Even though voice search was not a very popular marketing strategy previously, it now is one of the most prevalent search methods. With more and more people switching to voice search options, it’s time to fix the issue for your website as well. So, if you are yet to include it in your SEO strategy, it’s time to introduce it right away. It all began with casual conversations leading to further interaction. So, people, today speak to their devices to get adequate responses.
Here are ways to optimize your website for voice search:
The voice search algorithms incorporate location and data to get a grasp of the search context. Similarly, marketers too need to gauge consumer behavior in depth. They need to leverage consumer insights and real-time data to know how people use voice search.
When optimizing your website for voice search, make your content conversational. Moreover, you need to eliminate those hard-to-read words and instead make them more familiar based on location and demographics. Voice recognition revolves around common and conversational language, making it easier for you to get the first-time consumer. That’s one of the voice search best practices integrating which can make your content more accessible to voice searches.
Schema markup is that code that helps search engines identify website content. Therefore, if you add schema markup to provide additional information about the content, you’re enhancing the chances of being visible on voice search results.
Compared to text searches, voice searches are more targeted. Therefore, the website content needs to have more long-tail keywords and fewer of those short keywords used traditionally. For instance, if you are selling homes, it should be like ‘luxury custom home builders’ instead of ‘home builders’. Being descriptive is why long-tail keywords grab the attention of customers more easily. Content for the website needs to be more specific and make sure you have several long-tail voice search keywords that are the most sought-after ones related to your business.
Imagine you are voice searching on a website; the questions you ask are more likely, to begin with, who, what, how, and why. That is because they need to get answers to their queries. To make sure your customers’ queries are answered, create an FAQ page and prepare the answers. That’s how you can effectively conduct voice search optimization for SEO and make it easier for voice search assistants to extract answers.
The patience level of users has decreased substantially! Therefore, faster page load times have become crucial for voice search. Because as much as users expect quick answers, search engines also prioritize speedy websites. So, make sure to optimize images and minimize complex code structures. This can significantly improve your website’s overall performance and lead to better rankings in voice search results.
Today’s customers use mobile phones for voice searches. Therefore, you need to create voice search strategies for local SEO and make sure they run well for mobile devices as well. With mobile devices, people can type local queries and voice search needs to give specific answers to them. At the same time, make sure that users can read the XML sitemaps so that they are more readable to websites and search engines.
Featured snippets, more commonly referred to as ‘position zero’ in search results, offer direct answers to search queries. That’s why those results are often used by voice assistants. Therefore, make it a point to structure your content with clear headings. Also, use concise answers to common questions, and maintain a Q&A format. Remember, the most relevant and brief answer to a query increases your chances of appearing in this section, which eventually helps your content appear in voice search results. Also, if needed, make use of a voice search optimization software for the best results.
Google’s My Business Listings provide relevant information about your business, making it easy for anyone to search, usually, such information is the location of your business, contact information, and the hours of operation. With increased tendencies of voice searches, you need to update the details easily.
Security is a must-have factor for all websites, and even more so for voice search in today’s day and age. Added to that, Google also favors secure sites. So, don’t forget to integrate SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) and HTTPS into your website. This helps encrypt data and signals to search engines that your site is safe and reliable, which happens to be a great ranking factor for voice search.
Important Note: If you want to stay reassured that your website content has been optimized for voice search, here are 4 tools that can help you perform a technical SEO checkup effectively.
Voice search has emerged as one of the major strategies of digital marketing and it is here to stay. Follow the abovementioned tips to make sure that your business is at the top of the segment, especially if you have a strong local presence to raise website traffic.
Amilia Brown is a seasoned business writer & strategist who simplifies complex business concepts and turn them into engaging narratives. As a trusted business writer, she delivers actionable insights with precision.