Voice search has rapidly become an essential part of the digital landscape. With the rise of smart speakers, virtual assistants, and voice-enabled devices like Amazon's Alexa, voice search has become an increasingly popular way for people to search for information online.
As a result, optimizing your website for voice search can help you increase your website's visibility, drive more traffic, and ultimately increase your conversions. Let's take a look at some of the statistics:
Approximately 70% of consumers prefer voice search over typing (Oberlo).
55% of users use voice search to ask questions on a smartphone (Perfiient).
40% of adults use voice search at least once daily (Branded3).
33.2 million U.S. consumers are expected to shop with voice search in 2022 alone (Oberlo).
How Does Voice Search Work?
Voice search refers to using spoken language to conduct a search query. For example, instead of typing a question into a search engine, users can speak their query using a voice-enabled device.
For example, suppose you want to find the nearest grocery store near you. Rather than turning to Google or another search engine and manually typing in "grocery stores near me," I instead turn to my smart device and ask, "Where is the nearest grocery store?"
Virtual assistants like Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa, and Apple's Siri are among the most popular voice-enabled devices. When a user asks a question using their voice, the device processes the query and returns relevant search results.
The above process is much like a typical search engine. However, the algorithm for voice search works a little differently. It is a highly complex process, but at the most basic level, it relies on natural language processing (NLP), speech recognition, ranking and presentation, and query matching.
How Can You Optimize Your Website for Voice Search
Here are just a few ways you can utilize your website to increase search visibility:
Utilize Conversational Keywords with High Search Intent.
One of the primary differences between voice and text-based search is that people use natural language when speaking compared to typing. In other words, voice searches are more conversational, and people use long-tail keywords.
For example, July 4th events in Austin, TX.
The above example is a long-tail keyword because it includes five or more words. Long-tail keywords are not only prominently used in voice search, but they typically have higher conversion rates.
Conversational keywords include questions or question keywords, such as” why, when, what, how, and where.” For example, “What are the best summer events in San Antonio.”
Answer Frequently Asked Questions
Another way to optimize your website for voice search is to create content that answers frequently asked questions (FAQs). Implementing a FAQ page is a great way to increase search visibility because questions, as mentioned above, are one of the ways users utilize voice search.
When people use voice search to ask a question, they typically seek a direct answer. Therefore, you increase your chances of appearing in voice search results by providing precise and concise solutions to frequently asked questions.
Optimize for Local Search
Voice search is increasingly popular for local search queries. Think of how many times you may have attached "near me" at the end of your sentence. You may have even searched "digital marketing agency near me" to bring up ATD!
Therefore, if you have a physical business location, optimizing your website for local search is essential. Optimizing your website for local search includes:
Creating local listings.
Claiming your Google My Business listing.
Using local keywords in your content.
Simply including content that has directional information or outright speaks to the area in which your business is located will go a long way in ensuring search engines pick up on your business information.
How Can Our Team Help
Voice search is rapidly changing the way people search for information online. That includes finding out your business through SEO. Our team can help optimize your website to ensure SEO best practices, including SEO.
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