Optimizing Pay Per Call Campaigns For Voice Search

As you know, pay-per-call is an effective way to get traffic for your affiliate marketing efforts. With new tech appearing in the digital marketplace almost daily, savvy entrepreneurs know that they must continually adapt to stay on top of the competition. Voice search, which is increasingly popular, ties directly into pay-per-call—after all, those who are using their phones to search are even closer to making that call that gets you a commission!

You should know that if you don’t optimize your pay-per-call campaign for voice search, you may be missing out on a significant amount of traffic.

So, How Popular is Voice Search?

Voice search is a significant and growing force in online marketing. The stats don’t lie:

• As of 2016, Google has reported that 20% of the queries it receives are voice searches. Bing indicates that 25% of its searches are voice-based.
• According to Search Engine Watch, users have adopted voice search en masse; voice search has gone from nearly non-existent (as of 2015) to representing 10% of all searches worldwide in 2017.

The truth is that this is only the beginning. With smart home devices like Google Home and Alexa, voice search is just going to get bigger. Digital assistants like Siri, Cortana, and Google Assistant are bridging the gap between spoken queries and a user’s intent. Eventually, we think Google and other search engines will begin to offer ad targeting just for ads to show from voice searches to take advantage of that unique experience a person has with search.

Optimizing Your Pay-Per-Call Campaign for Voice Search

If you’re going to optimize your pay-per-call campaign, it’s useful to think like a user who is searching by voice. Here are a few things you should keep in mind when optimizing for voice.

#1 – Focus on Long-Tail Keywords

It should be obvious that voice search and text search are done differently. Users who type avoid long queries to get what they’re looking for. On the other hand, those who use voice search tend to use longer phrases and sentences, otherwise known as “long-tail keywords.”

A quick example:

• A text search for “authentic Mexican restaurant” might be a text search,
• “What’s the best authentic Mexican near me” might be the voice search.

To predict long-tail keywords, you must think how people speak. They’re looking to get answers almost as quickly as if they had asked a knowledgeable friend. Natural spoken language better targets the long-tail keywords people are likely to use when using voice search. Hint: a Q&A-style content can make these long-tail keywords appear naturally.

If you’re looking for keyword research tools for long-tail keywords, consider using resources like Quora, Keyword.io, KWFinder.com, and even Google’s autocomplete function for your voice searches.

#2- Concentrate on Optimizing Mobile

Because voice search is used almost exclusively on mobile platforms, your pay-per-call campaign should focus on an optimized mobile site. Make it easy for prospects to navigate your mobile site. Content on your mobile site must be easily scanned—mobile users are impatient and typically avoid thumbing through huge articles on their smartphones. Therefore, optimize your content accordingly.

#3 – Don’t Miss Out on Local Listings

If you’re marketing a pay-per-call campaign, then you can’t miss out on marketing voice searches on local listings. Even the phrase “near me” can direct traffic towards your content. As a marketer, you may need to make your keywords more specific. For instance, larger metropolitan areas like Atlanta may need to be divided by suburbs—“tire repair in DeKalb County open late” may work better than “tire repair in Atlanta.”

Similarly, you must update your Google Business Listing (among others) to take advantage of local voice searches, making sure that the address, hours, and other info is current and correct. Keywords are only one part of the picture when it comes to having a user’s voice search lead to a pay-per-call conversion.