The first things that come to mind when considering SEO strategy are blog articles and site headings. But did you know how voice search affects your search engine optimization? It's possible that the vast majority of website creators won't give voice search any thought at all. If you also ignore it, you'll lose a lot of money.
As people spend more time on their mobile devices, voice search is becoming increasingly popular. The majority (55%) of mobile voice search users and 39.4% of all voice assistant users have done so at least once each month, according to research conducted by Perficient.
Those people are looking for local services like restaurants and shops. Many of us now find it more time-efficient to ask Siri, Google Assistant, or Alexa to get what we need than to type it into a browser. Those who are unable to type due to a disability can find it more convenient to get results using this method.
So, how to optimize your website for voice search and rank it well on SERPs? Keep reading while we're sharing some great strategies to optimize your website for voice search.
What is Voice Search?
The term "voice search" refers to an emerging technology that enables users to do web, mobile, or app-based searches by saying the relevant query into a microphone and speaker. All that is required is a simple keyword query in the public domain, and you'll have access to any and all data on the World Wide Web.
It's essentially a dialogue system that involves rounds of interaction. You can provide the algorithm with more information about your search. It improves the reliability of your findings.
In other words, voice search is a method in which technology uses an audio recognition system to correctly interpret what you're saying.
Natural language processing (NLP) is used by voice assistants to "learn" speech patterns and identify voices over time. Although the technology is far from perfect, it is steadily improving. More frequent usage improves its effectiveness.
What is Voice Search Optimization?
Optimizing your pages for voice searches is known as voice search optimization. It considers the specifics of how people use their voices to do searches.
The optimization for voice search enables a voice search device to read your pages aloud.
6 Voice Optimization Tips for Your Website
Are you ready to begin voice search optimization? Check out these six tips for improving your voice search optimization.
Understand Your Type of Customer
Voice search won't be used in the same manner or for the same purposes by all users. To reach your target audience, you need to familiarize yourself with their demographics.
Compared to Boomers, Millennials are more likely to spend significant time online and prefer voice search. Different users will use voice search on different gadgets, with some preferring smartphone voice assistants and others favoring smart speakers like Alexa.
In addition, you should be aware of the things your target audience is actively searching for. There are typically a few main types of local voice search, including:
- Discovering an address
- Getting Directions
- Obtaining a company's contact information
- Finding business hours
- Distance estimation of a company's location
These types of local voice search queries can be broken down into three categories:
- Discovery Queries: When customers are seeking a specific establishment (such as "Find an Italian restaurant near Miami")
- Direct Queries: When people want to get specific information related to a business(such as "Find Macdonalds near me").
- Knowledge Queries: When consumers want to find the answer to a question (e.g., "What is the net worth of Elon Musk in dollars?")
In addition to optimizing the content on each page, making your site user-friendly by addressing frequently asked questions and user demands is essential if you want to rank well in search engines.
Focus on Conversational Keywords
Although short-tail keywords become much less significant, we don't think they'll ever disappear entirely. But when you consider the more natural phrasing used in voice searches, they become much less important.
Conversational long-tail keywords are becoming more important for marketers. It's crucial to determine which steps are necessary to incorporate them into your content.
For example, you could optimize your search site and business by listing "coffee shops near me," as well as "coffee shops in New York," or "What are the best coffee shops in Miami?"
Provide Context with Schema Markup
If you're not already familiar with it, learn about schema markup. Marking up your content using schema helps search engines understand what your site is about.
As a result of this HTML extension, search engines will be better able to interpret the meaning of your content, raising your site's relevance not just for standard queries but also for those conducted using voice search.
Schemas help Google interpret what you're saying, and they're a terrific way to enrich your website with information that can help you better respond to queries. Mobile and voice search users are likely to be interested in such information.
Build a Detailed FAQ page
A frequently asked questions (FAQ) page is a simple yet effective technique to address a wide range of inquiries without resorting to keyword stuffing. It adds value by answering frequent inquiries about your company and boosts your page's credibility.
When explaining, consider including "who," "what," "when," and "where" that is common in online searches. Use conversational language in your responses to rank higher for the longer keywords used in voice searches.
Maintain a FAQ page that is fast, accessible, and functional. Labeling each question and its answer correctly is essential. Provide a way for visitors to get in touch with you if they have further inquiries after reading your page's content.
Optimize for Local Voice Search
The vast majority of voice search users are looking for a local business close to their home, their next travel destination, or their current location. If you want to attract customers who are actively looking for your products or services, you should optimize your site for mobile and local searches.
Some of the things that can help a business show up in voice-activated local searches are:
- Close to the searcher
- Frequent links to their website and content
- Engagement with people on social media channels
- Positive reviews regularly
- Local, industry-specific directory listings
Keeping your Google My Business (GMB) listing up to date is crucial. Include as much information as possible, such as customer feedback, pertinent keywords in your site description, and images representing your brand. Don't skip any steps; the more details Google has, the more probable it is to feature your company in "near me" and other local searches.
Ensure that any relevant online directories, including YellowPages and Bing, are up to date. Having complete profiles across numerous channels will undoubtedly attract more customers. Ensure they are updated with the most recent information at least once every few months.
When you claim your company's profile on several platforms, you'll be better able to optimize for a wide variety of voice assistants. For example, having a complete Bing profile increases the chances that Microsoft's Cortana voice assistant will find you.
Make Sure Your Site is Mobile Friendly
Since Google's rollout of Mobile First Indexing, a site's responsiveness to mobile devices has become a major ranking factor.
Without a mobile-friendly site, your chances of being included in highlighted snippets are much lower since consumers increasingly do voice searches on mobile phones.
Whether you're not sure if your site is mobile-friendly, you may use Google's handy Mobile Friendliness Test to find out.
Conclusion
You can improve your website's visibility in voice search results with this knowledge.
Remember that voice optimization is an extension of your standard local SEO practices. When it comes to optimization, voice search engine optimization (SEO) is now and forever the gold standard.
Contact us now to discover how our SEO specialists can help you build and maintain your website's voice search strategy.