With the increase in online users, businesses have started shifting their focus from traditional marketing to online marketing. Among various online marketing methods, SEO or search engine optimization plays a significant role. This is the marketing method in which you perform various optimization tactics in order to get higher rankings on SERP (search engine results page).

Voice search is a crucial part of SEO services. Over time, we have a significant rise in the number of voice searches. This states that more users have started making voice search queries. According to statistics, 41% of adults use voice search at least once per day. If you are a website owner who wants to improve site’s search visibility, this post is for you. Here we have talked about what is voice search and how you can optimize your website for it.

What is Voice Search?

Voice search is a method of search which allows the user to search using spoken voice commands instead of typing. It is gaining popularity nowadays because voice search is a lot easier than making search queries via typing.

Google wants to provide the best experience to its users. To provide the best experience with voice search, Google keeps on introducing new algorithms. These updates are introduced to help users get the relevant information. Here are some important voice search statistics:

• One-in-six Americans (16%) own a voice activated smart-speaker.
• 72% of people who own voice-activated speakers say that their devices are used as part of their daily routines.
• Mobile voice-related searches are 3X more likely to be local-based than text-related searches.
• 41% of people who own a voice-activated speaker say it feels like talking to a friend or another person.
• 2 in 5 adults use voice search once daily.

From the above statistics, we can say that more users have started using voice searches. This is when the importance of voice search optimization comes in. With the rising number of voice searches, it is important that you properly optimize your website for voice searches.

How To Optimize Your Website For Voice Search?

As we have seen, the number of voice searches has seen a significant rise. Hence, if your website is not optimized for voice search, you are missing out on so much. Optimizing the website for voice search and for typing both are different. That’s because what we type is not always what we speak. Here we have shared some important points focusing on optimizing the website for voice search:

Convert queries into questions

One of the best and effective strategies you can use to improve your site’s voice search effectiveness is by converting queries into questions. When doing voice search, people will use different phrases and queries. The best thing you can do to improve your site’s voice search effectiveness is converting queries into questions. For example, rather than using a keyword like “plumber”, you should include a question like “where can I find a plumber near me?” This way, your website will get improved rankings when your audience performs the voice search.

Use long-tail keywords

Another important strategy you need to perform when optimizing a website for voice search is using long-tail keywords. No matter whether you are optimizing your website for typing search or for voice search, using long-tail keywords is the best way to get higher search rankings. You need to find out actionable keywords and put them in your site’s schema markup. Schema markup is nothing but a code that tells search engines about what actually your website is all about. Make sure you use long-tail keywords (rather than short or medium tail keywords) in the code.

The reason why long-tail keywords are more effective than short and medium tail keywords is because they are more specific and more targeted. Not just in schema markup, you need to use long-tail keywords in your website content as well. When you do that, it will increase the chances of getting higher rankings when someone performs voice search around your business.

Conversational keywords

When optimizing your website for voice search, this is another crucial thing you need to take into consideration. With voice search optimization, conversational keywords are more impactful than normal keywords. That’s because when users perform voice searches, they will use conversational tone. On the other hand, when users perform typing search, the search query would be different.

Create persona-based content

To get the best out of online marketing strategy, content plays the important role. In the digital marketing field, content is considered as king. It doesn’t matter how many conversational and long-tail keywords you use in your website, if the content quality is not good, it’s not worth it. Your content piece must answer all the queries and doubts of your audience. Rather than giving one-word or short answers to various queries, it is advisable to create detailed answers. This way, your users will get the detailed information for queries they are searching for.

By following the proper structure, you can get a higher position on voice search results. First, you need to create content with a headline that asks a common question. After the headline, you need to provide a concise answer to that question. Then, you can go ahead and provide a detailed answer to that question.

Mobile-friendliness

This is another critical thing when it comes to optimizing the website for voice search. If your site is not designed for mobile devices, you are missing out on so much. When the website is not mobile-friendly, the visitors will have a bad experience and it will result in an increased bounce rate. Voice searches and mobile-friendliness go hand in hand. Users make voice searches with their mobile devices. Hence, not optimizing for mobile is a potential loss. You can use a tool by Google which tells whether the website is mobile-friendly or not.

Improve your site loading time

Site’s loading speed is Google’s important ranking factor. Improving your site’s loading time can also be a good way to optimize for voice search. The site’s loading time has a direct impact on the user experience. Studies show that voice results load faster than the average webpage. A study by Backlinko showed that voice search results load 52% faster than the average webpage. In a nutshell, improving the website’s web page loading time can increase the chances of claiming a voice search result.

Final Thoughts

With the increase in voice searches, it’s important that you optimize your website for voice searches. To help you out, here we have shared some effective strategies to optimize your website for voice search.