How to Turn on Voice Search and Optimize it for Your Business

is an emerging technology that’s steadily gaining traction. It has greatly altered how people approach web searches and how businesses do SEO. 

As the use of voice search continues to grow, it’s become a must for businesses to look into leveraging voice search for their digital marketing strategy. Let’s take a look at voice search in more detail, why it’s important, how it impacts local SEO, and how you can enable voice search activation for your business. 

What is voice search?

Voice search or voice-enabled search lets you conduct online searches by speaking to your smart device, such as your phone or smart speaker, instead of having to manually key in text in a browser’s search box. 

It’s a hands-free way to do online searches. For example, instead of typing “how to search with voice”, you can issue a voice command to your device’s voice assistant and say something like, “Hey Google, how do I search with voice?”

Voice search on Google: Key figures you need to know

Here are some stats that will show how voice search is changing the way people approach online searches:

• It’s estimated that in the US alone, 128 million people use voice search monthly, with smartphones and smart speakers being the devices of choice. 
• 71% of consumers prefer using voice search over typing a query.
• 46% of consumers who own smart speakers use voice assistants more often. 
• It’s predicted that by 2024, the number of voice assistant devices in use will reach 8.4 billion. 
• 47% of people use digital assistants to search for a business, while 44% use them to research a product or service.
• 46% of surveyed consumers use voice search daily to search for a local business, while 28% do so weekly. 

How to turn on voice search

Want to know how you can turn on voice search for your business? Here are some quick tips for voice search activation:

• Fix your business listings

Your business listings can have a major impact on whether or not your business shows up on major maps and voice searches. Therefore, you need to claim and optimize your listings on Google My Business, Apple Maps, Yelp, and Bing Places. Make sure that you include relevant and up-to-date information such as your business hours, business name, address, and contact details. You can also include features such as the availability of parking facilities and if it’s accessible for people with disabilities. Including photos of your business and its location also helps.

• Create relevant content

Create content that’s relevant to your local audience and incorporate local keywords. This can help increase the chances of your business showing up on local searches. You can optimize your content for “near me” searches by including this keyword in your meta description, title tags, and internal links. When using keywords, avoid stuffing your copy with keywords as this can adversely affect your ranking on search engine results pages.

• Make your website mobile friendly

Make sure that your website is mobile-friendly to increase its likelihood of appearing on voice searches that are done through smartphones. Not optimizing your website for mobile can cause it to not work properly on a user’s device. This can force them to leave your site and go to your competitor instead.

• Get more reviews for your business

Customer reviews can influence your appearance on voice search results. If you have more positive reviews, you’re more likely to appear when, for example, someone searches for the best-fried chicken joint. 

However, businesses don’t always get positive reviews, and negative reviews can affect your business. Fortunately, you can do something about them. Using a review management platform can help you manage your online reputation better by letting you monitor interactions with customers and respond to their queries or reviews. 

Equip your business for growth with iMapping

Consumers increasingly use voice search to look for and find more information about a local business as the use of voice search technology grows, you’ll have access to a market that’s brimming with potential. 

Put your business on the map and make sure that your target audience can easily find you. You do not have to wonder how to Turn on Voice Search. Use iMapping to get your business listed on major maps and voice search platforms. Contact us today to get started with iMapping.