Voice search optimization is the speech recognition technology of search engines like Google and Bing. It is growing rapidly compared to other methods. In 2018, Google and Bing announced that 50% of all mobile searches will be done by voice search. Let’s run quick math, as we know 70% of all searches are done by mobile devices, which simply means 35% of all searches are done by voice search today if not more. 35% is a huge number, especially when you have very little competition. That brings up how important voice search optimization is.
Add the smart home technology onto this number too. It’s getting into every home now. “Alexa! Find me the nearest pizza place.” “Google, how to cook spaghetti!” does not sound weird anymore, right? They also need a well-done voice optimization to be displayed or read to the searcher.
How to make my website voice search optimized?
First, we would tell you to go get a voice search capable device and start using that and see how you use them other than home controls like “turn the lights on” “set the temperature to 75F” “guard my home” etc. See what you are using the voice search for and how you ask your questions. Soon you will recognize that this is an “answer engine” than a “search engine” now.
So now we know that voice optimization is related to but different than search engine optimization. To be honest, it is the same until some certain point, but voice search optimization requires more work on top of your search engine optimization practices. Let’s get into these requirements.
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Featured Snippet (also known as position zero or Answer box) for Voice Search Optimization
The featured snippet is the box you see when you run a search on google above all other results. That gives the searcher the option of getting their answer without visiting the website but it also has the link to the website to see the full article, blog, or whatever the page is for. This result is also the one used for voice-activated searches.
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Voice Search SEO Language
The best way to be displayed on the voice search results is to know that your content needs to be conversational and answers a question of how, when, where, who, etc… To find out how people ask questions in your industry. AnswerthePublic.com or Google’s “related searches” box might be very helpful.
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How to Optimize Your Content for Voice Search?
Your content needs to be conversational. Having short, concise answers is key. Try using less than 30 words for each answer just like FAQ pages.
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Use Structured Data / Schema Mark Up for Voice Search SEO
This is the metadata telling search engines who are you, what is your content about, how it’s structured, which is the title, what is the contact information, etc. Using structured data also allows you to write longer content to have better on-page SEO and still be in the voice search results.
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Mobile Device Compatibility for Voice Search Optimization
A lot of these searches are done by mobile devices and Google is also a mobile-first search engine so not having a mobile-friendly website makes all the work you’ve done for SEO or Voice SEO worthless.
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SSL Certificate for Better Voice Search Result
Did you know 90% of the search results are HTTPS websites? It means that Google won’t display you in the search results or the voice search results unless there is someone else have the same or even similar content. Especially, if you have an eCommerce website.
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Page Speed for Voice Search SEO
We all hate slow-loading websites and google knows this. Page speed is a big ranking factor for Google. If your page is taking more than 4 seconds to load, forget about being ranked high, especially, on mobile devices. Check your page speed at GTMetrix.com or Google Developer Tool. Below 80% is not acceptable.
Voice Search Optimization for Local Businesses
Google provides a beautiful tool to help you rank better locally in the SERPs (Search Engine Result Pages) and SEVRs (Search Engine Voice Results) called Google My Business.
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How to Set Up Google My Business?
- Claim Your business
- Get your name, address, and phone number
- Select your category and make sure it’s right
- Describe what you do
- Add working hours
- Get 5 or more good ratings to be displayed higher in the local search results
- And maybe add some photos.
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Local Voice Search Optimization Planning
- Make research about the frequently asked questions in your industry.
- Check your competitors in the area
- Create content never done before or better than your competitor‘s
- Use long-tail keywords with the location name
- Create an individual landing page for every location your business has
Voice Search Optimization on National Scale
Voice optimization for nationally scaled businesses is way harder. If needed to explain simply,
- You need to rank in the top 10 results. This part needs lots of work.
- You need to have voice-recognizable content.
- You need a bunch of backlinks.
We recommend starting simple, from a page with a low-competition and a long-tail keyword.
Downsides of Voice Search
As we mentioned before this is more than a search system, it is an answering system. It is more like a dictated answer to the person without the options. If the technology won’t improve itself before searchers figure out that they are not receiving the options and some kind of artificial intelligence decides for them, the technology may not go further.
Privacy is an issue as well. Remember when people were thinking (may still be real) that these devices connected to big brother and they are being watched and listened to… Hey, most of us still covering our webcams right? new amazon devices are also coming with a camera cover and mute options.
Voice ads can be more disturbing than visual ads.
Feature of Voice Searches
In my opinion, we will see voice search taking over the market in a few years. Being ready for the big change and starting in advance when everything changes are the smart way because the possible gain is many times bigger than the possible risk. There is no risk because anything you’ve done for your SEO-related improvements pays you back either in the short or long run. So my advice to you is to start no later than now…
How to Get My Voice Search Optimization Done?
You can always make your search engine optimization, but we do not recommend that if you are not an expert. We always recommend working with an SEO Specialist because the overall cost of a mistake may be very costly. You may get penalized, even blacklisted by Google.
You can always [CONTACT US] for further assistance or check the OPM Packages we offer.