Google Voice Search for Realtors

Episode Timeline

Voice Search or Google Assistant

Voice search is now a standard method of searching online. People are using their voice to find local services for their immediate needs, which also includes the real estate industry. At present, voice search accounts for 12 to 20 percent of all searches. It is expected to grow exponentially to about 50 percent in 2020. People are using this feature for nearby searches. Google Assistant gives you hyperlocal search results. For example, you try to search for local restaurants; Google will not just give you the local restaurants, but also ranking of results based on online reviews. There are a lot of ways to customize your website to take advantage of this new search feature. The media is starting to incorporate the significance of voice technology as part of regular life as well.

RankBrain and Long Tail Search

The rapid developments in voice technology are inevitable in our progressive society. Google’s artificial intelligence, called RankBrain, is the one responsible for handling long-tail searches. A long-tail search is a query or a phrase which consists of more than four to five words in length. For example, the short phrase “nearby realtor” could be rephrased in detail into “Find me the best realtor in California.” The longer the search term, the more information for RankBrain to process and provide better search results. We could classify a voice search as a long-tail search; thus, RankBrain will be processing and delivering these voice searches.

Schema Markup

Schema Markup is a type of data indexing added to the search algorithm of Google. Long-tail searches or long keywords for getting search results are applicable for an extended form of blog posts on a website. More information, as given by blogs, is a better fit for voice search. Narrowing down these search results is now possible with Schema Markup. It could automatically sort various content into different categories. Also, It can categorize the content of a blog post into a real estate blog, review blog, or a travel blog. It makes the job of RankBrain or Google Search much easier.

Search Optimization for Realtors

For a real estate blog, there are some ways to optimize search results for your website on Google. Firstly, the content of a blog post should be in long-form. WordPress has a plugin for Schema Markup to sort your blog. Another thing to optimize voice search result is putting the business information into two separate places. It includes the name of the company, operating hours, and business address. It should be present in both the website and Google My Business listing. The business information should be clear and specific so that Google can recognize that your business is in the real estate industry.

AdWords and Combined Content & Videos

One way of getting more leads is by paid advertising such as AdWords which is a Google product. AdWords uses geolocation to tag the area your business serves. Similarly, YouTube has this similar feature wherein YouTube videos have geolocators embedded to them. Adding an extension that gives the coordinates of your location for related searches keywords provides added value to your Voice Search ranking.

More on Voice Search and Recap of Marketing Strategies

Voice search and video content are getting more relevant recently. For videos, the number of ways to produce this content increases. Google finds solutions for this over time, and obviously, Google dominates it. For new real estate agents, several opportunities don’t necessarily require to spend a lot of money. You can set up your Google My Business page and boost your local search. It will equip you to compete effectively against other local brokers. Other tips include doing an open house, using paid advertisements, and chatbots. You could also employ organic strategies such as direct mail.