Strategies for Improving Voice Search Performance

In today’s world of smartphones, wearables, smart speakers and home components, and cars, individuals are searching for information in more ways than just typical typing and text. They are using their voices.

Voice search has gained traction in recent years and will only continue to increase in usage and frequency as we advance into 2024 and beyond. This can either be a huge opportunity for digital marketers or it can lead to losing out on customers. The key is in learning exactly how to optimize your website for voice search.

Before we get into voice search optimization strategies, lets first discuss what voice search is.

What is Voice Search?

Voice search is essentially a way for consumers to access search engines with a hands off approach.

Consumers speak their query to a smart device and the device searches the web for them to answer their question.

Here is how it works:

1. The individual says their query into a smart device.

2. Using automatic speech recognition system (ASR), the spoken words are transformed into digitalized text, filtering out background sounds and noises.

3. The device connects with an external search engine such as Google or Bing to search for the answer to the query.

4. The device then filters and refines the search, delivering either an answer or relevant information.

5. Over time, many voice searching components use machine learning to better understand speaker intent and speech patterns to deliver more relevant results.

From an SEO perspective, optimizing for voice search is different than optimizing for traditional type and text queries. If someone is looking for a hair stylist through text, they may type “hair stylist near me.” This is an extremely short snippet that would show a multitude of results.

If someone is using voice search, they may say, “Where is there a hair stylist in Livonia, Michigan?” Or they may say, “Can you locate a hair stylist in Livonia, Michigan?” When using voice search, people tend to take on more of a conversational tone using long-tail keywords as if they were speaking to a physical person. Also, many queries are said in the form of a question.

Optimizing for Voice Search

Since voice searches differ slightly from text queries, optimizing for them also differs slightly. As voice search is now and will continue to be a major player in how consumers search for information, it is important to develop a strategy on how to optimize your current practices to capture that audience.

Below are some tips you can use to do just that.

Research Keywords

As we stated, keywords in voice search are typically long-tail keywords. These keywords have lower search volumes and are very specific. They are also more conversational and often follow the form of a question. So, while your typical keyword may be “hair stylist,” a voice search keyword may be “where to find a hair stylist.”

There are many marketing platforms that can help you with this keyword research, but a great tool is just to use Google. When you type a query into Google, a drop down appears with search suggestions to narrow down the results. If you type in “voice search,” you receive suggestions like “what is voice search optimization,” “what is voice search technology,” etc. As you can see, these questions are much more specific than just “voice search” and reflect what someone speaking aloud might say.

After you search the query, there is also often a “People also ask” section under the first result that gives you frequently asked questions that people also searched for. Remember, keyword research is not something you do once and then let be. It is a continual process to refine, better, and then include them in your content.

Have a FAQ Page

While FAQ pages are typically for answering common questions from your website visitors, they are also a great way to add some long-tail keywords that are easily accessible and searchable to voice search. It is a good idea to add some FAQs at the end of the website pages you want to show up in search results, but this may be difficult depending on the page content. When in doubt, a page dedicated solely to frequently asked questions is always a good idea.

Use SEO Best Practices

Regardless of how consumers are searching, whether voice or traditional, technical SEO best practices are still necessary for search engines to search your website and content for the most relevant and user friendly information. This means optimizing meta tags, schema markup, proper heading hierarchy, page speed, and responsive design.

Also, be sure to keep your Google Business Profile relevant and up to date. Many voice searchers are searching for businesses near them that can fulfill their needs, so it is important to optimize and maintain your local SEO.

Optimize for Mobile

Most voice search queries are made on mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. Ensure your site is mobile-friendly with a responsive design that can accommodate different sized screens and devices.

Be Active Everywhere

Different devices use different search engines to locate voice search results—Apple’s Siri uses Bing, Amazon’s Alexa uses Bing, Search by Voice uses Google. To obtain the most out of your SEO and reach the most consumers, it is necessary to optimize for voice search on all search engines.

In Sum

Voice search is not a new concept. It has been around for over a decade, but as we continue to evolve in digitalization and machine learning, our digital assistants will only become more advanced, especially as it saves us time and effort in our everyday lives. To ensure your brand remains at the top of the market food chain, it is essential that you stay on top of your market strategy and the emerging trends like voice search.

Excellence in Digital Marketing Services

Connect with us here at Web Fox Marketing in Livonia for all your digital marketing needs. As web development and digital advertising professionals our goal is to implement effective strategies that will increase your digital presence and convert visitors into clients.

Do you have a mobile optimized website that is high converting? Are you looking to expand your virtual presence through effective content and social media marketing? We are the ideal choice. Call today and get started on the path to being “found” online in 2024!

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