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Using Voice search is not only convenient, but it is fast becoming the “go-to” way to search as we approach 2019.

With voice-activated commands in vehicles, smart homes, and smartphones, using a voice search can lead potential customers straight to your businesses virtual front door.

As an emerging trend worldwide, it is predicted that by 2020, 2 out of 3 searches will be conducted using voice recognition software.  If a customer owns an Apple Siri, Google Assistant, Microsoft Cortana, or an Amazon Alexa product, chances are they are or soon will be conducting searches using voice.

Does this change the way you do SEO? Let’s get into a few considerations on voice search & its effects on search engine marketing.

Voice Search is Changing SEO

Michael Quoc, CEO of Dealspotr, predicts voice search will influence future SEO in the following ways:

1. Semantic searches are becoming increasingly important.
2. The tone and function of content needs to service customer searches.
3. Every site needs to be mobile-friendly, period.
4. Featured snippets are key.
5. Successful brand names should be easily and correctly pronounced by the voice assistant.
6. Review websites and directories are vital for local businesses.
7. Voice searches are becoming the norm.

Semantic Voice Searches

Searchers trust Google to give them great results – even for complex search terms. People will be voice searching not just for simple, one-or-two keyword phrases. Semantic keywords, or semantic voice searches, should be a priority to optimize for.

Local Voice Searches

If someone were to search into their Alexa “Find a plumber near me”, they will be read the most trusted local platforms (who are equipped for voice search). Get ahead of the competition in your local area by optimizing for voice and local search, such as your Google My Business profile.

Mobile Websites

Companies that want to survive should heed Google’s warning that they are moving to a mobile-first world.  What does a mobile-first world look like for businesses? Sites should load quickly for mobile devices. If a site is not mobile-friendly, your site will simply not be picked up on voice searches.

Position Zero / Featured Snippets

Questions on Google such as, “What degree does water freeze?” or “How many ounces are in a pound?” are answered through the Rich Answer boxes at the top of search results using Instant Answers.  But for more complicated questions, there are often several featured snippets.

With voice search, you can look to optimize for one of the many snippets. Create descriptive, informative content that provides sufficient answers to questions asked by searchers. With this, you’ll have a great shot to be featured.

Is the Way Your Brand Name Pronounced Really Important?

Definitely.  When Google answers a voice search, it begins by stating, “According to (insert website name here), the best solution for dry eyes is the body’s own natural tears.”

Since Google is reading out your website or brand name, creating a pronounceable name can lead to a customer remembering it later on when making a purchase.

It’s a good idea in general to have a short, memorable name; voice search is making it that much more important.

Importance of Online Reviews for “Best” Voice Searches

Online reviews are vital to local businesses.  In fact, according to BrightLocal, 97% of consumers went online to see local business ratings in 2017.  Let that sink in for a moment. Ninety-seven percent.  A few additional facts to include:

• Of that 97 %, twelve percent went online every single day looking for a local business.
• Online reviews are trusted by 85% of consumers just as much as a personal recommendation.
• Trust is built in positive reviews.  Those reviews make 73% of consumers trust a local business more.
• Almost half of the consumers will not choose a business with less than a 4-star rating.

Think of the popular directory and review sites as search engines of their own.

Amazon’s Alexa uses these types of sites to build upon.  So, when someone is verbally searching the best local business for tire repair, being first on Page 1 of Google won’t ensure that your business is mentioned.  

Rather, think of sites such as Yelp, Google My Business, or Bing Places for Business that include photos, reviews, and owner responses as the new way to stand on the corner with an eye-catching sign that screams, “COME ON IN!  WE’RE OPEN FOR BUSINESS!”

Related: Where to Manage Your Online Reputation

Is Voice Search Set to Explode in 2019?

Users are definitely tech-savvy and are becoming increasingly demanding with an ultra-personal experience when searching brands, websites, and more.  Companies such as Google are improving their voice filters to recognize user’s speaking patterns, searches, and regional idioms.

Voice search is changing the way we all do business.  It is also changing SEO. It is no coincidence that devices that use voice recognition have exploded in popularity in the past 2 years.  Giants such as Amazon, Google, and Microsoft have been getting better at developing accurate searches for their devices. Don’t let this ground-breaking opportunity pass you up.

Who Can Help Me?

Do you feel overwhelmed with the thought of researching, creating, and executing a voice search plan for your business?  Are you ready to fully immerse your business in voice search technology? Are you already using sites such as Yelp to further your business, but want to ensure that you are getting the most out of these sites? 

If you need some guidance or just want to ensure that your business is on the cusp of the latest trends, let Internetzone I do the heavy lifting.  Use voice search to your businesses’ advantage, receive great ratings and increase your overall profit.

Internetzone I, is a full-service digital marketing service provider since 1999. Expert Organic SEO, Local SEO, Google Adwords (PPC), Reputation Management, and voice search planning are just a few of the services offered.  Internetzone I can advance your business to the next level. Visit our site or call toll-free (866) 325-1938.

The post 7 Considerations for Voice Search (2019) appeared first on Internetzone I, Inc.

Labels: digital marketing, Local SEO Tips, Organic SEO Tips, SEO, SEO Tips

# posted by Marketing Gurus @ 4:14 PM 0 comments

Struggling to find keywords in 2018?

Finding the best-untapped keywords can often be like finding a needle in a haystack.  Some common questions people have when deciding which keywords to use in their organic content are:

• Which keywords will give me the most hits?
• Which keywords are not being utilized by other websites?
• What is the best SEO keyword competitiveness software to use?

There are traditional means to find keywords such as using online research tools like SEMrush, Moz, and kwfinder.com.  Unfortunately, these tools (plus many others) are known to other SEO’s and therefore, unique keywords are often not found.  

Why are unique keywords so important?  If you are going to use the same keywords as all of the other sites, your page will remain at the same place as before you included those common keywords with no improvement in ranking.  However, if your page contains keywords that are not known to the commonly used keyword tools, you gain a tremendous advantage over the competition. Especially when there are those out there using semantic keywords in their search.

So how do I find those unique keywords?  There are two techniques that are not often used by most SEO’s, but that produce unique keywords that actually work.  

Reddit

Known as “The Front Page of the Internet,” Reddit brings together millions of users daily who are discussing every topic under the sun.  Utilizing their questions and conversations can be a fantastic way to find untapped keywords.  

For example, if I go to Reddit and discover that many on the SEO subreddit are asking questions about backlinks, I notice that almost all of the backlink posts refer to a competitor.  So, I will make sure I include the words competition, competitor, and competing in my long-tail keywords.

Another search comes from my ongoing “dry eyes” blog.  Here is a step-by-step example of how I found a fantastic new keyword in Reddit that is not being utilized.

1. I went to the subreddit r/dry eyes.
2. I scanned the topics and found these interesting ones.  
3. Some common keywords I found after scanning these three threads were eye drops, Clear Eyes, and baby shampoo.
4. In addition, I have decided to add “red eyes” to my growing list of keywords because I saw the word red eyes in many of the subreddits I saw.
5. If you keep seeing certain words or phrases in the subreddits, more than likely, these same users (and many other users no on Reddit) will be searching Google using these same words.
6. Now, take these “gold nuggets” and create long tail keywords.

For those who are new to SEO, I will clarify two terms that may be confusing:  long tail keywords and organic searches.

Long tail keywords are keyword phrases, usually three or four words long, that are very specific to what a user is searching for on Google.  

Organic searches are when a user enters a string of text into a search engine.  The results are based on relevance to the text searched and does not include advertisements.

Long Tail Keywords Can Help Users Find Your Page

With the ever-increasing competition on Google for true organic clicks, it is vital to take a short tail keyword (one or two words), such as dry eyes, and turn it into a long tail keyword (three or four-word phrases) that specifically hit the market you are trying to attract.

Neil Patel, a New York Times best-selling author and one of the top 10 marketers according to Forbes, states, “Whenever a person types in a highly specific search phrase, they tend to be looking for exactly what they are actually going to buy.”

So, in my ongoing example, I would turn my short tail keyword “dry eyes” into a long-tail keyword by using the information I discovered on Reddit.  It would look something like this:

• Baby shampoo for red, dry eye relief
• Dry eye relief with baby shampoo
• Dry eye relief with Clear Eyes
• Red eye relief
• Baby shampoo for dry eyes

For example, instead of searching for “dry eyes” and seeing a page of ads,

I used an organic search text geared toward what I saw on Reddit and included one of my new long-tailed keywords.

The results were very interesting.  As you can see, there was not a page with an exact match.  In fact, after scrolling down, I did not see a single page that was an exact match.    

So, I now have my next blog:  5 Amazing Facts About Baby Shampoo for Dry Eye Relief

The last step is to assess my competition on the new title using Google.

Google Can Help You Find Untapped Gold

This simple tip allows you to assess your keyword competition.  At the Google homepage, type in allintitle:yourkeyword and look for the number of results.  The lower the number, the better.

In my previous example, I searched allintitle:Baby shampoo for dry eye relief and came up no pages using this long tail keyword!

The results simply astounded me!  I now know if I create a page with that exact long tail keyword, anyone searching for dry eye relief and baby shampoo will come to my page first.

Did you notice the last ad on the page?  Preservative Free Eye Drops | Clear Eyes Pure Relief

“Clear Eyes” is one of the keywords I found on Reddit.  I will be sure to include that phrase in my blog.  

Using Reddit and Google together can help your business become noticed in a sea of internet pages.  

Not ready to jump out of the boat and into the water?  Not an SEO? Just interested in raising your company’s ranking in Google?  Not a problem!

Internetzone I, is a full-service digital marketing service provider since 1999. Expert Organic SEO, Local SEO, Google Adwords (PPC), and Reputation Management are just a few of the services offered.  Internetzone I can advance your business to the next level. Visit our site or call toll-free (866) 325-1938.

In my next article, I will delve into using old blog posts with a “facelift” format where adding, updating, and republishing can greatly increase webpage traffic.  

The post 2 Awesome Ways to Find Keywords in 2018 appeared first on Internetzone I, Inc.

Labels: digital marketing, Local SEO Tips, Organic SEO Tips, SEO, SEO Tips

# posted by Marketing Gurus @ 3:15 PM 0 comments

SEO Tips & Tricks to launch your website to a number 1 ranking on Google:  Learn SEO techniques, focus keyword optimization, and improving organic click-through-rate. This is part one of a multi-part series entitled “26 Proven SEO Techniques to Improve Search Performance in 2018”, digging deep into the most effective methods that dominate search engines.

Why Are Some Sites on Page 1 of Google?  

Do you ever wonder why some pages rank on page 1 of Google? Some websites rise to the top of search with ease. Others work diligently and remain stuck on page 2. 

Well, there is good news and bad news.  

The good news: You can always improve to reach Page 1. 

The bad news: There is not a “magic keystroke” that will orbit your page to the top.  It will take some time and effort to craft the perfect blend of content, search intent, user-friendliness, and technical SEO.

However, if you are willing to put in the time & effort, Google will reward you accordingly. First, you must start with foundational knowledge of Google & the search engine landscape.

The History of Google Ranking

Google implemented RankBrain as their latest advancement to their world-renowned search engine.  In the early era of Google (late 90’s and early 2000’s), there was significant competition:  Yahoo, WebCrawler, Lycos, and Dogpile, just to name a few. Yahoo, in particular, a top player at the time.

Nonetheless, Google dominates the search engines of today. Commonly known as “searching for something online” is 90% of the time a Google search. So how did Google come to be the dominant search engine and find its place in Webster’s dictionary?

Algorithms, Algorithms, and More Algorithms

It wasn’t all daisies and butterflies for the big G.

In the early days of Google, there were no algorithms. Hardly any structure. It was like the Old West of the internet with different companies vying for their piece of the pie.  

But, as more and more users came onto the net, the need for a more sophisticated way to search arose.  Those companies that adapted and made the search more pleasurable for users rose quickly. Those who didn’t dropped off. Honestly, how many times have you used Dogpile or Lycos to search anything recently?

So, what did Google do, exactly, to skyrocket to the top and dominate?  

Google’s First Steps to a Better Search Experience

Jayson DeMers, a Forbes contributor, gives us 8 Updates That Made Google What It Is Today.  Among these are:

• Google’s First String of Updates (2002-2003) – Addressing issues such as considerable interlinking from same owner domains (Cassandra), index updates made daily instead of monthly (Fritz), and keyword stuffing (Florida), Google was able to effectively begin to weed out black hat tactics.
• Panda (2011) – The first updates were so successful that Google didn’t release its next major algorithm until Panda was released.  Google noticed that a lot of the content was weak and stuffed full of keywords. Panda focuses on content quality.  
• Penguin (2012) – The following year, Google rolled out Penguin that focused on link building.  Many sites were gaining rank by including many low-quality spammy links. By penalizing these types of sites, Google forced these sites to go back and create high-quality links and high-quality guest posting.
• Hummingbird (2013) – This algorithm was focused more on the user and their intentions when searching.  This almost eliminated the popular tactic of keyword stuffing and led optimizers to focus on long-tail keywords and high-quality content.
• RankBrain (2014) – An advanced AI technology to intelligently deliver the best results to users. It is a self-learning program that organically progresses to learn more about the intent of user searches and the real ‘value’ behind a web page.

So, why were these updates important to Google’s success? It provided consistency, stability, and structure to each search that a user performs. The results quality continually improved. Users caught on and it became more a part of their everyday lives. 

The Latest: RankBrain

RankBrain, Google’s latest algorithm addition based on Artifical Intelligence technology, intends to provide users with the highest quality search results, free from manipulation. 

The algorithm was the first one to measure user experience or “dwell time”.  A site may be perfect in terms of SEO factors, but if users quickly click off of a site, it is a signal to Google that the page should drop in rankings.

It also introduced Search Intent. RankBrain has the tools to “understand” the intent behind a phrase. SEOs can, and must, use this knowledge to their advantage for best results.

Using Algorithms to Your Advantage

Understanding the underlying themes of each algorithm can help your own website’s performance.

The users demand better, faster websites with quality information. Now, it’s on YOU to provide it to them!

The complexity of these concepts and how to apply them to a website makes it difficult for business owners to understand. If you ever need help on your digital marketing journey, feel free to contact us. 

We will do our best in our upcoming guides to provide you with the tools to reach #1.

What Can I Do to Improve My Website Ranking?

We all can improve our website rankings.  Most often times it’s something technical that the average business owner, and the average SEO, may overlook. Google is not an easy nut to crack.

The upcoming series of posts will help lay the foundation for your future success.

Our strategies are tried & true – meaning we are applying them right now with great success. 

Sit back, relax, and learn the foundation of how to get ranked high on search. 

Give page one a shot. We know you can do it!

What’s next?

Over the next few weeks, our several blog posts will cover topics such as RankBrain, Reddit, broken links, Wikipedia, authority sites, and other proven SEO techniques to improve overall Google ranking in 2018.

The first blog delves into Google’s RankBrain and why this algorithm is vital to understanding what searchers are really looking for when they use those keywords in their search.

Lastly, the final blog deals with anchor text and its importance in Google rankings.

Everything in between is information, techniques, and tips that will boost your site.

Not an SEO?  Just interested in increasing web traffic, improving online reviews, or in need of an SEO, Mobile-Friendly website? We’re happy to help.

Internetzone I, is a full-service digital marketing service provider since 1999. We are proud to offer expert Organic SEO, Local SEO, Google Adwords (PPC), and Reputation Management.  Internetzone I can advance your business to the next level. Contact us online or call toll-free (866) 325-1938.

The post Search Engine Marketing: Page One Ranking Secrets Revealed appeared first on Internetzone I, Inc.

Labels: digital marketing, Local SEO Tips, Organic SEO Tips, SEO, SEO Tips

# posted by Marketing Gurus @ 1:21 PM 0 comments