Should You Be Optimizing Your Home Care Website for Voice Search?
Hey Siri, is there a good home care agency near me?
When most home care marketers think about optimizing their websites for search, they’re thinking of queries typed into a search bar on a smartphone, tablet, or desktop, but there is a type of optimization you may be missing in your SEO strategy: voice search.
Almost half of people who use the internet use voice search to find information, businesses, and answers to their questions—and your agency can scoop them up. Here’s how.
What is voice search?
Voice search is technology that allows a user to query a search engine or app with just their voice—no keyboard required. If you’ve ever asked your smart speaker a question like, how many cups are in a pint? Or asked your smartphone to tell you where the nearest gas station is, you’re a voice search user.
Devices like smart speakers, smartphones, and even some desktops are voice-search-ready. You may have even used voice search in your car, on your smart TV, or on wearable devices. Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa are virtual assistants that can be activated with a simple voice search. If you’re an Android user, you might start your voice searches with Hey Google…
As natural language processing becomes more sophisticated, search engines are getting really good at interpreting the meaning behind the questions we ask, and consumers are using voice search more.
Who uses voice search?
How popular is voice search? Very.
More than 44% of internet users use voice search every month. Fifty-eight of consumers aged 25–34 use voice search on a daily basis, and 43% of consumers over the age of 55 use this feature weekly.
Voice search is the tool of the multitasker. You’ve likely used it while driving, biking, walking the dogs, taking care of kids, or cooking—or simply to save time.
In general, voice search terms tend to be longer than text keywords. For example, if you were using Google’s search bar on your desktop, you might type home care near me. If you were using the voice search feature on your phone, you might ask what are the home care agencies near me?
Do potential home care clients use voice search?
Yes, they do. But not in the same ways they might use traditional text search to learn more about your business or about home care in general.
Compared to text keywords, voice search terms tend to be:
- Longer
- More conversational
- Phrased as questions
You can use a keyword research tool like Answer the Public to find questions that people are asking related to a specific topic. Here are some of the most commonly searched questions related to home care.
- Will medicare cover home care?
- Can home care be tax deductible?
- Are home care workers required to be vaccinated?
- Can home care workers administer medication?
Your current clients (or the home care leads low in your marketing funnel) may use voice search for quick questions like what’s the number for Buena Vista Home Care? Or, when does Buena Vista Home Care close today?
Voice search optimization can also help you with recruitment marketing by capturing caregivers looking for jobs or other healthcare professionals considering the home care industry. According to Answer the Public, caregivers are asking questions like:
- Which home care agency pays the best?
- Are home care workers independent contractors?
- Will home care workers get a bonus?
For potential clients searching for information about home care, a voice query is usually just the beginning of a longer search. Many users will still have to jump to an internet browser to continue. Your best chance at getting on the radar of voice searchers is to optimize for local search and to create content—like blog posts and FAQs pages—that answer common questions about home care.
How to optimize for voice search
Here are a few key strategies for incorporating voice search into your SEO strategy.
1. When researching keywords, target voice search terms specifically
The way people use voice search is slightly different than text search. Keywords are longer and more conversational and tend to be phrased as questions. Keep this in mind when choosing your target search terms.
2. Optimize your schema markup
Schema markup, sometimes called structured data, is a behind-the-scenes tool (in your HTML) that lets you clearly label and categorize the content on your page. Human visitors to your home care website won’t be able to see the schema markup, but search engine web crawlers will. It’s a way to tell a search engine this is my agency’s phone number, these are our hours, and this is information about medicare.
3. Fill out your business profiles to capture local voice search
To make sure local Google users can quickly get to basic information about your agency, like hours, location, phone number, etc., fill out your Google Business Profile. Don’t forget your Bing Places for Business profile and Apple Business Connect too.
4. Build an FAQs page
Because most voice search terms are phrased as questions, making a page of frequently asked questions (labeled as such in your site schema!) can help you rank for these keywords.
5. Aim for featured snippets and the local pack
For any home care agency, local SEO is a must. A solid strategy can help you rank for voice search terms like home care agencies in Bangor. Consider that job seeker searches are local too, even if not explicitly so. If you can answer the query for what home care agency pays the best in your local area, that’s an advantage for caregiver recruiting.
6. Optimize for mobile
One in five searches in the Google app are by voice search. And because voice search is a favorite of the multitasker, a lot of users are on their mobile device when searching. So when they need to jump from voice query to the web page, make sure yours is ready to load quickly and seamlessly on smartphones and tablets.
Need a hand with optimizing your site?
Home Care Marketing Pros' professional website design includes optimization for SEO that can help users find you via voice searches. Find out more by booking your Discovery Call here!
