It’s pretty safe to assume that what was once dubbed a ‘fad’ that was destined to fade away, has now surpassed all expectations and has become a staple in the lives of millions of people across the world.

Over the past few years especially, voice search has experienced a monumental increase in use and popularity offering online users a different way to search the internet and gather the information they need, with 55% of teens and 41% of adults using voice search more than once a day (Google) and voice search alone growing 35x since 2008 (KPCB). The growth of voice search isn’t expected to slow down either, it is predicted that by 2020 50% of all searches will be made by voice (Comscore).

But why has voice search grown so much? Lets’ take a look!

There are 2 main reasons behind the rise in popularity:

1. Searching with your voice is faster than typing - According to Bing, searching with your voice is 3.7x faster than typing. With faster searches comes faster results, so there’s no surprise as to why more people are choosing to use their voice rather than a keyboard.

2. Voice search is perfect for mobile searches – The popularity and increase in accessibility to mobile devices have, in turn, resulted in the increase of voice search. With 60% of mobile searchers using voice at least ‘some of the time’ (Stone Temple).

The features of voice search

Searching with your voice is very different from searching through typing, so naturally, its characteristics and features are going to differ from traditional search. This is something SEO’s will have to bear in mind and consider if they are to cater for this new, emerging search market and take advantage of the changing online landscape. Again, there are a number of driving forces behind voice search; how people search, when people search and what people search for.

How people search

The emergence of voice search has changed the way in which people search for information in 2 ways. Firstly, searches are now longer and secondly, searches are more conversational.

Traditionally, when we use a keyboard to search for information, we tend to use short phrases to find what we need because it saves physical effort. Using voice search on mobile phones and voice assistants such as the Google Home or Amazon Echo, allows searches to become more conversational, however, as these devices are powered by artificial intelligence, making them smarter the more we use and interact with them. Therefore, there is less need to use shorter, ‘computer language’ searches with a now greater emphasis on natural, human-like dialogue.

When searching for the best way to clean a composite deck on your computer or phone, you may type ‘composite decking cleaning’ into the search bar. This is what we would consider, ‘short, computer language.’ When using voice search, however, you’re more likely to say ‘how do I clean composite decking?’ The first search is shorter, only containing 3 words, whereas the second is longer with 6 words. Purna Virji of Moz found that speech searches tend to be longer through the tail.

It’s important to remember to not make the mistake of likening voice search optimisation to using long-tail keywords within your content. Voice search is much more likely to contain question phrases, which has a big impact on how we conduct keyword research and on-page SEO.

Content needs to give users direct answers to the questions they’re asking, otherwise, it’s going to be very difficult to get your content to the people who need it. A great way to find commonly asked queries around a particular subject is to use a tool called Answer the Public. Simply enter a keyword to receive a bunch of related questions around that keyword. Here’s what we get when we search for ‘composite decking’.

Each one of these natural language phrases is an insight into the mindset of your target audience that allows you to tailor your content to match their queries.

When people search

As a result of voice search being much more convenient, people are using it in more places and on a more regular basis than ever before. According to Google, ‘near me now’ searches have increased by 150% over the last two years, with these searches happening in places that you may not expect.

A survey conducted by Stone Temple found that users were significantly more likely to use voice search in public places last year in comparison to the previous year. Places such as gyms, cinemas and even public toilets! Proving that searchers have a lot more local intent when they’re searching on their mobile phones.

As a result of this, SEO’s can gain increased traffic by carefully incorporating a number of distinct keywords into their content. Such as

• Landmarks around businesses
• Including ‘near me’ in title tags, meta descriptions, anchor texts and internal links
• Including phrases that people use to describe the area around your locations
• The titles of local organisations that are relevant to your business

This is further emphasised by the fact that in 2016, 22% of people used voice search to find local information (Internet Trends Report) and that 50% of local mobile searches by a consumer lead to a store visit in a day. There’s no greater incentive to optimise for voice.

What people search for

Voice changes how users get their search results. Slowly but surely, Google is moving away from a search engine where people go to gain masses of information, to a place where people go to gain instant answers. This trend is emphasised by the introduction of SERP features such as Knowledge Panels and Featured Snippets, which has resulted in the number of organic clicks dropping as the information and answers that users are searching for are appearing right there in the results.

Google is implementing the same answer-focused algorithms to provide voice searchers with results as the intent of their searches change. So, enabling your content to answer the common questions that searchers are asking by targeting SERP features such as Featured Snippets is the best way to be shown for voice searches.

Optimising for Voice Search

Now that we’ve looked at the main characteristics that voice search has changed about traditional search and briefly on how you can manipulate your content to satisfy these changes, we can now delve a little deeper into the technical aspects of how to optimise your website and business for the best voice search results.

Utilise structured data

Schema markup, also known as structured data, is a great way to optimise the content on your website for search engines to pull it and offer it to voice searches.

If you do not know what schema markup is, visit our previously written blog here to learn more. Essentially, schema markup is metadata. Data about the information on your website, which is found within your site’s source code. Searchers cannot see this data, but it helps search engines to organise and classify your content such as opening hours, contact information and address.

As previously stated, voice searchers usually want instant answers. By enabling search engines to classify essential business information as such will give you a greater chance of being ranked over competitors. Google has recently announced support for new FAQ structured data. Making it easier for your answers to commonly asked questions to be classified by Google and presented to users in both normal and voice search.

Submitting a detailed sitemap to Google and ensuring your structured data pages aren’t blocked by robots.txt and other control methods are greats ways of getting your content classified also.

Claiming your Google My Business listing

As we touched on above, voice search experiences a high number of local queries by searchers. Therefore, it is essential to claim your Google My Business listing, where you can input your business’ name, address, contact number and description.

Another important feature is choosing relevant categories that your business falls under. Selecting the correct category can be the difference between your business appearing at the top of voice search results or not.

Become mobile-friendly

As mobile phones are one of the main devices in which voice searches are performed, you need to ensure that your website is mobile friendly. Google recommends a responsive website that loads fast, which again you can learn more about in our blog here. With voice searchers wanting instant answers to their questions, your website will need to load information as quickly as possible.

Once your website design and speed are up to scratch, you can now focus on your content. In order to rank for voice searches, ensure your content is optimised for it to be scanned quickly. Leave a lot of white spaces, use short sentences, small paragraphs with simple words and engaging sub-headings.

Answer customer questions in blog posts

We identified above that voice search has changed how people search. With robotic keywords being replaced with longer, more conversational keywords as users look to receive direct answers for commonly asked questions around a particular topic and even provided a tool to help understand the common queries around a particular search term. This is a great starting point to understand what information searchers in your industry are looking for.

Once you understand the questions commonly asked by searchers, you are then able to create content to cater to them. One way to do this is to create a FAQ page which provides short and concise answers to all of the frequently asked questions from your customers. Another is to create dedicated blog posts that focus on single questions. Here you have more freedom to answer a question in more detail, giving search engines more content to choose from and give back to voice searches.

Creating content around your customer’s common queries dramatically increases your chances of appearing higher in voice search results.

Voice search and its impact on users and businesses over the last decade has changed dramatically. Its future is unpredictable, but recent years have shown us that it is not slowing down anytime soon. Therefore, it is important that marketers and business owners do not ignore this trend and instead understand how to best optimise their website and content for voice. It is not easy, but by optimising for voice search your content will become more ‘human’ and will accommodate will ever-changing dynamic of online search.

Each year, Google hosts its I/O keynote event where they share their upcoming innovative hardware and software updates with the world. This year, the keynote was held at the Shoreline Amphitheatre of Mountain View, California and yet again, Google unveiled a whole host of changes and updates across their product line and operating systems.

Introduction  

The event kicked off with speaker Sundar Pichai reiterating Google’s mission to ‘organise the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful’ and how this translates into what Google does and what they’re trying to do. He mentions that Google has transformed from a company that helps with finances to a company that ‘helps you get things done’, and how they are achieving this new rhetoric with the help of their new products and services. Sundar moves on to say that building a more helpful Google starts with search, the core aspect of Google, and demonstrates some of the changes coming to search, starting with more detailed news and podcast results. Sundar claims that what’s most helpful and understanding in the world is ‘visual information’, which leads onto the first major highlight of the event!

Visual information – AR in search

The first innovative feature shown off was the inclusion of augmented reality right into search results. Now, you can get 3D models within search results that can be brought into the real world with the help of your device’s camera. Google’s AR and Google Lens VP Aparna Chennapragada demonstrated the new feature to watching crowd where she brought to life a human muscle, a pair of shoes and a terrifying great white shark! These 3D models aren’t just to play with however, they can be used to help with shopping (seeing how a pair of shoes look with a particular outfit), or with education (seeing how a certain muscle flexes and extends). Google has partnered up with many organisations such as NASA and New Balance to integrate these AR images into your results.

A smarter Google Lens

Google Lens is the AI assistant that works with your smartphone camera provide users with ‘visual answers to visual questions.’ Google has made improvements to the Google Lens so that it can now leverage Google’s extensive amount of data to help you choose what to eat at a restaurant for example, simply by pointing your smartphone’s camera at the menu. Here, Google Lens will display the most popular dishes, images of what they look like and customer reviews. It can even help with splitting the bill! Further demonstrations are shown in the integration of Google Lens with Translate. Here, Aparna demonstrates how Google Lens can help with translations of unfamiliar text with providing not just text translations but with audio, highlighting each word as it’s read out to give you more context on what the text means

Assistant becomes more helpful

Thanks to developments within recurrent neural networks, Google has been able to create new speech recognition and language understanding models to make Assistant perform locally on your smartphone. This has resulted in speech procession at near zero latency and transcription in real time, even completely offline. The new and improved Assistant will now understand your questions and queries and provide you with answers up to 10-times faster. Multitasking across several apps is now possible with Continued Conversation, where you can make a number of requests in a row without the need to say “Hey Google” every time. The Assistant will now use what it learns about you to better understand the context of what you say and offer more personalised suggestions as it learns your daily routine and preferences in entertainment, style and food. A new ‘Driving Mode’ will also provide hands-free assistance when you’re navigating the roads with Maps or Waze.

Duplex can now use the Internet

Google introduced Duplex to the world last year in extraordinary fashion, in which Google Assistant was able to make phone calls for you to perform services like book a table at a restaurant or a hair appointment. This year, Google announced that Duplex has learned to use the Internet! Demonstrated on stage where we see Assistant book a rental car, Duplex will filter through the booking site, entering all of your details as it navigates – there goes the ‘I am not a robot’ defence!

Auto-delete Google’s data collection

With the recent hysteria and spotlight over privacy and data, Google has made an attempt to curb the user’s worries by allowing them to micro-manage what data Google holds. Coming in the not so distant future to Location History and Web & App Activity is the new ability to select a time limit for how long you want your activity data to be saved (3-18 months) and any data older than the selected time will be automatically deleted from your account.

New low-budget Pixels

Despite the popularity of the Google Pixel range, Google realised that the pure Android smartphones ended up being priced above the affordable levels that made so many customers fall in love with the Nexus phones many years ago. As a result, Google is going back to its Nexus roots with new low budget Pixel devices. In addition to the new devices, Pixel owners will also benefit from the new features such as the anticipated AR directions in Google Maps, robocall screening and enhanced battery life.

Google Home and Nest combine

One of the final announcements of the event saw the introduction of the new Google Nest device, which sees the power of the Google Home and Nest combine. Here, your Google and Nest accounts will combine to give you greater control and security over your smart home devices. As part of this merger, the Google Home Hub has now become Google Nest Hub.

And there it is! All of the major announcements from this year’s Google I/O event! For more information and details, visit the official site dedicated to the event here - https://events.google.com/io/schedule/events/

For any business that relies heavily on web content and online activity, the importance of SEO cannot be overstated.

Poor SEO can make even the most engaging content underperform and, in some cases, seem virtually invisible to the outside world.

Think of it as painting the world’s most beautiful picture…on the underside of a chair. Regardless of how brilliant it may be, what good is it if no-one can see it?

On the other hand, top-notch SEO tactics can see your website soar, clocking up more traffic than the M25 in rush hour – so its well worth keeping abreast of the trends.

Luckily, here at Designer Websites, we have a few handy hints and tips to ensure your content doesn’t get lost in the shuffle this year, allowing your site to get the love and attention it deserves.

Google Algorithm for SEO

When it comes to SEO performance, much of your site’s success hinges on the Google algorithm – Google’s way of determining how to rank web pages. If your content plays nicely with the GA, the higher in the rankings you will be; if it doesn’t – sayonara.

To make matters even more complicated, the guys and gals at Google HQ love to keep us on our toes by throwing the odd SEO curve ball our way. In fact, for SEO strategists, it's fair to say that Google has thrown more spanners in the works than an angry mechanic on the verge of a meltdown.

Over the course of a year, it’s not unusual for G-Team to make over 500 changes to the Google algorithm, proving that their algorithm is a dancer and a damn hard one to keep up with on the digital dance floor.

Typically, 2019 is no different. That’s where we come in…

What is the Best SEO Strategy for 2019?

With so many changes to the algorithm throughout the year, creating content that abides by the wants and needs of Google can be like trying to appease a hysterically crying baby.

Does it need its content changed; does it want to be fed with more delicious keywords; or shall I just throw the laptop in the car, take it for a drive around the block and hope it goes to sleep?

Before you completely lose your mind to an SEO migraine, take a handful of these healthy hints to help you shake off the stress and stay ahead of the curve.

1. Back to basics

There are a number of tech-savvy ways you can optimise your website to perform at a high level, from adding breadcrumbs and prioritising pages in your site navigation to implementing tracking and making your site mobile friendly.

However, when it comes incorporating SEO friendly content to your site – such as blog posts, web copy and product descriptions – there are a few simple tactics that can have a profound effect on performance, without the need for an IT degree.

Before you tackle the nitty gritty, make sure the following basics have become second nature.

Keywords and phrases

Keywords and phrases are naturally the starting point for most SEO strategists. Once you’ve uncovered the best performing keywords for your subject, be sure to incorporate these organically into your copy, including your titles, headings and alt text when relevant.

Interlink with anchor texts

It’s also a good idea to interlink web pages within your site using anchor texts. Links are a crucial factor when it comes to page rankings; internal links to other pages on your site can help spread link equity and prolong site view times.

Optimising images

Compressing and optimising images within your pages can also increase your site speed. Slow loading times can have a negative effect on conversions and, by proxy, a negative effect on SEO. The quicker the site speed, the more likely you are to retain your visitor.

2. Fit for re-purpose

If your back catalogue of content runs deeper than the Coronation Street archive, you could be sitting on a goldmine of useful blogs and copy. After all, why let all that history go to waste – especially if the content is still relevant.

Recycling content can be a great way to make the most of what you already have. Updating pre-existing copy to include new keywords and updated information can instantly make it relevant again, enhancing the performance as a result.

Alternatively, you could repackage your text in the form of a video – which brings us nicely to our next top tip…

3. Video killed the SEO star

For content providers, video is the ultimate ace up the sleeve for SEO in 2019 and beyond. If you’re not already a dab hand with a digital camera or a wizard with Adobe Premiere Pro, now is the time to knuckle down and sharpen those skills.

According to veteran tech kings, Cisco, online video is set to grow exponentially in the coming years, with projections indicating that video will account for over 80% of all consumer IP traffic by 2022. In light of that info, neglecting video wouldn’t just be bringing a knife to a gunfight, it’s veritable content suicide.

Bulletproof your content by integrating video across your site, while you can also bolster existing videos by updating the titles and descriptions to ensure they remain SEO relevant. Meanwhile, optimising audio/video quality can enhance the user experience, further endearing your site to the gods of SEO.

4. SERPs up, man!

Whether you’re penning something completely new or attempting to breathe life into old content, Google itself can be a great resource for keywords and phrases.

If you’re looking to rank for a particular term, Google it and check out the search engine results page in the “People also ask” box for insight on things to include in your content.

Similarly, keep an eye on the “Searches related to…” results at the bottom of the page. Both are great ways to cherry pick a few golden terms for H1s and H2s.

Think of it as a being sat next to the smart kid during a particularly tough test; all the answers are there for the taking, it’s up to you if you take a look and use them.

5. Go evergreen with authority

According to Worldometers, well over 4 million blogs were posted via WordPress.com on the day this very blog was written. Multiply that by 365 and that’s a whole lotta content to compete with in 2019.

Needless to say, online content is quickly become an extremely crowded arena, suffering from the effects of over-saturation.

The dramatic rise in content competition has naturally hindered performance, while changes to social media have also seen sharing figures drop dramatically in recent years. However, you can avoid these pitfalls by actively taking your content in a different direction.

Evergreen content is essentially content that maintains its relevance over time, immune from becoming dated (a fact ironically stated in a blog titled “SEO Tips for 2019”). Keep your content from becoming yesterday’s news and tomorrow’s garbage by creating authoritative content that lasts.

Quality evergreen content based on research and reference has been proven to gain backlinks, building traction over time and ranking higher as result. Originality backed by linked references could well be your ticket to the big time.

So, there you have it – five simple ways to ensure your SEO content in 2019 is A-OK, not DOA.

For more information on how to become an SEO VIP, click here or hit the button below to get in touch.

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Hyper Recruitment Solutions is the science-based recruitment business set up by 2012’s The Apprentice winner Ricky Martin after receiving an investment of £250,000 from co-owner Lord Alan Sugar. Specialising in science jobs, HRS help to match some of the biggest employers in the country with the most talented and vibrant job seekers to fill crucial roles and positions within sectors such as engineering, biotechnology and pharmacy.

We’ve been working with Ricky and the HRS team ever since they launched way back 2012, assisting with their original website design and development, and a number of redesigns since. Sometime last year, Ricky contacted us as he was hoping we would once again be able to provide our professional services to bring his website up to date with another redesign, providing it with the contemporary look and feel it now craved, as well as some additional technical features which enhance the user experience even more. 

How did we help this time?

Firstly, we updated the design to a more modern look! We also enhanced the code using the very latest coding technologies, standards and optimisation techniques. We have made the new HRS website much easier to navigate, highlighting the essential information needed by both employers and job seekers, as well as the vital advice and support aimed at successful candidates who have acquired important roles within organisations. Along with this totally new redesign, we also fully integrated their chosen in-house software solution, namely RDP Pro, into the website using the latest RDP API. The integration means that the HRS staff can focus on using RDP Pro, whilst the website automatically pulls information on positions offered through the company, without any need to manage the website. The integration with RDP Pro also allows job boards to be automatically populated, thereby simplifying the internal management of job advertising. This seamless integration means jobs instantly appear on the website, perfect for eager jobseekers! 

As well as this bespoke integration with RDB Pro, we have also introduced new features to the job search such as job alerts and the ability to save individual jobs to a wish list. Increasing the level of interaction and functionality that potential recruits have with HRS. 

With simplified menus, sleek new page layouts and a host of new features, we're sure that both Ricky and Lord Sugar are as proud of the new look as we are. Despite the new design, we haven't compromised any of the things that made the previous site great such as incredibly fast loading times and responsive pages, allowing users to have the same great experience no matter what device they are using! 

You can visit the new, fresh-looking HRS website here: www.hyperec.com 

If you’re looking for a bespoke, professional-looking website for your business, please don't hesitate to get in touch with the team here at Designer Websites for a free, no-obligation web design quote.

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JMS Infotech Ltd is a company based in Milton Keynes, England, that produces the JMS One, a fully-automated end-to-end staff management system. 

This system is built to offer both workers and employers a reliable, easy-to-use system which allows a number of job functions to be completed with ease and in an extremely effective manner. Some of the areas of business that the JMS One operating system assists in are:

• Bookings
• Timesheets
• Recruitment 
• Rota management 
• Management reporting 

One of our current clients NOA Healthcare, that we recently helped to create and launch a brand new website for, have implemented the JMS One system as part of their recruitment operations. Making them the first healthcare recruitment company in the UK to use a fully-automated online booking system, resulting in an average weekly fill rate of over 95% on their jobs listings. 

How we helped...

JMS contacted us here at Designer Websites as a result of an organic internet search, which resulted in an online enquiry being submitted through our website. After a brief discussion, we were tasked with updating the website that JMS already had, to be fully optimised for search as well as being responsive in order for users to browse and navigate seamlessly, request demos of their system or utilise their client login across a multitude of devices. 

We are proud to announce that the sleek, newly optimised and responsive JMS website is now live with additional pages consisting of company and product information as well as an integrated enquiry form. You can now visit the new website here - https://www.jmsinfotech.co.uk/

If you’d like to enquire about having a great, responsive website created for your business then get in touch and tell us more about your project, we’d love to hear from you! 

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