10 Strategies to Optimize for Voice Search

Lisa Trevelyan ,

The digital marketing world is evolving yet again and requiring the style in which we present our information to evolve too. Over the last few years, voice search has become increasingly popular all around the world – and for a good reason. Voice search technology gives people a quicker and easier way to find the information they are looking for.

Voice recognition devices like Google Assistant, Alexa, and Echo are giving users answers to their daily questions without ever having to type a thing. To stay ahead of the competition and get your brand in front of the right eyes at the right time, now more than ever, you need to optimize your website for the conversational nature of voice search.

What is Voice Search Optimization (VSO)?

For those not familiar with voice search optimization (VSO), the first thing you need to know is that it’s different from regular search engine optimization (SEO). With voice search technology, a user speaks directly into a device, and Google (or another search engine) finds the most relevant answers on the web. It doesn’t require a keyboard-based search and is, therefore, faster than typing.

Voice search is more convenient for users but is giving marketers a new challenge to adjust to. Keep reading for 10 strategies to optimize for voice search!

  1. Use Conversational Titles 

Voice searches are shorter and more conversational. The title on your site should be written in a way that allows people to naturally ask their questions. You can achieve this by using simple, short titles with subconscious trigger words like “where,” “how,” “what,” and “why.”

  1. Optimize for Conversational Queries 

Direct questions are unlike keyboard searches because people are asking them in their natural language. The key to optimizing for conversational queries is writing content that sounds like someone is talking to you rather than giving information. This includes using “you” statements and creating lengthy question-based content.

Google’s algorithm acknowledges conversational qualities to retrieve the most relevant information possible. A website that’s not optimized for these could find it very difficult to rank well on search engines simply because it won’t show up for naturally-spoken questions. 

  1. Do Your Voice-Specific Keyword Research

As is the case with optimizing for keywords, it’s important to dive deeper into your keyword research and do so specifically for voice searches. For question-based keywords, you want to think about the questions that your content provides answers to and include those as keywords as well. Rather than thinking about broad terms like “marketing,” think of more specific and conversational questions such as, “Which marketing agency has the best return on investment?”

There are resources available that can be used to help with this process: you can hire a digital marketing firm and leave it to the professionals, or you can do it yourself using tools such as Answer the Public and BuzzSumo’s Content Discover. They both provide a list of keywords related to a specific topic. Answer the Public gives a list of questions, while Buzzsumo provides a list of the most shared content on social media under certain keywords.

However you choose to perform your research, you mustn’t skip over this pivotal step.

  1. Use Long-Tail Keywords 

Long-tail keywords are very specific strings of commonly-searched terms. “What is the best digital marketing agency in Miami” is longer and more specific than just “digital marketing agency.” It’s important to have long-tail keywords associated with every different type of content on your website because Google will prioritize it more. Longer queries can be broken up into smaller ones to return better results if on the first page.

  1. Optimize Content for Voice Interactions 

While long-tail keywords are important for ranking, it’s necessary to make sure the words are pronounced correctly if you want to be found on voice platforms. Keywords that contain multiple syllables especially need to be enunciated.

In addition, Google’s voice search algorithm not only looks for specific keywords that are related to the query but also tries to understand the meaning of the content. It does this by analyzing the words that appear throughout the page as well as how they relate to each other. For example, if someone is asking, “what time does Starbucks open?” Google bots will look for the words “Starbucks” and “time” on your page. It will assess the context of these words and their proximity to each other so it can determine if the information it has collected from your site answers the inquiry.

For Google and other search engines like Bing and Ask.com, the number of voice searches is increasing exponentially. Because of this, you need to ensure your website gives users a better experience when they’re asking their questions aloud as opposed to typing them in on the web. Part of optimizing for voice interactions includes ensuring that your content is conversational and your website is mobile-friendly.

  1. Mobile Friendly

More than 50% of voice searches are performed on smartphones. To give people the best experience possible, not only does your website have to be easy to read and navigate on a desktop, but it also needs to be just as good on a small screen device like a phone or tablet.

Google’s voice bot receives inquiries from mobile devices and, therefore, returns answers to users on the same mobile devices. This information needs to be adaptive for whatever mobile device it is being viewed on. Since Google is heavily involved with voice search, it only makes sense that mobile-friendliness plays a big role in how well a website ranks.

  1. Local Search 

People are looking for local businesses more often than they’re trying to find information on the web, which makes it especially important to include your business’s location for voice search retrieval. Over the last two years, voice searches for a “restaurant near me” have increased by over 150%.

Not only will people be searching with their location in mind, but Google’s algorithm prioritizes results that are tailored to the user’s area or city. If your information isn’t literally in the right place at the right time, Google won’t be able to provide your content as an option to local inquiries, no matter how hard it tries. Ensure your content contains the words “near me” in it, as well as the city you are in.

  1. Featured Snippets

Snippets are usually around 30-word answers, a lot of which are pulled from the first and FAQ pages of a website. Google picks its snippets based on the first page it finds that matches the query. You can help Google choose your company’s information by putting key content at the top of your first page and by having a short FAQ section with the most commonly asked questions and answers.

If you have a question answered on your FAQ section but not anywhere else on the website, Google won’t be able to find it.

If you have a great snippet, it can be what Google audibly responds with to a voice search. It’s important to have a complete sentence in a naturally-spoken tone so Google knows it’s the information being searched for and it can immediately speak it back to the user as a result.

  1. Content Length

While Google’s voice search may have started with questions being the only thing that it looked at to answer a query, it now looks through your entire page.

Voice bots do this with the help of AI. This means that content length does matter for your website ranking on voice search, making it important to have detailed answers and internal links.

  1. Site Speed

Google has introduced a speed update that uses site speed as a ranking factor. The faster your website loads, the better results you will have. This means that having a great hosting service with minimal scripts and images is very important.

It takes around 3 seconds for Google bots to crawl your site for mobile devices. The more optimized your website is, the faster it will be for Google’s bot, and in return, you will rank higher. Not only does site speed play a role in your website’s rankings, but it also affects the user experience. 

The Takeaway

Voice search is more relevant than ever and is looking to increase over the foreseeable future. With the shift towards people using their phones and devices more, for your site to be successful, your content must be accessible through voice search channels. This means creating shorter, conversational sentences with lots of information that can be easily accessed through mobile devices.

Having an organized website will go a long way to help increase your voice search rankings and organic results as well. The easier it is for your customers to find what they want on your site, the better you’ll do with both of these types of searches.

About Lisa | Spherical Strategies Content Creator & Copywriter

Lisa works with Spherical Strategies as a content creator and copywriter. She brings a deep understanding of human motivation to her mastery of writing by utilizing her education in market psychology. She has worked over the past several years as a private contractor, providing industry-specific content and editing for companies of all sizes.

Outside of her work as a content creator, Lisa is passionate about caring for her young son and is only slightly obsessed with gardening.

 

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