Why Healthcare Industry Should Focus On Voice Search

In order to impact positive patient care gains, it’s no surprise that more health systems are rolling out several technologies with an end goal to meet the objective.

The age of voice-driven technology is emerging. According to a statistical report, 40% of adults already use voice search in their everyday lives, and estimates that 50% of all queries will be voice searches by 2020. This number will just develop as voice-enabled assistant devices like the Amazon Echo and Google Home turn out to be more commonplace.

Comfort for patients

Voice search open a realm of new possibilities for medical organizations. Voice assistants could enable patients book rides to and from a hospital through ride-sharing services, or convey release instructions for post-medical procedure once a patient is not any more under the effects of anaesthesia or heavy painkillers. This technology additionally enhances things on the surgeon’s side; patients can find answers to basic medicinal inquiries while doctors gather information remotely, removing super fluous follow-up visits.

Voice search has the potential to also bridge an important gap for the elderly. Numerous older people feel awkward looking for medical information on computers or tablets, but voice search removes the barrier of confusing interfaces. Patients can just address to a device as they would to a medical assistant, finding the answers they need with less hassle.

Improving chances of appearing through voice search optimization techniques

To prepare for a reality where voice search is ubiquitous, medical organizations need to optimize their web presence to focus on local traffic. Here are some of the ways to make your healthcare website voice search-friendly:

  1. Focus on long-tail keywords: The search focus must shift from awkward keywords to long-tail or even complete sentences. This is because voice searches use natural language. The way we talk is different from the way we type. The keywords and phrases that we use during voice search are different from those we use when typing. Content optimized for voice SEO must focus on this aspect of voice search.
  2. Develop conversational content: If you want to seize this opportunity, you will need to focus on developing conversational content that provides brief and accurate answers to voice queries. This does not mean that long-form content will be ineffective. It just means that the content needs to be written in a way that helps the user looking for quick answers.
  3. Optimize your website for local SEO: Keeping the local intent of voice searches in mind, you should keep critical content, including contact information, up-to-date, since this is the thing that Google will display to answer queries. It is vital for you to get your website optimized for mobile, local SEO and voice search. For a potential patient to choose your practice, your mobile-friendly website must load quickly, display updated information, contain relevant content for local SEO and generate correct answers in response to voice search queries.
  4. Use conversational keywords: When potential or existing patients are typing keywords into a browser, they prefer to keep things short. Review your website content to make sure it answers questions in a conversational manner. Writing in a way that conversationally answers common questions will help your voice SEO.

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Voice search is the revolution and it is the ideal time for marketing to familiarize to this new reality: this is what i-engage offers. Connect with us!