If you’re a stickler for search engine optimization, it’s time to talk about voice search and how it could affect your website. In the past, you only needed simple, singular keywords in order to have good SEO. These days, practically everyone has a website or a blog — and that means a lot more competition for the same information. With the rise of digital assistants like Siri and Alexa, you can tap a button and speak your search phrases out loud. That means that if you want to improve your chances of being found, you need to write how your leads talk, and with long-tail keywords in mind.
Writing for Voice Search
The idea of writing for voice search isn’t an entirely new concept for marketers. Companies already work hard to establish buyer personas to identify the needs of their ideal target markets, or build their own brand voices in order to compete. The addition of voice is simply another level of personalization. In many cases, marketing copy that’s written in the same styles that people talk is just good business practice, because your audience will understand what you’re trying to tell them, and it’ll hold their attention.
So, the next time you’re developing the topics for your landing pages, your blog posts, or your social media promotions, think about a) how they would sound if you gave them a voiceover, and b) whether it would mirror the language your customers would ask a mobile device.
For example,
- Who manages professional website development near me?
- What’s the best way to find new leads?
- How do I write a good prospecting email?
Long-Tail Keywords
The long-tail keywords you’ll want to write for will flow naturally from the questions or phrases that you’ve established above. Rather than something as short as “website” or “website development,” you might consider drafting copy that includes “manage(s) professional website development.” Make sure that, as with any keyword strategy, you don’t overdo the use of these phrases in your marketing copy for a couple of reasons. First, it looks gimmicky and can be distracting from your overall message if nobody talks like that. Second, you might get flagged by search engines as less relevant for trying to pad your content.
Using the above examples, consider these phrases in bold as potential long-tail keywords:
- Who manages professional website development near me?
- What’s the best way to find new leads?
- How do I write a good prospecting email?
How Do You Know Your Keywords Are Relevant?
That’s a great question, and has more than one answer. You can either use free and/or paid marketing analytics tools that can review your website and those of your competitors in order to glean which keywords and landing pages get the most results, or you can outsource that work to digital marketing professionals. If you’d like to learn more, click the link below to schedule a free discussion.
