While many people use voice assistants to ask for terrible jokes, that is not all they are used for. Many more people use them to perform voice searches. It is essentially the same thing as querying a question in a search engine, albeit instead of typing it out, it is spoken.

Since the birth of smartphones, voice searches have become more and more popular. For retailers, such an advancement in technology will change the way customers buy, and as such, changes in content strategy, SEO, and more necessary for these new user habits.

With that said, here are ways retail stores can adapt their online presence to rank well for voice searches:

1. Write content with a conversational tone

When people conduct voice searches, they do so in a conversational tone. This will typically pull up any content that is also in the same tone. For that reason, retail store owners must create content that has that tone in place.

Expressing content in natural language and even using long-tail keywords are just some of the things that can reflect this kind of conversational tone in the content.

2. Revolve content around common questions

A lot of voice searches are questions asked by users—hows, whats, whos, whens, and more. Retail store owners must think about the questions asked that are relevant to them. This allows entrepreneurs to create content to answer said questions, directing customers to the relevant content when users voice such questions.

3. Do what it takes to enhance the SEO strategy

It has been found that websites with excellent SEO strategies rank high also rank high for voice searches. As such, it is a great idea for retail store owners to invest the time and money to improve their SEO strategies. Many techniques include improving website authority, speeding up page load times, updating website content, and utilizing various relevant long-tail keywords. These efforts can drive up the website’s rank for both traditional queries and for voice searches, a win-win scenario in any case.

4. Do not forget to implement a local SEO strategy

Local searches are one of the most common ways people use voice assistants. They typically ask “near me” questions which, as can be seen, are local searches. As such, retailers who have yet to optimize their website for local searches must do so right away. 

This includes setting up a Google My Business account containing all the relevant information and content for users to quickly identify. Everything from the NAP information to updating listings in local directories is necessary to appear in local voice searches, which is the majority of the searches done.

Conclusion

All of the efforts above will help online retail stores drive up their traffic from voice searches, readying them up for a voice-powered future. That being said, keep these strategies in mind for your future strategies. The more you can boost your voice search SEO, the higher your ranking will be. These efforts will also drive up other factors such as user experience, traffic, and more—all of which can help your business grow!

Local SEO Pro offers various services, including on-site optimization, quality outreach link building, and more to help companies make the most out of voice search SEO. If you are looking for voice SEO experts in the US to help grow your retail website, work with us today!