We're sure you've used them a thousand times by now, but you've probably never considered how they are working, or how they are affecting the web. Here are a few ways we're working hard to use this new technology to our advantage, and prepare our clients' sites for this new era of searches.
1. Create content that is more conversational in tone. Digital assistants are on mobile devices, so the queries are spoken, not typed. When a search is spoken, it is often more long-tail, and spoken as if you were asking a friend. So, you want your content to be tailored a little more conversational as well. We've known for a while that conversational content is gaining momentum with Google, but now it is more important than ever.
2. Make sure content can easily answer a question. Be as concise as possible. Mobile users are on-the-go, and expect answers immediately. Digital assistants work by serving up information quickly and efficiently, parsing websites for the most consise and relevant answer. You've also seen this on the web through Google's Knowledge Graph. You still want your content to be a healthy length, and rich enough to be rankable, but using concise snippets of information can help digital assisants pull information easier. Basically, get to the point, and try to avoid simply fluffing your content.
3. Use highly relevant images within content. Digital assistants can still serve up images in their answers, and the more relevant your images are to your content, the better. Until digital assisants don't rely on search engines for their visual answers, your content is where they are going to look.
4. Be present on other platforms. Even though social media and apps aren't necessarily ranking factors, it is still helpful to be present across the web. When digital assistants are gathering information, even from multiple sources, your information may be included, or you may be listed.
5. Pay attention. This is pretty self-explanatory. Simply pay attention to what's going on, to what pages are being most visited on your site, what your landing pages are, and alter your content accordingly. Stay up to date on latest trends, and always keep an open mind. In this industry, getting stuck in your old ways is the fastest way to failure.
Optimizing for digital assistants shouldn't come as a complete overhaul for your existing site, but rather as more of a makeover, or a tighening up of your already successful content strategy.Traditional SEO by itself is certainly not dead, or dying anytime soon, but we would be lying if we didn't think it was going to drastically change over the next few years.
If you need help thinking about your content, writing content, or simply brainstorming a game plan for your site, Pixel Perfect is here to help. Fill out our Get Started form and we will be in contact! But in the meantime, we will be working on our beatboxing skillz.