Why do I need my voice over profile to be search friendly?
When search engine mogul like Google (reportedly) pays millions to phone companies like Apple to keep people to use their search tool in their mobile devices; with hardly a person who doesn’t carry a smartphone, tablet or a laptop to stay connected; and the average time spent online has doubled in the last decade, averaging almost 30 hours in a week – online visibility is key to any business. This is more so for professionals like voice over actors who can compete directly with each other.
Whether you have your own website or rely on voice over platforms for your online presence, creating a strong profile that is search friendly is significant in executing a great brand/marketing strategy.
Personal Website
There is no shortcut when it comes to website ranking. For you to achieve high search engine results it would require investing a lot of time, energy and yes, even money. The main objective of these search engines is to deliver results that users find RELEVANT, INTERESTING and TIMELY – so in order to achieve better ranking than your peers, your website should continue to be RELEVANT, INTERESTING and TIMELY.
Also search engines values the website’s usability, so you would need to immediately focus on your website’s speed and unique content. Google for one loves unique content, so much so that it de-ranks what they call “content farms.” Create unique blog posts and videos relevant to the voice over industry that are attention grabbing and shareable not just amongst peers but also to potential clients.
What you also need to understand about search engines is that it only makes an information available when someone types in the key words and hits enter. So what are the words that your voice seekers use?
Do a little research…
- Type in VOICE OVER ACTOR in the Google search box and hit the return key
- Scroll all the way down and you will see Searches related to voice over actor
- Your results may show: How to become a voice actor, Voice over jobs / voice over work, Hire voice over actor, etc.
Repeat the process using other words related to voice acting (eg. Character voice actors explainer videos, commercial voice over actors, American voice talent, female voice over, etc.), and make a list of the common keywords you find at the bottom. Make sure then that top keywords relevant to your brand or niche as a voice over artist can be found in the pages of your website.
Voice Over Platforms
Online voiceover services would each have their specific algorithms to match the voice seeker’s requirements with the talent’s profile information – like language, gender, age profile and may include other information like skills, demo categories, location and other services provided by the talent.
It is important that apart from filling out your basic information, you also choose or tick out other profile options available that would help trim down the competition and get more matching projects and auditions your way. This can be the equipment you use, a quicker turn-around time, your availability to Skype call, phone patch, ISDN or Source Connect, a second language or an accent.
With these platforms, you may also add your own description. Though it may not be part of the matching process, it is helpful in keyword searches within the site. Similar to creating content for a website, use words that best describes your skills, style and tone, and also the market you are aiming for. Play to your strengths.
Include words that your ideal client will use when searching through talents who fit their market. For example, if your niche is in the audiobook category – you can include words like natural, story-teller, versatile, character voice. If you are experienced in explainer or whiteboard videos you may want to add words like warm, engaging, animated, and clear.
But keep in mind that any information you put in your profile or website should be accurate and something that you can do – do not over promise! There’s nothing worse than a voice over actor who only “looks good in paper”, but falls flat in his/her face when it is time to deliver the goods.
