Voice search isn’t a fad. It has been gaining popularity, and people are using it a lot more than ever before.
One of the main reasons for the trend is the high convenience for the user when they just have to talk with the assistant instead of typing. Also, when it comes to the results, voice queries are faster.
Let’s look at some voice search stats
Here are some interesting statistics that will make you believe that voice search will be here for years:
#1. Voice labs found that there are 33 million devices with voice-first that stay in circulation.
In the survey that was done in 2017, voice search was seen to be third in the ranking.
#2. eMarketer says, that 32.2% of the USA population use voice assistants monthly.
#3. Google announced that 27% of queries are done through Google voice search.
It was observed that teenagers had been especially savvy on voice search, but people from all age groups did use voice assistants at some point in time.
Top strategies for voice search optimization
People often use voice searches in their daily routine. With the increasing usage of digital assistants, there is a need for voice search optimization as well. Let’s look at ways you can optimize your website and its content for voice search.
At its core, working on optimizing for voice search does have similarities to SEO. But the focus has been refined. Here are some key factors that you can work on:
#1. Understand Customer Types and General Device Behavior
Voice searches also have algorithms that make use of location, as well as other data points. All of this is done for understanding the search context and marketers need to constantly work on a better understanding of consumer behavior.
Real-time data of consumer activity will help you understand the way people make use of voice search and the kind of devices they use.
#2. Conversational Keywords Need Your Focus
How people search using voice search:
- Longtail keywords
- Conversational tone
Let me explain this.
Generally, when people search for something, they use three to four words. On the other hand, voice searches are significantly longer than normal.
For instance…
When you type, you use computer language – “Best Chinese Restaurant”.
But when you speak, you will be using a conversational tone like “what is the best Chinese restaurant near my location with no waiting time”, which makes both searches different.
In fact, according to Google, 70% of voice searches are in a natural or conversational tone.
While there is a low chance that keywords that are short will be completely disappearing, there is a possibility that the relevance will be reduced.
This is going to be mainly true as voice searches consider natural conversational phrases. Therefore, it will be vital that you work on the questions that need a complete answer so you can get more traffic to your website.
As people are switching towards voice search, the value of longtail keywords is increasing.
As a result, don’t stick with 2 or 3 word keywords like “Chinese Restaurant” or “Best Chinese Restaurant“. Use longtail keywords in your content as follows:
Also, I would suggest not re-creating all your content but inserting longtail keywords (no keyword stuffing) with a conversational tone.
#3. Content Creation Based on Personas
Relevance, context, and brevity will be essential when you optimize content for voice searches. But here will be a slight difference from general SEO strategies, and you can pay special attention to the following points:
- Create very detailed answers for common questions.
- Answer simple questions concisely and with clarity.
- Create compelling, rich content that will answer common questions that users have.
A lot of websites have been already adapting the following strategy, and you can follow it as well:
- Create a web page or content with the headline that includes these common questions.
- Just after your headline, offer a precise answer, and this can also be a definition for the specific question.
- Make use of the page to offer detailed and relevant information on the topic.
One important thing that you need to understand with this strategy is making use of a robust webpage will ultimately lead to a higher ranking on Google. The simple and short information that you offer on the page gets optimized for voice searches and can even be featured as a snippet.
#4. Context and Schema Markup Should Go Together
Google understands languages by making use of schemas, and this can be the best way for adding detailed information to your website. You will also be ready for answering the questions.
It’s not a piece of cake to appear in a voice search because it shows only one result. You have to be well acquainted with schema markup.
In this regard, a schema markup has been introduced, which is “Speakable” (beta version). Currently, it is only available for news-related articles, exclusively servicing the US for now.
Sooner or later, it will be available for all.
#5. FAQ’s Have to Be a Part of Pages
When a voice searcher asks questions, usually there are words starting with “What”, “Who”, “When”, “How”, “Where”, and “Why”.
Hence, it is vital to add a FAQ section to your content.
People search for answers that should be fulfilling an immediate need.
Hence, make sure that there is an FAQ section included in your content. The answers should also be in a conversational tone that appeals to voice searches.
Even search queries starting with “What”, “Who”, “When”, “How”, “Where”, and “Why” are increasing.
Google says, 2.68% of voice search results are an FAQ.
When I searched on “Bing Cortana” about “will a non-fault accident effect my insurance”, I got results as follow.
Surely, the answer was pulled from a FAQ page.
Now, if you do not know which type of questions people are asking, then you can check out websites like Quora, Answer The Public, and Forums.
#6. Optimization of Voice Search Moving Ahead
A lot of people that have grown up in the era where technology wasn’t able to talk back still have a stigma attached while they speak to their phones.
Whereas the younger generation doesn’t have this hesitation, and when they make use of voice search, they feel more tech-savvy. Voice search remains on the rise, and not including it in your SEO strategy will be a foolish act. So, make sure that you include some of the tips mentioned above and move ahead with improving your business growth.
Case Study – Voice Search: What is the best way to peel pomegranate?
After searching, “what is the best way to peel Pomegranate?” I found bbcgoodfood.com in the first place.
Not like traditional search results, Google has read all points by saying, “Here’s information from BBC Good Food:“
Now, the question is, what factors helped this webpage rank higher on Google?
First of all, BBC Good Food is a high domain rating website. According to Ahrefs, it has 86 DR.
Secondly, this page has 170 inbound links from authoritative websites.
Last, they have created their content point to point, which means nothing except “how to peel Pomegranate.”
Hence, this is how this page ranked on Google for voice search.
Guest author: Ravi is the co-founder of XplorMedia, a digital marketing company and head editor at WebHostingReviewsX. He has been making a living exclusively online since 2015. During his free time, he is a reader and game lover. Ravi writes on topics like Digital Marketing, AI, Web Hosting and other technical niches.
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