“Hey Google, what’s the best restaurant around my area?”
Questions such as these are voice aided. The AI makes queries based on your input voice. This speech recognition technology has proven itself to be a big boon for businesses.
As time progresses, we have seen a rapid rise in the voice search market on search engines. Voice search has been considered by many to be the future of online research. Ever since people started using their voice for search engine queries, it has only been growing popular.
If you aren’t familiar with the term voice search SEO even as a business owner, it is time to step up your game. It’s time to make sure the voice queries related to your business show up as the #1.
Key Takeaways
- Voice recognition technology allows the devices to recognize human voices and translate them into text.
- Optimizing your content so that voice search displays to users is called voice search optimization.
- Make sure your site is well-optimized for mobile phones so that your results are preferred by voice search results whenever a query is made through it.
- Use long tail keywords with natural language in your content
- Make use of an FAQ section in your content so it can be displayed more easily.
What is Voice Search?
In simple words, if you search for something in search engines through your voice, it is called a voice search. Voice searches do not require any writing to be done and eliminate a layer of effort.
Voice recognization technology allows the devices to recognize human voices and translate spoken words into text.
The process of optimizing your pages for voice searches is known as voice search optimization. A voice search optimization strategy takes into account the way people conduct verbal searches. Having your pages read out loud by a voice search device is possible with voice search optimization.
Users can get results to their queries through smartphones, speakers, and tablets. They can even use voice recognition technology to play their music, book appointments and so much more.
Some AI-powered voice search bots are:
So, you are free to ask questions to Google without needing to type anything at all.
Increasing Popularity of Voice Search
What does voice search offer that makes it popular among users? Voice Search eliminates the need for manual work. You don’t need to type at all. It has grown even rapidly due to the advancements in artificial intelligence and speech recognition technology.
Getting results to your questions in a matter of few seconds by just speaking into a device has made things so much convenient. This is why smart speakers and virtual assistants are slowly dominating the internet market.
According to a survey, more than 70% of Americans prefer using voice search. With people slowly shifting into voice search technology, businesses have been paying increasing attention to optimizing their websites to voice search.
It has become essential for your business to be well-optimized for voice searches.
How does Voice Search Work?
Voice search works through a technology known as Natural Language Processing (NLP). When a user makes a query through their voice, the speech is recorded by the devices. The recorded speech is then converted into text and processed by NLP algorithms. If there are any grammatical errors, the AI tries to fix them too.
Once the voice search query is processed, the result is then shown/voiced to the user. These results are presented to the user in a conversational format.
Since you’re using a voice search, the AI may use your location services to provide a better-geotargeted result.
The Importance of Voice Search
We’ll need to know why voice search is growing in popularity. This will enlighten businesses in understanding its advantages for proper utilization.
- Convenience is the primary reason why people prefer using voice search. Voice search provides a hands-free way for users to browse the web. Why bother typing when you can just talk?
- Voice search-powered AIs talk to users in real-time. Voice search allows users to use natural language and phrasing providing a better user-friendly experience. These AIs can also provide personalized results to users based on their preferences and history.
- Voice search is useful for people with disabilities or who have difficulty typing. With voice-guided queries, they can easily access information online.
- For businesses, voice search can be a great way for targeting mobile users. Mobile users make a bulk of voice search and search engine searches.
7 Best Voice Search Practices in SEO
- Create long-tail keywords with natural language
If we see the trends of the number of keywords in a single search engine query, it has mostly been short and generic. However, with voice search, users use longer phrases as it’s mostly conversational.
Long-tail keywords are more specific and relevant for users. Optimizing longer specific keywords help improve a site’s visibility in the search engines. Make sure to include long-tail keywords in your content titles and meta descriptions to reach a wider audience.“Good pizza”
The following is an example of a short-tail keyword that has found much success in SEO. These small keywords keep things simple and short.
The above query however is a long tail keyword. Since you’re having a conversation with an AI, long tail keywords are often used. It is essential to optimize your content both ways for maximum traffic. - Optimize for Local SEO
A significant portion of your voice search queries are for finding local information. These include businesses, restaurants, services, and office addresses. Voice searches are mostly meant for relevant queries and include keywords such as “near me”.
Near Me is a geo-location-based keyword that shows you the local areas around you. If you have a business and want to appear in local search results, you’ll have to optimize your site accordingly.
Local SEO provides more accurate information results when conducting a voice search. A well-optimized local SEO site appears more frequently on voice search results with high traffic. - Featured Snippets
Featured snippets are short blocks of answers to specific questions that appear at the top of the search result pages. They feature a short answer to a certain keyword query that provides quick and relevant answers to the users.
Featured snippets are often read aloud by a virtual assistant when conducting a voice search optimization strategy. The snippets become a great way to improve a website’s traffic and visibility across the search engine.
The best practice for featured snippets is to have clear concise answers to specific questions on the websites. By using header tags, structured data, well-rounded information, and lists, your snippet will surely end up in voice search results. - Optimize for Mobile
We know that mobile and local searches make up more than 60% of search engine queries. Making sure your site is well optimized for mobile is key for succeeding in voice search rankings. A well-optimized mobile site ensures that users can easily access and navigate through your site. Mobile-friendly sites are more likely to appear in voice search results through the phone.
The idea is very simple. Make sure your site is well-optimized for mobile phones so that your results are preferred by voice search results whenever a query is made through mobile phones. - Use Structured Data
Structured data are lines of code that are written in a certain order or structure. It helps search engine bots understand the page better. It provides information on the content such as titles, descriptions, and rich media that give a better user experience.
Using structured data enhances internet visibility, making sure bots are able to index your site. Structured data work with voice search too. Virtual Assistants prioritize the display of structured data as it’s neater and easier to understand for users. - Create content that is more question-answer based
Voice search prefers giving answers to your queries through featured snippets. FAQ-style questions are similar to featured snippets, providing direct and relevant answers.
Your content should focus more on answering questions that go “why”, “who”, “what”, and “how” as they are conversational questions. Users ask questions starting with these during voice searches. Making sure you have FAQs answering such related questions will give you better visibility.
Conversational tones with questions such as “why” help voice search engines understand the content on a website better. It provides a better result that way. If your content is better and frequently updated, search engines can establish the site as a reputable source of information.
Consider keeping questions in your content most likely to be asked. - Analyzing your reports and analytics
Tracking the growth metrics of your site is essential for the success of your voice search optimization. Without proper analysis and reports for your efforts, it becomes pointless. Make sure you keep track of voice search impressions, clicks, conversion, and bounce rates. This will help you optimize your site accordingly to provide the best user experience.
Voice search is a rapidly growing technology with users increasing each day. It is transforming the way people search for information online. As virtual assistants get more capable, we can see how useful voice search becomes.
It is clear that businesses that decide to invest in optimizing their content for voice search will perform better in the long run.
