We have all asked Siri, Google, or Alexa for something recently. We hear their response and take it in stride or sometimes delve into the options they give us a little deeper. During this process, most people don’t think about where these results come. It is intuitive- you ask a question, they answer. We aren’t like most people here at FIXED OPS DIGITAL though; we do wonder where these answers come from and how speech recognition applications work.
Voice search has been a hot topic in the automotive industry going on three years now. Many smart speakers and voice assistants are past or heading towards their first decade of life. These devices and applications continue to grow in both usage and popularity.
So, what have we learned in the past decade about voice search? That can be a difficult question to answer; maybe we should see if Siri can help!
Instead, we will try to breakdown how voice search works ourselves. By upstanding it, we can learn how to optimize your dealership and take full advantage of this accessible technology.
How Voice Search Works
Intent
Much like desktop or mobile search, voice enable searches involve intent. Meaning, the user is purposely determined to resolve something. Intention often starts with a question you may have. Understanding a users’ intent when trying to optimize for voice search is crucial!
When you ask your Google Home something, you want to get the response that will accurately meet your intent. Often, only one answer is given, unlike a search engine results page where over 600,000,000 can be provided in less than half of a second. This makes it crucial for your dealership’s site to be optimized for voice search.
Answer Boxes
An answer box is what it sounds like, a box displays the answer to your query. Answer boxes are often displayed when a reply is a matter of fact. An example of this would the time, a math equation, or conversion like in the case below.
How to Optimize for Voice Search
Business Listings
It can not be stated enough how vital accurate and active business listings can be. Location is a significant component when it comes to search of any kind. Take control of your business listings and; keep your hours up-to-date, upload current photos, use the proper links, actively post, and engage positively with your customer reviews. All of these things, plus more, will help the search engine recognize that you are a knowledgeable and trusted source.
All of this goes double, or triple when it comes to managing multiple locations. This includes your collision center or service site listing.
At Fixed Ops Digital, we pride ourselves on providing unique local car dealership SEO strategies, learn more here.
Keywords
Almost 20% of all voice quires start from a set of 25 words. At the top of this list:
- How
- What (I.E., What time does Fixed Ops Digital close?)
- Best
- The
- Is (I.E., Is synthetic oil better than regular oil?)
- Where (I.E., Where can I get a cheap oil change?)
- Can
- Top (I.E., Top-rated service station near me)
Through keyword research, you will be able to find what questions are being asked around your location the most.
Some of the best free keyword research tools, in my opinion, are:
- Google Search Console – find the keywords you already rank for and how your site performs for each of them
- Google Trends – take a look at Google searches over time, break down popular search by region and time
- Answer the Public – get the what, when, where, and why questions related to the keywords you choose, plus more
Focus on long-tail keywords. These are the common phrases that may be asked to a hands-free device over and over. Phases such as, “Getting my oil changed,” or “Rotating my tires.”
Content
Like any other SEO strategy, creating content from your keyword research is essential. The goal of your content should be to answer queries quickly, effectively, and efficiently.
One way to include long-tail keywords and common queries in your site is to create a frequently asked questions page or add FAQs in content-rich pages. This allows you to include all those questions that one might ask Siri or Alexa in a user-friendly way. Also, it gives you a chance to answer them effectively.
Mobile
Keep mobile devices in mind at all times! 20-25% of mobile queries are voice searches, and over half of the time, people use voice search applications they are driving. More than likely, this means that they are using a connected mobile device.
Optimizing your site for mobile user experience should be second nature by now, or first.
Schema Markup
Utilizing schema markup code helps search engines find and display more information to users. Information such as the name of your article, the author, the date of events, and much more.
This markup is often used to display featured snippets.
As you may have noticed, voice search optimization practices are not far from standard SEO best practices. After all, the same crawlers, although slightly altered, are used for both processes:
- A query is applied
- Websites are crawlered
- A respond is given – more often than not from a featured snippet, answer box or business listing
Following car dealership SEO best practices such as researching keywords, creating unique content, and designing for mobile user experience, are all important.
This and many ways more is how we can optimize your site for voice search here at Fixed Ops Digital.
