How Wearable Tech is Changing the Game for SEO
Wearables are making waves in the tech industry. Anyone who considers themselves a gadget geek has a smart watch, ring, band, or fitness tracker.
Although wearables are typically associated with other facets of technology, they also present opportunities for marketers and search engine optimization (SEO) specialists. Folks are accessing the web in new, unique ways through their wearables and changing the fabric of the algorithms that drive visibility and search rankings.
However, wearables present a challenge to SEO specialists, too. The type of traffic that wearables generate is different from the traffic that mobile phones or desktops create. As such, SEO professionals need to account for the difference between devices.
The Wearable Boom
Wearables have been part of sci-fi movies and speculative fiction for decades. The Jetsons had a whole array of tech-laden hats, watches, caps, and telemedicine devices. The reality is quite different from what we see on the screen, however. Today, wearable technology continues to advance thanks to increased 5G connectivity and the wide acceptance of devices that connect to the Internet of Things (IoT).
Mainly, smartwatches have dominated the wearable market. However, the wearables of the future may include futuristic neckbands and smart glasses. These developments are possible due to the expansion of the 5G network which promises users ultra-low latency across a range of frequency bands.
The wearable boom represents a significant opportunity for SEO specialists. SEO professionals that can adapt to the future of wearables will enjoy a significant first-mover advantage. With little competition, wearable-SEO specialists can improve clients’ content authority and rank higher on Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) at a fraction of the cost that traditional techniques require.
However, before leaping into the world of wearables, SEO marketers have to account for the unique differences between traditional searches and voice searches.
Voice Search
Unlike mobile devices or laptop users, folks who use wearable devices perform their search functions through speech. This may seem like an innocuous difference at first, but any SEO pro knows that small changes to search parameters make a big difference to their client’s overall SEO strategy.
Fortunately, voice searchers aren’t an entirely new phenomenon. Millions of people utilize voice assistants like Amazon’s Alexa. Research from Think with Google shows that 70% of voice-generated search queries are expressed in “natural language”. This natural language differs from the way that folks usually search online and should be accounted for by SEO specialists looking to take advantage of the wearable boom.
1. Start by generating more long-tail keywords
Optimizing for long-tail keywords can improve your wearable SEO while simultaneously reducing your spending on exact-match keywords. Focus on FAQ sections and try to generate question-style keywords as these phrases will generate a closer match with users who search via voice technology.
2. Ensure that your location-based SEO is up to scratch
Most wearables are fitted with GPS trackers or are set up to understand the user’s hometown. Mastering local SEO is a great way to ensure that your client’s businesses will pop up when users search for queries like “which fast-food restaurant is closest to me” or “how far is the airport?”.
3. When writing long-form SEO content, try to keep things simple
This is because most consumers can’t interact with complex content via their voice assistants. Unless you know that your target audience is looking for more technical knowledge, create content that is simple, informative, and made for the masses.
Healthcare and SEO
Most wearables start life as some form of fitness tracker or wellness monitor. Smartwatches can track vital signs like heart rate while fitness bands give users a detailed breakdown of their current health and wellness.
These devices are designed to help folks practice self-care and build better exercise habits. Those who use fitness watches can track their exercise routine and see how healthy eating and regular sleep impacts core vital signs like heart rate and blood pressure.
The widespread adoption of fitness trackers is great news for healthcare SEO specialists, too. Users transmit massive amounts of data while using wearables. This data gives marketers a more accurate understanding of consumer behavior based on their activity level, which can improve the efficacy of future SEO efforts.
Any SEO efforts that utilize medical wearables should follow HIPAA guidelines and prioritize patient confidentiality. Marketers who fail to inform users when their data is being used will undermine consumer trust and may damage their client’s reputations. Being upfront about data usage allows folks to opt out and ensures that all data is accurate and ethically collected.
Conclusion
Wearable tech is changing the game in SEO. Wearable users are using voice search to find out about products and services. This has increased the importance of simple, local SEO and increased the scope for keyword research. SEO professionals that want to take advantage of the wearable boom should optimize their FAQ sections and place a premium on content that aligns with natural language searches.
