Do you find yourself talking to Siri more and more? Sometimes it's just easier to rattle off your question to Siri than to open up a browser and type. And she's highly accessible: You can talk to her through your watch, through your phone, and you can even talk to her friend Alexa on your other smart-enabled devices. In fact, 53 percent of users perform voice search to ask questions on a smartphone and 39.4 percent operate a voice assistant at least once per month.
Voice search continues to gain momentum, and it must be part of brands’ 2023 strategies. Here are ideas on how to optimize for voice search.
Know Your Customer Type and Their Device Behavior
Gone are the days of only making a website for desktop. Now you need a website optimized for tablets, mobile, wearable devices, and more. Just as you have to change your strategy for your written and visual content, you have to change your strategy for voice search optimization. Why? Because 41 percent of adults and 55 percent of teens are using voice search daily.
Voice search is clearly hot right now:
- 20 percent of all Google mobile queries are voice searches.
- 25 percent of all Windows 10 desktop searches are done via voice speak.
- 6/10 people say voice-activated devices are essential.
- Searching with your voice is 3.7x faster than typing.
The Short and the Long of It…Focus on Long-Tail Keywords
Think of how you verbally speak to others. Your natural phrases to others are more similar to long-tail keywords than they are to short-tail keywords. It doesn’t mean short tail is going away, it just means to put more of a focus on conversational long-tail keywords. Think of how you phrase your question when asking Siri or Alexa for the answer. This blog breaks down long-tail vs. short-tail keywords and why you need to be well-versed in both.
Get Personal with Relatable Content
When creating content for your brand, you are used to creating it for different platforms and creating different types of content. When keeping in mind voice search optimization, you need to take your content a step further. Focus on creating detailed answers to common questions and answering questions clearly and concisely. Create blogs, videos, podcasts, and other content with those questions in mind.
Become a Question Master
FAQ pages are a great way to catch your audience's questions (and use those long tail keywords), especially when the answers might not warrant an individual blog post or landing page themselves. They are a great way to optimize for voice search. As you may have guessed, “Who,” “What,” “Where,” “When,” “Why,” and “How” are the most common ways a question to Siri begins. Building out a FAQ page that answers each of these queries will help you get started.
When answering the question, answer it in a conversational tone to appeal to voice search. Additionally, an effective FAQ page educates, informs, and guides the viewer.
Keep It Local
Most voice searches are “near me” questions. Whether you are searching for restaurants near you, concerts near you, or things to do near you, you are looking for places near you locally. These places are only going to appear in search results if your content is optimized for local. One of the best ways to use this to your advantage is by leveraging your Google Business Profile.
A Google Business Profile lets Google know your business is located at a particular place. When Google is asked to display similar businesses in an area, you could rank for that query. Fill out your Google Business Profile to the best of your ability and update it weekly with posts and content.
Get Speedy With It
Loading speed of a voice search result is 3.8x faster than an average website. Voice search results take .54 seconds compared to 2.10 seconds for a webpage result. By having a quick load time, you improve your conversion rate, build trust, and create brand loyalty. Additionally, pages that take longer than 3 seconds to load lose 53 percent of its users.
You can evaluate your site’s current speed by using Google’s PageSpeed Insights. For a deep dive into page speed, read our blog on page speed and why it matters.
Most people feel tech-savvy when using voice search. It’s faster and easier, and it's no longer just a trend. By focusing on improving your voice search, you will reach more customers, improve your customer experience, drive traffic to your website and brand, and see ROI on your SEO. Search by voice is predicted to continue growing, so why not be ahead of the game by starting early on your voice search strategy?
