Nowadays, looking for something online has never been easier. Whether it’s a product, service, business, or place, voice assistants like Siri, Google Assistant, and Alexa have become game changers when it comes to pulling up just the right search results for customers. This poses a unique opportunity for local businesses looking to improve their searchability in their respective locales. By focusing on visibility in the local market, businesses can attract more customers nearby.
Writing and designing content is just one side of the coin; voice-focused SEO solutions is another tactic to take advantage of to make sure your business is showing up at the top of those local search results.
Here’s a brief overview of how small businesses can utilize voice search to rank higher on search engines and gain more traffic in their local communities:
Where do voice assistants get their data?
Understanding where Siri, Alexa, and Google get their results is the first step to optimizing your business. Each voice assistant gathers information from a different source. Siri and Google
Assistant pull data from the Local 3-Pack search engine results page of Google, which shows the top three most relevant results of the local search. These voice assistants also get data from Yelp to supplement the data it has. In addition to that, Alexa obtains data from Yext data and Bing.
Getting your business to appear on the voice search results page means that you will likely have to optimize your businesses across all devices, from Apple to Android.
The importance of Google’s Local Pack
As mentioned above, Google’s Local Pack presents the top three most relevant searches based on the search parameters. This query typically has local intent, meaning it limits the search to products, services, and places found in a specific local area.
For example, these search queries may ask something like “best pizza place in New York City,” and Google’s Local 3-Pack SERP will only show businesses that have received top ratings for pizza in New York City. You could also ask Siri to search for the best pizza places near you, and it will return with results based on your current location.
A business’s goal should be to include itself in the Local 3-Pack. Customers will hardly look at other search results once they fixate on this, so it does a lot for visibility to be included in the top three search results from the get-go. In addition to this, setting up small businesses on My Google Business and other directories can increase their competitive advantage over larger, more established franchises in the area.
How reviews improve voice search results and rankings
Voice search assistants thrive on the relevance and accuracy of the data they gather from their corresponding search engines. It’s crucial to ensure that all your relevant business information is consistent and listed online, but it isn’t the only thing that will help your presence. Reviews can also help a business’ rankings on search pages and can determine if you make it into the Local Pack or not.
Conclusion
The more users rely on voice assistants for the top local search results, the more that businesses should prioritize voice search in their SEO strategies. Even if they don’t make it into the top 3 Local Pack spots, optimizing for voice search can vastly improve rankings and features on search engines. Voice search with local SEO is an investment that can catapult even small businesses to greater heights.
Businesses that need an update for their marketing strategy can invest in local SEO services. Here at Local SEO Pro, we offer on-site optimization, quality outreach link building, and content strategies on voice search for local SEO. Visit our website and sign up for our services today!
