Voice Search Optimization for Boosting Your SEO Ranking

Based on the latest data, there are approximately 200 million voice assistant users in the US alone. Therefore, users are more likely to ask a voice assistant on a smartphone, laptop, or smart speaker for a quick and easy answer. Understanding and applying voice search optimization techniques can make content more recognizable and usable in voice search results.

This article covers optimizing for voice search and why it is crucial for audience engagement.

What is the Voice Search Optimization?

More extended questions and complex wording differ from typical keyword phrases for content promotion. With the increasing popularity of voice-activated devices, voice search optimization has become crucial for websites to remain competitive online. Therefore, it requires a distinct approach.

When using voice search assistants such as Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant, voice search optimization involves optimizing your website, content, and branding to improve your site's visibility and ranking in voice search results. Critical aspects of voice search optimization include using natural language in content, adapting to voice queries, and incorporating voice keywords.

The unique aspect of voice search is that users interact with voice assistants in the same way they would in a regular conversation. Therefore, instead of using the keyphrase 'weather New York', it is better to consider 'What is the weather like in New York today?'

Queries are becoming increasingly complex, highlighting the importance of extracting the essence of the message rather than just key phrases to provide a relevant answer. This is where voice search optimization diverges from traditional SEO strategies.

Overall, the primary objective of voice search optimization is to ensure that your website is easily discoverable, understandable, and navigable even when using voice commands instead of on-screen interfaces for search.

Developing online projects and digital marketing requires staying on top of trends. That's why optimizing for voice search is more important than ever. How can we improve online projects in 2024?

The Importance of Voice Search Optimization

Smartphones, smart speakers, and virtual assistants have become integral to many people's daily lives. Voice search offers a convenient and hands-free way to access information, mainly when typing is impractical or inconvenient.

It's reasonable to say that voice search optimization is part of voice search marketing. This marketing branch involves optimizing websites and content for voice search, including creating podcasts and other audio materials. Voice search marketing is used successfully by technology companies and FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) companies that offer products frequently and regularly purchased by the public.

It is predicted that there will be 8 billion voice-controlled digital assistants by 2024. Additionally, over 20% of search queries in the Google app are performed using voice search. These statistics demonstrate the importance of voice search optimization.

Many people in all markets recognize the value of voice assistants in their daily lives. According to Barilla's Voice Consumer Index survey, 50% of respondents agree that voice search is faster than traditional text-based search methods. Additionally, they believe that voice search allows them to find information more efficiently.

Users worldwide will continue to use and promote voice search because it provides the necessary information quickly. Voice assistants scan entire pages in seconds to find the perfect answer - and your website could be the key to solving a user's request.

Benefits of Voice Search Optimization

From a business perspective, activities to optimize for voice search involve implementing additional strategies, improving content, and tracking user behavior. Voice search optimization benefits online projects that have already implemented it.

• Increased Visibility. By optimizing for voice search, you can increase your chances of appearing in voice search results, increasing your visibility to potential customers or visitors.
• Improved user experience. By providing accurate and valuable information through voice search, you can more effectively meet user intent and increase user satisfaction with your website.
• Increased engagement. When users receive relevant and valuable information through voice search, they are more likely to engage with your site, research your products or services, and become customers or brand advocates.
• Competitive Advantage. By staying ahead of the curve and optimizing your search for new trends, you can set your site apart from your competitors, attract more organic traffic, and become a leader in your niche.

For example, optimizing for voice search makes online shopping more accessible to users who prefer to work hands-free or have difficulty typing. By optimizing for voice search, online retailers can attract a wider audience and provide a seamless shopping experience for users on the go.

9 Tips to Optimize Website for Voice Search

Traditional keywords may be less crucial in voice search since Google crawls the entire page and displays the most relevant section in the search results.

Voice assistants rely entirely on Google's algorithms and can ignore important sections if they are not focused on the essence of the query. Voice search optimization allows for more concise and understandable information structuring for perception through the voice interface.

When creating content, it's essential to consider its relevance and how it can be adapted to fit voice search queries. This will increase the visibility of the resource in voice search engines.

Use keyphrases to optimize for voice search

Keyphrases for voice search optimization differ from typical ones in length, complexity, and the presence of question words. When selecting phrases, consider the following features of the keys:

1. Key phrases should be written in natural language that people use in conversation. Avoid using jargon or technical terms that people may not be familiar with.
2. Long-tail keywords are specific multi-word phrases more likely to be used in voice searches. For instance, instead of 'pizza in NYC,' you might use the long-tail keyword 'best pizza in New York City.'
3. Using questions is an effective method to increase traffic. This is because people often use voice search and begin their main query with words like 'who', 'where', and 'when'. For instance, instead of using the keyword pizza in NYC, you could ask, 'Where is the best pizza in New York?'

Analyze search results for key voice phrases

Additional elements on search engine results pages can provide valuable insights. If you optimize for voice search, it is crucial to focus on snippets, the 'people also ask' section and local results. These features can enhance site visibility and improve user experience.

Firstly, study the snippets. Snippets are brief text responses to search queries at the top of search engine results pages. They are often generated from your website content, so ensuring your content is well-written and informative is crucial. By optimizing for voice search with snippets in mind, you can increase the likelihood of your site appearing in voice search results.

"People also ask" is a section that presents questions related to the user's initial query. These questions can offer valuable insight into what users are searching for and assist in identifying new keywords to target. Additional or more specific topic questions from this section can demonstrate how to expand your content.

Search engines often consider the user's location and provide locally relevant results. Incorporating location-specific keywords into your site content can improve your chances of appearing in local search results. Below, we explain how to do this.

Optimize content

Traditional search methods still work, but you can change any text sections on your website pages to optimize them for voice search.

• Use natural language in your content. Write in a conversational tone instead of overusing keywords.
• Include commonly asked phrases in your content. Research popular voice queries to anticipate user questions.
• Keep sentences and paragraphs short, as lengthy text can be challenging for voice assistants to understand.
• To improve the clarity of your content, use clear headings and subheadings to break up information and help voice assistants understand context.
• Additionally, define any acronyms or industry terms the first time you use them.
• If possible, include audio or podcast versions of your content.
• To optimize metadata for voice recognition, use targeted keywords in titles and descriptions.
• It's important to check how your content sounds out loud and fix anything that sounds ambiguous or unclear in voiceover.
• When creating content, consider audience voice queries to answer common questions directly.

If there is no natural way to include voice search keywords elsewhere, create an FAQ section at the bottom of your site pages. This will increase the likelihood of providing users with a simple and concise answer to specific questions on a topic.

Track critical website traffic metrics to evaluate the effectiveness of optimized content.

Monitor the technical performance of the site

The technical aspect of a website is crucial for optimization, including voice search and usability. It is essential to monitor the site's performance and health regularly. When processing activities to optimize voice search, pay extra attention to several indicators.

The speed at which a page loads affects its search engine ranking. Voice assistants also prefer sites with fast response and loading times.

You can use the WebPagetest.org tool to determine how quickly your site will load in the US, UK, China, and New Zealand. An acceptable server response time is two seconds or less. Google aims for a response time of less than half a second.

Progressive rendering can be used to gradually display page content as it loads, allowing users to find information faster.

Responsive design and a quality mobile version can also improve a site's position in voice search. Work on the site to allow it to adapt to different device screen sizes. Google considers mobile user experience an essential factor in website ranking.

It's important to keep an eye on the performance of the server that hosts your site. Regular server security audit and software checks will help you avoid many performance issues.

Use Schema markup

Schema markup is a way of presenting a website's structure and important data to search engines.

It helps Google and other search engines provide more detailed results by adding markup code to your site's HTML. This code provides important contextual information about your content that is not visible from text alone, allowing voice assistants to understand better what the content is about.

The schema enables clear definition of entities, relationships, and hierarchies in a structured format that machines can easily parse and interpret. This structured representation of data improves voice search.

Consequently, search engines perceive your site as more relevant, increasing the likelihood of appearing in voice search results.

There are many different website markup providers that you can use to add structured data to your online resource. Some popular providers include Google's Structured Data Markup Helper, Schema.org, JSON-LD.org, and others. Choosing the right schema markup provider depends on your needs and experience level.

Develop within your local market

Many voice queries on mobile devices are location-based, such as 'pizza near me' or 'what dentists are open now in New York City.'

Local business listings on online maps improve visibility for voice assistants, which often access this local data. For example, users may ask the voice assistant to plot a route to a given location while driving.

Spread the word about your community, local events, and attractions to establish yourself as a reputable resource. Ask customers to leave reviews on sites like Google. Positive reviews boost your local online reputation.

Optimize your website, pages, and content around location-specific keywords like "name of city + service/product". Ensure your business is accurately represented on third-party sites such as Google, Yelp, Foursquare, etc. To ensure accurate and complete information, it is recommended to check your business profile on Google. This will optimize local SEO tactics for important location-related queries through voice assistants.

Adapt video content for voice search

Voice queries frequently require video content to answer certain questions, such as 'how to cook a turkey.' Video is a more effective way to address these types of queries than text.

To ensure that your videos appear in relevant voice search results, optimize your video SEO with titles, descriptions, and tags that target common conversational queries.

Video transcription is essential for voice search. Search engines may need text to understand what your video is about when someone searches for it by voice. Since a voice assistant can only target the video description and its captions, you can optimize the script for relevant keywords like you would optimize text on a website.

Videos that rank well on Google, YouTube, and other platforms are more likely to be identified by voice assistants that use search engine databases to find content.

Captivating video content makes users watch or listen to it longer without requiring additional actions - just voice commands.

Make your site multilingual

Supporting multiple languages enables businesses to expand into new international markets and attract customers. Personalizing content, keywords, and messages for each language and region helps to achieve relevance and build trust at the local level. This approach is practical for classic SEO and voice search, as Google can recognize approximately 120 languages.

When entering a query into the search engine, users can use their native or any other language as needed. However, speaking the native language makes voice search easier. Therefore, translating the site into other languages is crucial also for voice search optimization.

It's important to note that search engines consider language settings and user location. If your site is not multilingual, you may be losing visitors.

Improve SEO activities

Classic SEO includes strategies such as keyword research, content optimization, link building, and technical optimization. While voice search optimization focuses on specific aspects tailored to voice queries, classic SEO ensures that your website is fully optimized for all search queries, increasing overall visibility.

Although voice search has been gaining popularity, traditional text search queries still play an important role in how users find information online. Many aspects of classic SEO, such as mobile optimization, site speed, and structured data markup, are fundamental to voice search optimization.

Your website's ranking heavily influences voice search results. Usually, voice assistants select the top result for a search query, sometimes offering multiple options for users to consider, all taken from the top.

Try to periodically check the relevance of the voice queries and phrases you've used to create content. This will allow you to update the information you provide on the site and increase your chances of ranking.

Search engine algorithms are constantly evolving, and new technologies like voice search are continuously shaping user behavior. Proactively refining traditional SEO practices can help you adapt to emerging trends and maintain a competitive advantage.

Conclusion

Overall, voice search optimization provides numerous benefits, such as enhanced visibility, improved user experience, increased engagement, and a competitive advantage in the online environment. By prioritizing voice search optimization strategies, companies can strengthen their position among competitors, connect more effectively with their target audience, and ensure long-term business growth.

Remember that most traffic is still generated by text search, and classic SEO activities provide benefits that help with voice search - links, mentions, uptime, etc. This strengthens the position of the site as a whole.

Over time, voice search will take into account more of the factors of text SEO, but the experience gained earlier will not be lost.

By implementing the listed voice search website optimization tips, businesses can improve their chances of appearing in voice search results, increase website traffic, and reach a broader audience in the voice-dependent online space.