However, when performing a voice search, that same person will speak more normally, asking something like “Where’s the best pediatric dentist in Fort Worth, Texas.” Those are two very different queries. This places added importance upon using natural, semantic language in your on-site content. It can be difficult to do this without getting too wordy or colloquial, but it can be accomplished on a blog, which is typically more informal than the rest of a website.
Ask us About Voice Search
The digital marketing landscape is always shifting, and that’s great! It gives you more opportunities to reach your patients and engage with your local community. However, the constant changes can be intimidating and difficult to understand. Call Smile Savvy if you have any questions about voice search, or digital marketing for pediatric dentists. We work exclusively with pediatric dentists that need guidance to navigate the ever-changing digital marketing landscape and accomplish their digital goals.
