Voice Search has become the go-to choice for most individuals who want to get search results in a much faster way. In fact, this innovative technology, which has shown results for more than a decade now, has become the default choice for doing searches. We’ll understand this with an example.
Let’s view a scenario: There was a boy who wanted to make a special dinner for his family. He has gone through all the instructions that will help him make the perfect dinner that he desires. But in the middle of the cooking, with his hands messed up, he forgets some of the important steps of the instructions. Well, this might have happened to anyone trying to cook a new dish. Going back to the story, in the heat of the moment, he didn’t want to mess up his phone and wanted a piece of quick information, so what he did was he took the help of the voice assistant. Using a voice assistant, he was able to gain the quick information he was looking for.
This scenario, which depicts the quick dispersal of information, is making people use voice search. This is the story of many people today wanting to get quick information from a recipe to some public listings. You might be surprised to know that 27% of the global online population is using voice search on mobile. Amazing right? So it becomes imperative for SEO to optimize websites for voice search also.
In this insightful blog post, you’ll get to learn about the impact of SEO on voice search. So, let’s get going!
What Exactly is a Voice Search?
A voice search is simply a voice command that you give to a virtual assistant to gain quick information about any topic. Siri, Alexa, Google Assistant, and a few more are some of the best tools that people are using nowadays.
The reason for the rapid rise in using voice commands to search is that it is quite fast and convenient. In a time where users expect everything to fall together, a snap voice search has helped them achieve a search result in a quick and smart way.
You can test the speed of the result fetched by a simple Google search or a voice command to a voice assistant. Not surprisingly, you will get a faster result with a voice assistant compared to a simple Google search. Typing, as you know, takes relatively more time as compared to speech, which improves the speed of search.
The other reason, among many, can be the wonderful fusion of mobile and Voice search. These days, mobile devices come with a smart voice assistant. For Example, mobile devices with Android are powered by Google Assistant to enable them for voice search. With the introduction of voice search to mobile devices, it has become even easier for users to give a voice command and get a quick answer.
Did you know?
Google tends to pull quick answers from the zero search results that appear at the top of the SERP. So? It is a cue for websites to optimize for voice search.
The Anatomy of a Voice Query
Did you know that voice queries are quite different from typed searches as they mimic natural human conversation? A typed search can be pretty concise, but a voice query is a whole sentence, and it often starts with a question. This shift clearly means that the long-tail keywords are pretty much the standard, and they can average four to six words as well.
Voice searches include a lot more context in their commands. Some of the phrases that are used in voice searches are “near me” or “right now.” So, to optimize for voice searches, you need to anticipate these complete questions while focusing on the conversational tone, along with providing definite answers.
Targeting the Voice Search for Featured Snippets
Featured Snippets, which are often called Position Zero, are the best outcome for voice search optimization. It’s because a voice assistant will read the answer directly from the box. So, getting a position in Featured Snippet is the quickest way to become an authoritative voice source. To reach this stage, your content needs to adopt the inverted pyramid approach. For this purpose, you can begin with a question and provide a concise answer immediately.
You can also optimize by identifying the keywords which already trigger a snippet or “People Also Ask” box. Alongside this, you can structure the content by using bulleted lists, numbered steps, and even tables. The reason behind this is that these formats are preferred a lot for snippet generation.
The Rise of AI Voice Search
Did you know that the landscape of voice search has completely changed with the integration of Large Language Models(LLMs) such as Google’s Gemini and OpenAI’s GPT? These models have gone beyond matching keywords to fully understand the context and intent of a spoken query, which will make the interaction feel a lot more human-like. Specifically for SEO, this goes a lot beyond the content and intent of a spoken query. So, the interaction feels a lot more like a human conversation. So, for SEO, it clearly means that the goal isn’t just to rank higher but to become the single authoritative source that AI tools will use to cite. So, that’s how the advent of AI tools has changed the voice search for the better.
5 Ways to Optimize Websites for Voice Search
With the increase in the usage of voice search by users, it becomes crucial for websites to cover this aspect as well. Below are some of the key factors that will help you optimize your website’s content that rank.
GBP: GBP stands for Google Business Profiles. It helps Businesses to create a profile that will be presented by Google when someone searches for their business’s product or service online. It is a 100% free tool provided by Google which can be leveraged by entrepreneurs and business owners. It aims to make the Business listed appear at the top of the Google search, helping the business and the users as well.
People usually prefer to go for a voice search while looking for a Business online. For Example, try searching with a voice command for “What are the best Chinese restaurants near me?” You will be presented with Business listings near you by Google. So it becomes crucial for websites to have a GBP profile to target not just for voice search but also for simple Google search.
Other benefits that come with creating a GBP are:
- Makes your Business more visible to your target audience.
- Provides a space to post your products or services.
- Build credibility with positive reviews on your GBP profile.
- Gives you a chance to engage with potential customers.
Note: A GBP contains the Name, Address, and Contact information of the Business. In addition to this, they contain the exact services provided by the Business.
Keyword Research: You will not be able to optimize your website for voice search if you don’t have an idea as to what keywords or phrases your users use in a voice search. You might agree, right? For your knowledge, let me tell you there are no such tools that help to figure this out.
But the solution here can be using keyword explorer tools that can give you an idea of what people are searching for. And then filter for keywords that contain Why, What, How? Because this expression, such as Why or What, comes under natural speech that users use while giving a voice command.
You can also try to optimize for keywords that you do not rank for with the help of keyword explorer tools. Find the keywords and try to inculcate the same in your existing blog posts or articles to target the voice search.
Note: Make sure that the Content of your website is short and free of grammatical errors. As you know, it will be hard for the user to comprehend, which can lead to a bounce from your hard-earned place.
Page Loading Speed: To tell you, the loading speed of the page indirectly influences the chance of getting content featured for a voice search query. Let’s get back to the basic principle of SEO ranking factors. If a website loads faster with a click of a user, its chances of getting featured on the first page of SERP increase. This is exactly what governs voice search optimization also. You need to have a website that loads fast, as it will be more likely to be presented as a result of the said voice search queries.
Backlinks: Backlinks are the links that you acquire from a third-party website that link back to your own. Google sees backlinks as a signal of trust from other websites. Websites with high-quality backlinks will be preferred by Google to show up on the first page of the SERP. Just as we discussed above, the ranking of a website on search engines plays a huge role in getting voice recognition. For your knowledge, backlinks not only help to get your content featured for a voice search but also:
- Brings credibility and authority to your website.
- Helps Users and Google discover new web pages on your website.
- Directs referral traffic from the third-party website to your own.
- Increases the Brand awareness of your product among the users.
Schema Markup: Schema markup is a code that helps Google understand the content of your website. By writing your content and adding schema markup to it, you increase your chance of featuring at the top of Google Search. Like featured snippets, a schema is also used in a similar way to provide a quick answer to a voice search query. But to tell you the truth, a schema is not used as much as a featured snippet is used. It is used for a specific situation only. For Example, let’s say you are looking for a recipe for Chicken tikka masala; here, the information gets drawn from the structured data that is Schema markup.
At last, it becomes crucial for websites to focus on the factors that Google looks for to rank websites. It can be like HTTPS, great content, links and so on.
Is it Really Worth Optimizing for Voice Search?
One of the shortcomings of Voice search optimization is that it usually doesn’t bring a good amount of traffic to your website. But again, not all websites are there on Search engines for commercial purposes, right? Voice search optimization helps websites in the following ways:
- You might have used a voice search and noticed that the voice assistants name the source from which it has pulled the content. This way, it helps to increase the brand awareness of your products or services to the masses.
- For simply achieving the goal of imparting knowledge to the users. For Example, websites of government organizations.
- Voice search helps people get aware of your brand in the local area. When you voice search for a place, you get results near your current location. This way, it can help encourage foot traffic to your physical stores.
Final Words!!
Learning about the ways in which voice search optimization can improve your digital marketing strategy can inspire you to implement it. It truly provides an opportunity for your product or service to be seen by the people who’ll buy it. Voice search technology at present is at an intermediate stage, but it shouldn’t give you an excuse to ignore it at all.
With the above-discussed strategies, websites can optimize their Content in a way that allows them to be matched up by Voice Search queries.
Are you looking for your website to become voice search optimized with the help of impactful SEO? If your answer is in the affirmative, SEO Toronto Experts can help you out. We’ve helped several websites optimize for voice search, and they’ve got amazing results. We’ll deliver similar or even better results for your brand’s website. Get in touch with us now, and let’s talk about your voice search optimization needs today.
