Why Optimize Your Website For Voice Search
Voice search is quickly becoming the norm rather than just a passing trend. Around 40% of internet users in the U.S. use voice assistants regularly, mainly through their smartphones and smart speakers. In fact, the number of smart speakers in the U.S. is projected to exceed 200 million by 2023.
For businesses, voice search presents a significant opportunity to attract organic search traffic, regardless of their industry. By adapting to voice search, you can reach a new audience of users who rely on their devices to discover businesses and make purchases.
Moreover, optimizing for voice search can also enhance your website’s overall SEO and ranking. Search engines favor websites that are optimized for voice search, potentially boosting your site’s authority and increasing its visibility on search engine results pages. This could even elevate your site’s ranking enough to appear in voice search results.
How Is Voice Search Different From Text Search?
Voice search is different from text search because it’s more like having a conversation with your device. Instead of typing short phrases like “spa near me,” people ask questions in a more natural way, like “What are some good spas near me?”
Search engines like Google have gotten better at understanding these longer, conversational queries thanks to updates like Hummingbird and BERT. These updates focus on understanding what users really mean when they ask questions, rather than just looking at individual keywords.
To rank well in voice search, you need to create content that answers these kinds of questions effectively. But don’t worry, you don’t have to completely change your SEO strategy. There are some simple techniques you can use to optimize for voice search, which we’ll talk about next.
Impact Of Voice Search
I believe voice search will shake up how we do SEO.
Instead of short keywords, people are using longer, more natural phrases when they search. So, we’re seeing more full sentences in our reports. This means we need to focus on answering questions directly, like for local searches or FAQs.
Voice search isn’t just changing how we search; it’s also making things easier for people with disabilities. Now, they can get information more easily without relying on visuals.
Voice Search Best Practices
- Focus on question-based and longer keywords: Instead of short phrases, aim for longer, more conversational keywords that match how people ask questions.
- Use casual language in your content: Make your content sound natural and conversational, like you’re talking to a friend.
- Pay attention to local SEO: Make sure your website is optimized for local searches so people nearby can find you easily.
- Try to get featured in Google snippets: These are the quick answers that appear at the top of search results. Aim to answer common questions in your content to increase your chances of being featured.
- Use schema markup: This helps search engines understand your content better and can improve your chances of appearing in relevant searches.
- Optimize for mobile: Make sure your website looks good and works well on mobile devices, as many voice searches come from smartphones.
- Keep your site fast: A slow website can turn people away. Make sure your site loads quickly to provide a better user experience.
Future With Voice Search
The future of voice search looks bright, as technology keeps getting better. It’s becoming a bigger part of our daily lives, changing how we interact with the digital world.
As people use voice search more, industries will change to keep up. AI is driving a lot of these changes, making voice search more personalized and helpful.
For marketers like us, it’s important to create content that works well with voice search. But it’s tricky because it’s hard to track how well it’s working.
Even though voice search is shaking things up, what makes a website good hasn’t really changed. People still want sites that are easy to use and give them the info they need.
So, good voice search optimization is just good SEO. Stick to the same basic rules: give people the answers they’re looking for quickly and accurately.
