The Meteoric Rise of Voice Search: Its Impact on Law Firm Marketing

Voice search has gained enormous traction and is rapidly becoming many consumers’ preferred method of searching for information online. Devices like smartphones, voice-activated smart speakers, and in-vehicle voice connectivity are ubiquitous these days, enabling users to speak their queries rather than peck with fingers on keyboards. Voice-activated devices provide an ease of use that was unimaginable just a few short years ago.

To stay relevant, law firms must create a marketing strategy that leverages voice search and user intent. Consider these voice search statistics:

• 1 in 5 people worldwide use voice search. (Yaguara)
• 65% of 25-49-year-olds speak to their voice-enabled devices at least once per day. (PwC)
• In the U.S., 153.5 million people use voice assistants. (DemandSage)
• More than 1 billion voice searches are performed every month.
• 58% of consumers use voice search to find local businesses.
• Featured snippets account for 40% of voice search results.
• 8.4 billion people around the world make use of voice assistants.
• “Near me” and local searches make up 76% of voice searches.
• 90% of people believe that voice search is easier than using other online search methods.

Because so many people are speaking their searches now, it’s more important than ever to create law firm content that is SEO-optimized for voice. Google’s machine learning and user intent (rather than just keywords) are integral to producing search results that anticipate a user’s meaning. Voice search affects SEO in the following ways:

• Voice SEO focuses on long-tail phrases rather than short groups of words.
• Content optimized for voice is written conversationally, the way people speak.
• The average voice search result is 29 words in length.
• Voice search results tend to load faster by 52% than the average search results.
• Natural language, keyword length, and question words are important in voice search.

Speech-recognition technology enables devices to understand what a user is saying with extreme precision these days. Programs such as Apple’s Siri, Amazon Alexa, and Google Assistant all utilize voice search capabilities, and searches using new AI-enabled tools like Claude.ai and ChatGPT frequently involve voice as well. The implications for law firms are many.

Recognizing Your Voice and Habits

Voice-recognition technology, including Google Voice Search, “learns” to recognize an individual’s voice commands and their key phrases. Over time, Google learns to “listen” for the unique cadence and characteristics of your voice, identifying not only the way you speak but also your browsing interests, behaviors, and website preferences. As long as you are logged into Google (this includes being logged into your Gmail when you use Google), your search data is retained and leveraged by Google to give you increasingly individualized search results. All of this is made possible by natural language processing. For example, Google Assistant learns to recognize a person’s accent, pronunciations, word choices and pronouns because no two voices sound alike. Natural language processing enables computers to understand language and questions just like humans do.

Voice Search SEO and Traditional Website SEO Are Slightly Different

One of the big takeaways for voice search is to write the way you speak.

When users type a query on a desktop or laptop, they tend to use crisp, staccato, almost bullet-like terms such as “divorce attorney in Houston” or “car accident lawyer.” These SEO terms work well for typed searches because Google ranks websites based on traditional SEO. But when speaking a search, users typically use conversational phrases – not blunt groups of 2-3 words – such as “Siri, can you go to jail for multiple DUIs in Florida?” or “Alexa, what is the average settlement in a car accident case?” To ensure that your web content is optimized for voice search as well as traditional SEO, it’s important to include those long-tail phrases in your online content. The long-tail phrases should not be wordy or complex. Instead, they should be to-the-point and conversational, written at an 8th or 9th grade level.

Using Questions and Answers

By creating section headings that ask a conversational question and then answer it concisely in the text, you may boost your performance in voice searches. This may mean that a webpage – say, a practice area or home page – needs to be longer in word count than it used to be, but it’s worth it. Long-tail phrases also leverage Google’s growing focus on passage indexing, which ranks pages based on relevant passages even if they’re located on webpages with slightly different topics. Adding an FAQ section is one way to work in long-tail search phrases. According to seoClarity, 20% of voice searches are triggered by just 25 words. The 12 most frequently used are:

1. How
2. What
3. Best
4. The
5. Is
6. Where
7. Can
8. Top
9. Easy
10. When
11. Why
12. Who

Location-Based Content

There are many reasons for law firms to invest in local SEO. People searching for lawyers by speaking into a device often use terms like “near me” or they say the name of the city. Be sure to include references to your city, state and/or region in your online content. And for those voice searches that are looking for your street address or phone number, make sure this info is listed prominently on your site. Typically, it is in the footer so that it appears on every page and on the Contact Us page.

Featured Snippets and Position Zero

As stated above, the average voice search result is 29 words long, according to Forbes. Ideally, you can create a “featured snippet” with identifiable extracts that answer common long-tail queries. Featured snippets show up at the top of Page One in search results. Featured snippets are also called “position zero” because they appear above the first listing on a SERPs page. Content tends to rank well for featured snippets when it includes numbered or bulleted lists, headings tagged with html, statistics and short sentences. The content targeted at obtaining a featured snippet should also include the SEO long-tail phrase.

AI Overviews

AI Overviews are a new use of generative artificial intelligence designed to help searchers find the information they need. These AI-generated summaries that appear at the top of Google SERP pages provide quick answers without requiring users to click through to websites. Voice searchers increasingly rely on these to get answers fast.

Quick-Loading Websites

Google Voice prioritizes quick-loading pages. This is essential to ranking well for audible searches. So, law firms should ensure that files are compressed, images are optimized, and response time is minimal. Increased domain authority will also help with voice search visibility.

Why Do Users Like Voice Search?

Google says that users like voice search for the following reasons:

1. It makes life easier. Talking, rather than having to type, enables people to multi-task and get things done faster and with less effort.
2. It’s at the center of the home. People often have a voice-activated speaker in a living room, kitchen, or bedroom. They also have a smartphone within arm’s reach. These devices are always handy, whereas a laptop may not be.
3. It’s part of the daily routine. Some daily routines — like checking the weather, searching for commute routes, or adding to a grocery list – are now accomplished by voice with smart devices.
4. It offers a new, more human relationship with technology. People engage with voice-activated devices as though they were talking to a neighbor or a friend. Speaking is more intimate and natural than typing, and users are even known to say things like “please” and “thank you” in voice searches.
5. It’s a new playground for brands. People are open to learning about new brands and businesses through the voice experience. Any brand that provides useful information or convenience is likely to garner their attention via voice.

How Can Law Firms Leverage Voice Search?

There are several things a law firm can do to enhance their visibility in voice search results. While no one thing is a silver bullet, a combination of the following efforts can make your web pages more attractive to Google during voice searches.

1. Make Critical Information Easily Available

Be sure your law firm’s critical information, like street address and phone number, are readily available online. You can do this by including it in your footer which makes it readily available for search engines to find. Also, for core practice area pages, be sure to include mentions of your city — and, in some cases, state – several times in the content. Google’s algorithm will parse content and images to create search results, but don’t make it laborious for Google to do its job. Forcing Google to work overtime to find this information may harm your visibility in search results. This is especially important in “near me” and local searches initiated by users looking for a lawyer in their immediate area.

2. Avoid Legalese and Language That Is Hard to Understand

Content that is complex or cumbersome will not provide a good user experience (UX), nor is it likely to rank well in voice searches. This is particularly precarious for professionals like lawyers and doctors whose language is riddled with obscure, multi-syllabic words. While linking to and citing relevant legal statutes is desirable and encouraged, the actual on-page content should not read like a legal brief. Always write in layman’s terms that a high school freshman could understand. Remember to write the way average people speak.

3. Identify the Top Questions That Clients Ask Lawyers

Content creators familiar with the legal sector can create long-tail SEO phrases by mimicking questions frequently asked by potential clients. There are hundreds of possibilities. For example, some of these phrases might include questions like:

• Can I file bankruptcy without my spouse in New York?
• How do I avoid probate in Minneapolis?
• When is a car a lemon in California?
• How long does a felony stay on my record?

While these are hypothetical examples, you get the idea. By answering questions succinctly in your online content that clients ask when they’re talking to a lawyer, you increase your chances of producing content that resonates with voice searchers.

4. Make Sure Your Law Firm Site Loads Quickly

Quick-loading websites are critical for voice search. The faster the better. Law firm web pages that populate slowly or leave text and photo gaps while loading, are less likely to achieve high visibility in voice searches. Google voice AI quickly provides users with answers to their commands utilizing the most relevant websites with fast, accurate and detailed information.

5. Hire Professionals Who Understand Law Firm SEO

The easiest way to make sure your online content is optimized for voice search is to hire a legal marketing agency that specializes in SEO for law firms. The legal field is unique and unlike other consumer industries, so collaborating with professionals who deeply understand the law can make all the difference. They can show you how to find out what searchers ask Google, how to respond to negative law firm reviews, how to leverage LinkedIn for lawyers, and many other marketing strategies that are critical to law firm visibility and success. To find out more about how Gladiator Law Marketing’s team can help your law firm, call for a free consultation, Contact Us.