We were amused to find out that a newborn giant panda is only as big as a stick of butter. Boy, what amazing growth!
Voice search devices such as Amazon Echo and Google Home have also had amazing growth. When they first came on the scene a few years ago, they were novelties, but today they are widely used by consumers. Not only are they using voice searches to gather information, but also to make purchases and even execute banking transactions. Furthermore, the adoption is poised to increase, especially with the surge of all things digital due to COVID-19. Given this reality, community financial institutions (CFIs) may want to think about optimizing their websites for voice search, as time allows.
More than 40% of adults execute at least one voice search each day, and ComScore estimates that number will reach 50% of adults by the end of 2020, as people become more accustomed to using these devices. Despite privacy concerns, OC&C Strategy Consultants predicts that 55% of homes will own at least one smart speaker device by 2022.
It's important to position your website content for the main voice search assistants by Amazon, Google, Apple, and Microsoft. Here are a few items to focus on:
Structured Data. Structured data is another important factor in the rankings. Google relies on it for voice searches to ensure there is relevance in what a searcher is requesting. If you want to make voice searches a priority, be sure to incorporate structured data into your website.
Relevant Content. Lastly, it's important that your website content matches the intent of people's voice searches and questions, since the way people speak can differ from the way your content is written. You want voice search assistants to provide rich relevant content from your website as the answer. To help create rich content results and to find relevant keyword phrases, two tools can help: SEMrush and AnswerThePublic.
Not only is it crucial that your website is equipped for voice search, but it should be optimized to boost its rank to the top of the search results.
Interactive Tools. One good way is through interactive content. Since Google gives preference to websites that feature interactive tools, such as compounded interest calculators, you will want to incorporate them within your websites and make them highly visible.
Speed. Not surprisingly, in our instant gratification world, website speed is another major factor that provides high rankings among search providers. It is critically important to ensure that your website loads quickly or it is likely to be overlooked in favor of competitors with faster websites.
Keep in mind that much of the optimization you do with your content for voice search also has a positive impact on your overall Search Engine Optimization (SEO) efforts. This may seem cutting-edge. However, voice search technology is moving quickly. This could be a good opportunity for you to expand your reach, further serve your customers, and stay competitive.
