Why Your Website Needs to be Voice Search Friendly in 2019

The Importance of SEO Voice Search Tactics in 2019

As we grow more and more technologically advanced as a society every single year, businesses and websites are constantly searching for innovative and new techniques to place their products, articles, and offerings as the number one hit in search Engine optimization (SEO). As more companies and businesses race and claw their way to find new ways to affect SEO moving forward, voice search is quietly emerging as a consistent trend in the world of search.

If we are being completely honest, whether you are personally using voice search or not, it is already becoming a future tactic in optimizing search engines. As of 2017, eighty-five percent of smartphone users have admitted to using voice search at least once. Twenty to twenty-five percent of all search queries are currently being performed by voice search as of 2018. If we place that in perspective, that means one in every four users search for everyday tasks, functions, and products all based on voice assistance instead of typing in the search bar on a computer browser or phone application. Without a doubt, these are huge numbers! If a company can focus their optimization to adapt to voice search, their trafficking and hit rates would increase by almost twenty percent in theory!

Adapting to the trend of voice searching in 2019 can be challenging, but achievable if done properly. As of 2018, Apple’s Siri and Google dominate the voice search market due to the insane amount of devices they are available on. Their volume alone runs a hefty chunk of the search market. Moving forward, semantic searching will be increasingly important. Since Google’s search engine relies on a variety of factors besides keywords – such as the user’s previous searches or patterns in the algorithm, you will have to use a variety of related, long-tail keywords to enjoy optimal results in this new age. Speaking of content, voice searching is more optimized for the customers and users at hand, rather than the search engine. Ten years ago, the blueprint in search engine success relied on keywords. Nowadays, businesses and websites cater to their customers and audience instead of focusing solely on hitting certain keywords. Focus on tone and function of your customers – engage with them on social media; address frequently asked questions; create content that uses normal language that resonates with the customers. The goal is to stand out from your industry counterparts when all is said and done.

Although the content and ranking of your website are extremely important to gaining incoming traffic, if your site does not load quickly or looks sketchy on a mobile device, people will be turned off incredibly quick. We all have done this as it is human nature. With so many different options and webpages to explore, there is no point waiting on a single page to load when there are other similar sites just one click away. Half the battle is done through the content. The other half is based on whether or not you have a mobile-friendly site rendered for voice search recognition. Imagine this: you use voice search recognition to look up the most endangered species in the world. The voice application recognizes the search and attempts to pull up your page to no avail. We all know what happens next. The user will either search for something different, thus dropping your hit rates, or, do a manual search and your page will not be displayed at all. Make sure your site is mobile-friendly and easy to navigate to avoid these lose-lose situations moving forward.

A substantial amount of voice searches are basic questions and can be answered through what is known as “position zero” on any given engine search. This position is generally located on the top of any search result and provides public domain information such as the number of ounces in a pound, or the translation of a word from one language to another. However, voice searches often credit websites for snippets and attainable information in your content. If you cater to a specific audience or core fanbase, make sure to answer long-tail keyword research questions on your website as it will make your content easier for search engines to frame and answer questions. This is a great and simple technique to build and capitalize on SEO voice searching for companies and websites with a particular niche.

All this information is good to know, however, if not applied properly, attempting to follow these tips and tricks can clutter your webpage and hinder your incoming traffic even more. Voice search optimization is a dauntingly real thing. And if you haven’t caught on by now, it’s moving increasingly fast. With Virtual Surge's knowledge and expertise on voice search recognition and search engine optimization, I take pride in ensuring all my clients leave satisfied and confident in their abilities to join the voice search race in the upcoming years. Let me help you with this rise – it is the least you deserve after all your hard work.

Contact us to get your free video analysis!

Virtual Surge Award 2018 Baltimore

2018 Baltimore Award - Virtual Surge

Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Virtual Surge Receives 2018 Best of Baltimore Award

Baltimore Award Program Honors the Achievement

BALTIMORE November 29, 2018 -- Virtual Surge has been selected for 2018 Best of Baltimore Award in the Marketing category by the Baltimore Award Program.

Each year, the Baltimore Award Program identifies companies that we believe have achieved exceptional marketing success in their local community and business category. These are local companies that enhance the positive image of small business through service to their customers and our community. These exceptional companies help make the Baltimore area a great place to live, work and play.

Various sources of information were gathered and analyzed to choose the winners in each category. The 2018 Baltimore Award Program focuses on quality, not quantity. Winners are determined based on the information gathered both internally by the Baltimore Award Program and data provided by third parties.

About Baltimore Award Program

The Baltimore Award Program is an annual awards program honoring the achievements and accomplishments of local businesses throughout the Baltimore area. Recognition is given to those companies that have shown the ability to use their best practices and implemented programs to generate competitive advantages and long-term value.

The Baltimore Award Program was established to recognize the best of local businesses in our community. Our organization works exclusively with local business owners, trade groups, professional associations, and other business advertising and marketing groups. Our mission is to recognize the small business community's contributions to the U.S. economy.

SOURCE: Baltimore Award Program
CONTACT: Baltimore Award Program
Email: PublicRelations@city-recognition.net
URL: http://www.city-recognition.net

This article was originally posted Virtual Surge.

Voice Search and the Impact It Will Have on SEO

The Impact Voice Search Will Have on SEO

Voice search has proven to be much more than a trend. It is convenient. Its availability and use is expanding and most importantly, almost everyone is utilizing voice search on Google.

Because of its high demand and convenience of use, voice search is here to stay. Therefore, SEOs should prepare to include it in all its strongest strategies. Will SEO be affected by voice search? Of course, it will. Continue reading to find out how it has and will impact SEO moving forward.

Let’s take a look at the numbers. More than 55% of smart device users begin utilizing voice search three years ago in 2015. As of today, almost 25% of Google searches are conducted by voice command. Even if half the people you know aren’t actively or regularly searching queries via voice search, it has already had a major impact on SEO.

The Basics of Voice Search

Just in case there’s anyone out there with no clue about voice search, here’s the basic breakdown. Voice search is a search command that is activated by your voice. That’s right! You speak and the system searches for what you’ve spoken via voice. A voice assistant such as Google Home, Alexa, Cortana, Siri, etc. conducts the searches instead of the user typing it into the browser.

Google and Siri lead the market for voice search, which is to be expected as they are available on an extensive list of devices. Below are the top ranked assistants and their compatible devices.

Siri (Apple): Apple iPad, iPhone, iPod

Google Assistant: Pixel phone, Google Home, Android and iOS apps, Android 6.0

Microsoft Cortana: Xbox One, Windows 10, Windows phone, Android and iOS apps

Amazon Alexa: Echo

The above voices are unique in their own design and offer additional benefits to the search capabilities.

What Changes to Expect in SEO

Semantic Search Will Lead the Way

In addition to keywords, Google also depends on other factors to filter searches. It takes into account patterns or prior searchers to give the best results for what is being searched. This describes semantic search, which basically describes Google’s effort to understand exactly what the browser is searching for.

For example, when a user searches “comedy shows New York” from their laptop in New York, Google instantly knows that the search is likely for comedy shows in New York, and not for comedy shows about New York.

Prior to semantic search efforts, either of those searches would have been sensible based on keywords. However, semantic search understands that the user is likely looking for options in the city near them.

Considering that most people use a conversational tone when they search with their voice, the content of your website must appeal to this. Optimize content for a category of relative, long-tail keywords to receive the best results.

Optimize Content for Readers

Website content should be optimized for site visitors and not for the search engines. What does this mean? Keyword stuffing your content is a thing of the past. Write content with the readers in mind. Pay attention to the language of the customers by reviewing their social media posts and reviews about your business. Consult with customer service to learn what customers are saying and which questions they ask most about the products or service on your site. This is the language your site should reflect. Your content should include an everyday type of language that the customer will understand and typically uses when they talk.

Keep in mind that voice searches conducted from mobile devices are most likely local. Therefore, make certain that site content is optimized for local returns.

Your Site Should Be Prioritized for Mobile Searches

Google has made it clear that it will cater to mobile-first searches. Your site must be prioritized for mobile or you will fail in the organic search world.

If your website loads slowly, is not mobile-friendly or looks warped on mobile devices, people will leave your site quicker than the site loaded. If this goes on for too long, the rankings of the site will suffer. A site that is responds well to mobile searches is crucial for voice search. Mobile devices is where voice search generated and a growing number of people utilize voice search while driving. If your website isn’t designed for mobile searches, you will lose your page one ranking, or you’ll never make the cut in the first place.

The Race to Position Zero Will Intensify

Most voice searches populate their response in what is described as the Rich Answer box that generates at the top of search return. There is usually public domain info that Google produces by Instant Answers.

Featured snippets, however, are extracted from any site that appears on the first page of search results. Brands receive credit from Google on voice, as well as research search. It is only necessary to appear on the first page, and not rank first. This makes it much easier to attain featured snippets. If your site currently ranks on the first page during searches, only a few minor adjustments need to be made to your current SEO strategy.

Featured snippets help people decide where to go, what to buy, or give them information to make important decisions. Research long-tail keywords to discover the questions and add content to the site that answers the questions.

Make sure your content is easy to read and understand. This can be done by adding header tags to the questions, and replying quickly with answers. Featured snippets can also be formatted with tabular.

Voice search has changed how people search for information, shop, travel, and acquire useful reviews. For brands to remain visible, their SEO strategies must adjust to the habits of users and the laws of Google.

Voice search and its accuracy has improved greatly, which makes it much easier for home assistants to understand. Home devices have gained major popularity, which happened to take place just as accuracy in voice search is at its greatest.

Your site should be optimized to respond when people search with their voice. If it is not, your competition will populate ahead of you in the search results and gain your perspective customers.

This article was originally posted Virtual Surge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Importance of SEO for Healthcare Businesses

Why Healthcare Businesses Need SEO

In the world of healthcare today, almost 60% of internet users seek information regarding healthcare online. People rely on the internet for quality advice and guidance about medical providers, symptoms, suggested treatments, and surgical procedures.

Your medical or healthcare practice should populate in the top rankings of natural search engine results. This means that your business will standout when users are searching for businesses in your genre.

Being that healthcare is an extremely competitive market, do you know how to ensure that your business or agency tops the rankings when searched?

Search engine optimization (SEO) strategies or campaigns for medical or health practices work to target potential clients or patients. It does so by helping your business to populate higher in the pages of search engine results when searched (SERPS). Searches that include health or healthcare generated terms will likely trigger your site. Healthcare SEO has become extremely helpful due to the increasing popularity of health-related searches and medical references utilized in online search engines. Almost every industry has increased in popularity because of the advancements of technology. SEO is an important tool that contributes greatly to these advancements.

Understanding SEO

SEO operates to bring improvements to websites. It enables the various search engines to rank your website when search results are generated. There are several steps involved in an SEO strategy or campaign. These strategies ensure that the content of your site generates in front of your targeted audience. Medical and healthcare SEO can carry specific stimulations, based on the provisions and services of the business and the search request of the potential patient or client.

SEO campaigns also ensure that your healthcare website is aligned with all the changes made by search engines. These changes effect the way that information is displayed to users. If your site is not implementing SEO practices, its visibility could be negatively impacted. Your competitors will then have the advantage of reaching potential clients or patients as they advance in the search engine results rankings. Therefore, ongoing SEO campaigns are necessary for medical practices and healthcare agencies. A one-time SEO approach is not enough to maintain consistency in positive search engine rankings for healthcare businesses.

SEO Benefits for Medical Practices and Healthcare Agencies

Your goal may be to increase the number of clients or patients you see. There is also the potential to expand the number of procedures that your practice does. Both of these can be successfully accomplished with a proven SEO healthcare campaign. This also helps to improve the ROI for the business.

More than 75% of potential patients or clients utilizing SEO results before they schedule a consultation or appointment with a medical practice or healthcare facility. Therefore, it is essential that your healthcare website is visible at the top of the ranking results, regardless of the size of the practice or agency. SEO affords you the opportunity to rank among the top businesses in SERPs for particular terms or location searches, such as “Baltimore medical centers.”

The Importance of Quality Content

Quality content on your healthcare website helps your agency or business to have an authoritative position in the industry. Videos, blogs, interviews, testimonials, informative articles, and research reports or scientific breakthroughs provide quality information that potential patients seek from healthcare providers.

SEO campaigns help to ensure that the information provided on your site goes beyond the basic. Most patients search for medical conditions and their symptoms online prior to visiting a medical care provider. Providing this information on your website motivates visitor conversions. The quality of this content engages the readers by providing detailed information that is related to their search activity. It also aides in assisting Google to identify the context of your website and why it should be ranked among the top of search engine results for healthcare.

Local SEO Strategies for Healthcare

It is important to implement local search strategies in your healthcare or medical practice SEO campaign. Local SEO assists potential clients or patients in finding related material for the area of which they are inquiring about.

In addition, the local SEO campaign should launch a new, or improve the current, Google Places profile. This method helps your local listing to populate among the top rankings for results of a specific location.

How Virtual Surge Can Help Your Healthcare Business with SEO Campaigns

At Virtual Surge, we understand the demands of the healthcare industry and how challenging it may be for businesses to manage their own SEO practices. This is where we come in. We can manage each aspect of your healthcare SEO campaigns to include content development, local optimization and website performance. Our goal is to implement quality and effective SEO strategies while you focus on the area of the business that is most important: the patients.

We offer years of in-depth internet marketing experience, which can help deliver successful rankings on internet searches. Our approach involves competitor research, reviews of the existing rankings of your business, and identifying your target audience prior to developing a strategy or campaign for the business.

Our SEO campaign packages for healthcare businesses and agencies are designed to help websites advance with increased traffic. The strategy includes the development of a mobile-friendly site, addition of quality content, and informational resources via site links, articles, blogs and other site access points for patients and healthcare professionals also.  Contact us for a free video analysis today!

 

This article was originally posted on Virtual Surge, LLC

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New SEO Strategies

I had the pleasure of meeting with my mastermind group and learned about a few new SEO tactics that have blown my mind. I am excited to implement them on my current client's sites and have decided to offer a local map special to new clients.  If you are a local business owner and want to get ranked in the maps section, contact me today about my $500 per month deal. I have never been so confident in my local ranking skills! I only have a few spots left to take on more clients at this time.  Contact me today!

 

Benefits of Reputation Management

Successful Businesses Experience Consistent Growth with Quality Online Reputation Management

Entrepreneurs and business owners spend years researching, developing and building their business. The time spent can never be regained, but the rewards are immeasurable. The effort and dedication that has gone into the development of any business are more than most could ever imagine.

Strategies are created to generate quality products or services, market to the appropriate audience and deliver within an acceptable timeframe. These are the basic ingredients to creating a solid business. Once the formula is mixed and the business is launched, what do you do to preserve the integrity and quality of your business? Most importantly, what do you do to protect the reputation of your brand? Are you aware that the success of any business relies heavily on the words and recommendations of previous or potential clients?

One of the most crucial elements of any business plan is the inclusion of protocol for successful management of your online business reputation. Sure, quality service and products should be enough. However, in today’s world of social media posts, Yelp reviews and content sharing options there must be a solid plan put in place to protect your reputation.

You don’t want what took you years to build to be tarnished with just the stroke of a keyboard. Online reputation management should be at the top of your business success plan. If it isn’t, here are a few motivational factors to get you going.

Potential customers and business associates conduct online research before conducting business with companies

Years ago, the best way to find out something about a prospective service or product provider was to give them a call and schedule an appointment. A visit to the brand or service provider would provide a little insight on their quality of service. The end result would be to trust your instincts, verify their validity and move forward with their service provisions.

Today, advancements in technology make it easier and more convenient to verify that a company is credible. Online reviews and social media posts make it easy to read about the service and products offered by a company. This information is easily accessed by the public and mostly used by potential clients or business partners to determine if they will utilize the services of the company. A negative online reputation can destroy a business that took years to build and even longer to grow. The damage can sometimes be prepared but it takes a unique approach and a proven strategy to begin the process.

HR and hiring companies are conducting online research before hiring contractors

As a business owner, it is essential to streamline a consistent flow of clients. Recruiting contracts or potential jobs becomes challenging if the business has a negative online reputation. Almost three-quarters of all companies Google search contractors before entering into a business agreement with them. They rely on the returned results to get a clear perspective of what type of image the company portrays. One negative review or misunderstanding can destroy the chances of businesses acquiring a new contract. There have been numerous accounts where a business was denied due to information posted on social media or Google reviews.

The screening process is consistent, and you are constantly at risk of being negatively represented

There is no gray area or statute of limitations on when the online research of businesses will stop. Each day that you are in business, you are at risk of being searched. The intentions are usually good. However, the results are not always the same. Consumers seek information about products before they purchase. They research to find out how dependable the business is for quality and delivery of products. Many purchases are made or refused based on reviews of other people.

Potential clients want to feel that they can trust the product, service and provider. Timely delivery, product as described, and quality service lead the internet in reviews. While the efforts may be present to ensure that your business always delivers quality, some things are beyond your control. A customer may have encountered an employee that couldn’t correct an error or address another concern immediately. Instead of allowing an efficient amount of time to correct the error, the customer posts negative reviews on every social media site possible. Just like wildfires, the negative association of your business begins to spread to every search engine and social media platform in existence.

We live in a digital world where the internet is our number one resource for home management, everyday life, business management and more. Major life decisions are made based on information provided on the web. Effective management of your online reputation can ensure that potential clients and business partners are not shocked at the information they find about your brand online.

This article was originally posted on VirtualSurge.com

Photo Copyright: convisum / 123RF Stock Photo

 

 

 

 

 

Why Technical SEO Audits Are Critical for Your Business

Why Your Website Needs an SEO Audit

Marketers face a category of challenges due to failure to fully comprehend the importance of technical SEO. The difficulty is primarily in understanding which strategies work, and which of those will have the greatest impact. Errors in your technical SEO could potentially lead to restricted rankings. Effective use of technical SEO audits could bring significant improvement to organic search engines.

If your current strategies aren’t producing obvious improvements, a technical SEO audit could help to address all the technical issues that have a negative impact on your rankings. It is essential to know which issues to address first and how to analyze the influence of technical SEO strategies.

A professional technical SEO audit will provide the necessary answers that identify existing technical issues and the necessary SEO tools to increase the flow of traffic. A professional audit serves as a navigation system that sends your site directly towards a consistent flow of traffic.

There is a difference between technical SEO and engagement SEO. The most effective engagement strategies are worthless without quality technical SEO practices. Allocations for SEO practices should be 80% engagement and 20% technical. Although the allocated percentage for engagement is significantly greater, technical applications must come first. They are the foundation for successful engagement.

When to Perform a Technical SEO Audit?

A technical audit should be performed annually and anytime a red flag appears. Google algorithm updates occur around the clock. There are no holidays or vacation days. Therefore, your site can’t afford to experience technical issues. Users are calling for an improvement in speed, quality, and accessibility. Google is answering the call by fine-tuning the factors that impact ranking. RankBrain is a learning program that monitors, tests and updates the majority of Google’s algorithm. Google makes the rules, tests the rules and changes the rules without notice. Consistently testing your strategy ensures that your site is consistently within the standards of Google updates.

Advantages of a Technical SEO Audit

Digital marketing strategies that are producing poorly can benefit greatly from a technical SEO audit, which will deliver:

• Microscopic View of Issues – An assessment of your SEO helps to identify issues with the website that need to be addressed. A list of strategies can be derived from the audit to help the site recuperate.
• Enhanced Revenue – Executing the items of correction identified by the audit will help the site to improve traffic, generate more accounts and successfully close those accounts. This is how SEO visibly enhances the revenue of the company.
• Increased Confidence – A website that is performing productively will increase the confidence of the owner. Implementing the suggestions of the technical audit permits the site to outperform the competition. Quality tech audits can keep you on top of search engine updates and confident that your strategies are working effectively.

A professional audit will identify indexation and crawl technical and coding issues. It is equivalent to an annual health exam, except it’s for your website. Once the technical audit has been performed and a strategy is implemented, the engagement SEO strategy should be assessed.

How Does an Audit Help New Websites?

New websites benefit from technical audits just as existing sites. The audit is sometimes more impactful because it starts off stronger than its competition. Website owners are given the tools to succeed in the market. There is a bird’s-eye view to show if the devised plan for the site is solid and effective. The question of whether you should implement a blog and social media strategy can be answered by results derived from the audit. A good online reputation is critical to the success of any business. SEO audits help to proactively manage a quality online reputation.

How Does an Audit Help Existing Websites?

The benefits of a professional audit are substantial. The owner of the site acquires a great deal of information that identifies the health condition of its online existence. The audit informs you if your site is at or below code and content level. Owners will discover if their inbound links are primed for developing site authority and how to improve lead conversions from visitors.

Simple audits are scary and technical audits can be intimidating to site owners. Sites will be up and down in performance levels but without proper tech audits, your site can be down in performance power without your knowledge. A broken website can’t be repaired if you can’t identify the location of the issue. Repairing the issue requires tools that can’t be googled or accessed via an app. It requires a professional and strategic SEO audit.  If your website has not had an audit, hire Shannon at Virtual Surge to assist you with any roadblocks that may be preventing you from ranking on Google.  Contact us today for a free video analysis!

This article was originally posted on Virtual Surge. April 2018

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