Have you ever posed a question to Siri?
How about other voice assistants like Google Assistant, Alexa, or Cortana?
Whether you have answered or not, the sad reality is that;
Most of your potential clients have spoken a question or command to any of these online assistants.
They have asked questions like:
“Siri, where can I find the best plumber in Tennessee?”
“Alexa, is it going to rain tonight?”
Research shows that among customers who use voice search, almost 50% use voice assistants to find a local business.
So what does that mean for your plumbing business?
Your plumbing business cannot ignore voice search and expect to win more jobs online.
Every plumber who operates a plumbing website understands the value of search engine optimization. For years, plumbing marketers, hoping to popularize their blogs, would research keywords and use them sparingly throughout the content to rank #1 on Google search results when prospects look for them online.
What is Voice Search Optimization and How Does it Work
Voice search optimization refers to the process of optimizing your plumbing web pages to appear in voice searches. Voice search is any search a prospect performs on the web using a voice command instead of text or typing.
But how does voice search work? Here is a breakdown of how things work in voice search in four simple steps:
- A prospect/client initiates a voice search by addressing the device voice assistant using pre-programmed voice command (“Hey, Alexa,” “Hey Siri,” or “Hey Cortana”)
- The prospect/client gives authority or asks a question: “where do I find the best plumbing contractor over here?” Or “SEO movie release date.”
- Based on the kind of technology that the voice search uses, it will collect the packets of sounds as syllables, phrases, or sentences.
- Finally, the voice search system will translate the sounds’ units to text and initiate the search process.
Whew! Fortunately, we don’t have to worry about that too much. But isn’t it refreshing to understand what goes behind the scenes?
What is the Role of Voice Search in SEO?
SEO is one of the most crucial marketing tools used by plumbing contractors all over the world. Since its inception, SEO has undergone various changes, most of which come from the search engines’ limitations. Voice search and artificial intelligence will affect your plumbing business progression with SEO. Plumbers will now have to align their keywords to take advantage of this new technology to drive more demand and income.
Voice search will affect how plumbing website content is written and narrow down to the target market more precisely within a short time. It will also assist offer relevant feedback after sieving through a massive amount of information. This will give your plumbing business a competitive edge as it will concentrate more on the target audience. Furthermore, artificial intelligence can be used to analyze layouts, marketing content, and UI graphics.
Experts believe that voice search will eliminate the possibilities of black hat SEO, as it will help them detect false keyword stuffing in the coming days. Be it a personal computer, laptop, or mobile, voice search makes it easy for people of all ages to find local plumbers by speaking to their gadgets. This ease of use in daily life will help voice search to grow in the coming days.
Why Do Plumbing Contractors Need to Invest in a Voice Search Optimization Strategy?
A voice search strategy is essential for your plumbing business. With more clients/prospects using voice assistants like Google Assistant, Alexa, or Siri, you need to invest in this strategy to reach them, mainly if you operate locally. More than half of voice searches are used to identify a local business.
Here are some of your plumbing business benefits of implementing a comprehensive voice search optimization strategy:
- Increased plumbing website traffic
- Raise your brand visibility and awareness
- Enhances client engagement
- High scope of plumbing sales and conversions.
- Drives more prospects to your plumbing business.
How to Win More Plumbing Clients with Voice Search Optimization
Now that you have understood the ins and outs of voice search technology, it’s time to know how to use the information gained to generate more plumbing conversions and draw potential clients with voice search.
Create an Easy-to-Read Site Map
Your sitemap is how Google recognizes your search terms and their relevance to the prospect’s or client’s search. When creating a new plumbing website, consider the keywords you choose and how they will rhyme with what your clients are searching for online.
If your map is organized and clean, Google will instantly recommend your plumbing website if a web user performs a voice search for a proper phrase or keyword. It is also highly recommended that you revise your old content to see if there are revisions that you can make in your URL link. This small tweak will help your business reach more clients searching for information related to your niche online.
Re-evaluate your Keywords
It is estimated that by 2022, more than half of American households will have a smart speaker. Combine that with the fact that every adult owns a smartphone with voice search capabilities, and it is easy to see why plumbing contractors need to rethink their keyword research strategy. We need to think about how an average homeowner would initiate a search and concentrate on those keywords.
How to Prepare Your Plumbing Business for Voice search Revolution
Speech recognition and voice search software are on the upward trend like never before. If you have not been affected by the voice search yet, then know that it is around the corner, and over time everyone will be swept by the marvels of voice assistants like Alexa, Siri, or Google Assistant.
It is estimated that by 2020, almost half of the total online searches will be voice-activated (source). Voice search is the new wave of a technology revolution that plumbing contractors must adapt to. But the question is, how can you prepare your plumbing company for this bleeding-edge tool? This post will discuss how voice search can be utilized and how it will change your business and the plumbing industry in general.
Here are some of the things you can do to get your plumbing business ready for voice search:
Improve Page Speed
Prospects/clients expect fast results for their voice searches. Most voice searches are performed over mobile and devices like Amazon Echo. And plumbing website loading speed is an essential aspect of cellular search ranking signals. It was found out that the average time for a voice search results was 54 seconds. If you want to increase your chances of showing up in voice searches, make sure your plumbing website loads faster.
HTTPS and SSL Certificates
HTTPS prefix and an SSL certificate validate your plumbing website security. Google had announced that in 2014, HTTPS would be considered a priority ranking factor, and this would apply to voice search as well. This shows that securing your plumbing website with an HTTPS certificate will help your site to appear in voice searches.
Informative, easy-to-read, and long-form quality content
Contents that are easy to read and have a 2000-3000 word count stand a high chance of ranking high in voice search results. However, stuffing your posts with meaningless words to appear in voice searches is not the ideal method. Google selects content quality over quantity, and if your post meets quality content guidelines, then Google will consider it the best pick.
Content engagement also plays a vital role in voice search rankings. Though Google does not consider social media signals when ranking plumbing websites, it has been observed that highly engaging content tends to rank high in voice searches.
High SERP and Featured Snippets
Domain rating is more preferable than your page authority. Hence, a plumbing website with more quality backlinks will be superior to one with an excellent backlink ratio. A plumbing website with a higher domain rating ranks better in the search results.
Another factor you need to consider is the featured snippet section. Snippets are regarded as the ideal results of voice searches. More than 40% of voice search queries are answered in these featured snippets, and they contain precise answers to users’ questions in a concise format. But you need first to make sure that your plumbing website gets on top of the search engine results. Only pages that feature in the first page results of Google will appear in the featured snippet section.
Mobile Optimization
Do you know that 1 out of 5 adults in America uses voice search at least once every month? A better mobile experience has become an essential factor in voice search optimization. Furthermore, Google has already announced that it will reward mobile-friendly plumbing websites with a higher ranking.
Strengthen Your Plumbing Marketing with these Voice Search Optimization Tips
Use Natural Language to Appear in Voice Search Results
Prospects use more conversational queries when performing a voice search. For instance, they are more likely to inquire, “At what time does plumber x open today?” or “Plumber x office hours.” So make sure that you try to include as many conversational keywords as possible. Such kinds of queries are also known as long-tail keywords, and they are usually longer and tend to take the form of questions and phrases. Voice search results are generally delivered on the 9th-grade English level, so make sure that your content is presented well and easy to understand.
Device
Check the kind of devices your prospects are using and optimize your plumbing website for such devices. While voice assistants are found on smart speakers, research shows that most of these searches are performed on handheld devices such as smartphones and smartwatches.
Locale
Prospects searching for something local (such as a local business) are three times more likely to perform a voice search (particularly on a mobile phone) than a text-based query. What does that mean for your plumbing business? It means that you need to be on top of your internet marketing game (like your online reputation and local SEO) if you want your plumbing company to get found on voice searches.
5 Voice Search Strategies that you can apply today
Strategy #1: Focus on giving answers directly
If you want to get the most out of your voice search strategy, begin by answering questions directly.
Did you know that over 50% of voice searches rely on featured snippets?
Such featured snippets answer questions from prospects directly.
Prospects normally perform voice searches in the form of questions.
(“Siri, how do you find an experienced plumber here?”)
(“Alexa, is it raining today?”)
As a plumber, you need to start posting your content on the FAQ page for the most common questions prospects ask, making it easier for your plumbing website to get found in the voice search results.
To boost your visibility, keep your answers brief.
Strategy#2: Make your Content Easy to Read
When Google gets results for voice searchers, it attempts to locate content that an average customer can read and understand.
Don’t try to show off your plumbing website using all the technical jargon you know.
Keep your website content simple so that it can be understood by ordinary people so that your sites get found on voice search results. Also, make sure that your site can be followed by all visitors who interact with it.
Strategy#3: Follow SEO Best Practices
Did you know plumbing websites that rank high in desktop searches have the same chance of getting found on voice searches?
The reverse is also true.
If you have not optimized your plumbing website for SEO, you will not get found on voice searches. But there are several things you can do to make sure that your plumbing website gets found on top of search engine results, including the following:
- Speeding up your plumbing website
- Integrating keywords on your plumbing pages
- Make your plumbing website mobile-friendly.
So, you must re-evaluate your SEO strategy to appear prominently on voice searches.
Strategy #4: Make Business Details Accessible
Consider the kind of information that prospects might want to know about your plumbing business when thinking of using your products or services.
They might want to know your:
- Business hours
- Address
- Phone number
- Customer reviews and ratings.
And virtual assistants such as Siri are the convenient and fastest way of getting such details. Therefore make sure that these details are readily available on your blog, plumbing website, and online business listings (like Google My Business and Yelp).
Strategy #5: Invest in Local Service Ads from Google
Besides the regular pay-per-click ads, Google currently offers local service ads on top of its search engine results.
Local service ads help potential clients learn about local, Google-verified plumbing businesses and even book jobs directly from the ad.
If you have invested in these ads currently, the good news is that you will experience improved voice search visibility. If you do not use local service ads, you need to invest in them, giving you more leads in text-based and voice searches.
Boost Your Plumbing Sales with Voice Search Optimization Now
Voice search optimization will assist you in generating more leads for your plumbing business and earn more sales. Implementing the voice search optimization tips discussed in this post will drive more voice searchers to your plumbing company.
Are you feeling overwhelmed by implementing these voice search optimization strategies in your business? Don’t fret, as the Blackstorm Plumbing Marketing team is ready to help optimize your plumbing website for voice search. We have a team of experienced SEO specialists who will ensure that your business appears on top of voice search results.
Don’t miss out on potential plumbing jobs because you don’t have a voice search strategy.
Ensure that your plumbing business is visible regardless of the device your prospects are using-whether it is Alexa, Siri, or desktop using text searches.
If you want your plumbing business to be found on voice search results and don’t know to start, kindly schedule a free strategy session with our experts to win more plumbing clients today!