There’s no doubting that voice search is the next big wave of search websites and businesses need to be ready for, but depending on your business this can be to different extents. A great digital business strategy always entails making sure that the marketplace can find your product/services and each of those touch points with the customer is brand optimised and easy for the consumer. It’s important to note that people are using this service for information for the most part. It’s not often someone is willing to take the leap of faith and actually purchase a product blindly from voice search, but they may use voice search to find out more information about the product or service. If you’re a plumber and someone asks voice search “Find me a plumber near me” it’s in your best interest to be optimised and be the go to answer for the device.
Local Search Queries
Each of the different voice assistants uses different and often more than one data point to give you a relevant answer.
Siri
- Search: Google
- Business listings: Apple maps
- Reviews: Yelp
Alexa
- Search: Bing
- Business listings: Yelp and more recently Yext
- Reviews: Yelp
Google Assistant
- Search: Google
- Business listings: Google my Business
- Reviews: Google my Business
Cortana
- Search: Bing
- Business listings: Bing
- Reviews: Yelp
These are the most important places to have your business cited correctly. If your business currently isn’t listed on some or all, make sure to create a listing. If you already have these make sure they are kept up to date, relevant and optimised.
Google My Business – Create a listing
Apple Maps – Create a listing
Bing – Create a listing
Yelp – Create a listing
