Are you a business owner or digital marketer in 2021? Then chances are you already know about the importance of search engine optimization (SEO). It’s an effective way of climbing to the top of relevant search engine results pages and driving increased organic website visitors.
Also, it helps you build credibility, trust, and reputation in the long run. When correctly implemented, an SEO strategy can even help generate qualified leads and drive conversion on your website.
Nevertheless, the SEO landscape is constantly evolving. From the rise of new search platforms/devices to the emergence of algorithm updates – it’s crucial to stay abreast of the latest developments in the world of SEO. One such trend that every SEO company is watching out for is the growing popularity of voice search.
Why Voice Search Deserves Your Attention
Let’s say you’re in your kitchen, making pizza dough from scratch. Just as you put your hands into the flour, you get confused about how much water you’re supposed to add. Unless you have a cookbook right in front, you’re likely going to resort to asking your smart speaker for help.
As you yell “Alexa, how do I make pizza dough from scratch”, your smartphone will return various recipes for pizza dough. If you’re lucky, you’ll even find the instructions as a featured snippet on top of the search results. The best part is that you won’t even have to touch your phone with your flour-ridden hands during the entire search.
The convenience of voice search is what makes it so popular among modern internet and smartphone users. It isn’t surprising that the number of digital voice assistants in use across the globe will climb to 8.4 billion by 2023.
Also, 58% of consumers in the U.S. use voice search on their smartphones to look for a local business. 74% of them even use voice search for local businesses at least once a week. As a marketer or website owner, it’s essential for you to leverage this new trend in search. Otherwise, you’ll end up missing out on a huge chunk of web traffic and revenue.
In the following sections, we’ll discuss a few effective strategies to optimize your website for voice search.
1. Renew Your Keyword Research
Whether you’re working with an SEO company or optimizing your website on your own, you’d know that keywords are the foundation of every high-performing SEO strategy. However, voice search queries are different from traditional text-based search queries.
Let’s go back to the pizza dough example we’ve used earlier. If you were to type and search the same information on Google, you’d use a shorter, more formal search query, such as “pizza dough recipe”.
Identify Questions & Long-Tail Keywords
The biggest difference between text and voice search queries is that the latter is longer and conversational in nature. Also, they’re often framed as questions. So, the first step of optimizing your website for voice search is to identify the most common questions your target audience will ask. You can use an online tool, like AnswerThePublic, for this purpose.
If you’ve listed the core terms that define your business, you could also run a Google search and check the “People also ask” section. Additionally, check the “Searches related to” section at the bottom of search engine results pages (SERPs) to identify relevant long-tail keywords associated with the search term.
3. Keep an Eye on “Near Me” Queries
It’s worth mentioning here that people often use voice search to look for information while they’re on the move. This, in turn, means many voice searches are disguised as “near me” queries. So, if you’re running a local business, you must ensure that your website ranks for relevant local search queries as well.
2. Reinvent Your Content Strategy
The next step is to revamp your website content and optimize it for voice search queries. The simplest way of doing this is to add an FAQs page to your website that answers your target audience’s common questions. You could also include FAQ sections in blog posts and product pages that target keyword-specific questions.
You could also use various questions as subheadings in your content. Apart from ranking for voice search queries, this will also help your website reach the featured snippets section in Google search results.
Next, keep an eye on the tone of your content and make sure it’s conversational. This will make it easier for your content to match the context of voice search queries. You should also integrate relevant long-tail keywords into your content while avoiding keyword stuffing.
3. Claim Your Google My Business Listing
If you’re running a local business, creating and optimizing your Google My Business listing is indispensable to your voice search optimization strategy. It’ll help your website/brand rank for local search queries.
Once you sign-up for your Google My Business page, make sure you provide a well-written business description. Don’t forget to optimize it using relevant local keywords. Complete your profile by mentioning additional details, such as a business address, phone number, hours, etc.
Don’t forget to choose relevant categories that best describe your business. Regularly update your listing to ensure that the information is accurate.
Amp Up Your Website’s Voice Search Game
Voice search optimization involves the same principles as traditional SEO. The main difference lies in the type of keywords you’ll be targeting. Apart from optimizing your website for long-tail and question-based search queries, creating a stellar Google My Business page is also crucial for your voice search optimization strategy.
Interesting Related Article: “How to Turn on Voice Search in Google Chrome“