In a day and age where 58% of consumers use voice searches to find local establishments, your website must be perfectly optimized for it.
Not only that but if your target audience is between the ages of 25 and 49, over 60% of them use voice-enabled devices at least once per day.
seoClarity did a study in 2017 and found that over 20%of featured snippets are triggered by these top 25 words below…
If your website isn’t optimized for SEO voice search, you could be missing out on hundreds of opportunities to expand your business.
Optimize for Local Searches
Voice search is often location-focused, with 28% of consumers often calling the company they find while searching.
With local searches being performed more and more, you must include keywords to describe the neighborhood around your location, landmarks around your business location, or even the titles of local institutions that are relevant to your business.
We even recommend using “near me” in your title tags, meta description, internal links, and anchor text.
Optimize Your Content for Quick Answers
Have you ever noticed the “People also ask” feature in Google’s search results? It looks like this:
As you can see, the little snippet displayed after the question gives a concise answer to a simple question. You should formulate the text on your site to match the keywords and phrases, and answer the query in a sentence or two.
The reason this is such a strong ranking factor is that these phrases are widely searched for. By answering this question in a satisfactory way, you have a better chance of gaining the attention of those who search by text input and voice.
A few other good ways to optimize for the “People also ask” section include:
Bulleted lists with concise information
Blog posts with keyword-optimized articles
Schema markup (more information below)
You can learn more about optimizing for Google’s Featured Snippets, here.
Treat Google My Business the Same as Text Search
When people search for your business, they’re looking for important information, such as name, address, phone number, website, hours of operation, menus or lists of services, and user reviews and ratings. Google My Business is the most important tool to relay this information, and it’s essential that you do it correctly for the best results.
Your Google My Business listing can also provide you with the information on how customers are finding your business, i.e, what keywords they input in Google search to find your listing.
Knowing what keywords your audience is using to find you can help in targeting your customers in a better way and ultimately boosting your sales.
Build Pages That Use FAQs
When voice searchers ask a question, they typically begin it with “Who,” “What,” “Where,” “When,” “Why,” and “How;” they’re looking for answers that fulfill an immediate need.
Since 81% of shoppers research the product they are looking for online before making a purchase, making the information your audience is researching readily available is key.
Mobile search changed how consumers are looking for information, so companies had to change how they market themselves. With voice searches becoming a regular part of mobile searching, it is time again to change how we market to accommodate the new technology.
Provide Context With Schema
Schema markup, also known as structured data, is the language that search engines use to speak to your website, using a unique semantic vocabulary. TopSpot SEM describes it best...
This structured data informs the search engine precisely what your content is trying to convey on your web page while converting unstructured data into structured data.
It also helps your website rank better for multiple types of content including:
Articles
Local businesses
Restaurants
Events
Products
Frequently asked questions (FAQ)
And more…
To create a Schema Markup for your website, you can use this website and follow the instructions! If you need more information, Neil Patel has an excellent blog that you can read here.
Have You Optimized for Voice Search yet?
There are other ways to optimize for voice search on Google, and the field is always evolving. As voice search becomes more popular, tactics will change. For now, these five tips should be a great start!
If you’re ever in need of more SEO or optimization help, feel free to reach out to a Zoek expert today and we’d be happy to help you figure out the best strategy for your small business.
Kellyann Doyle is a Content Marketing Writer at Zoek, an SEO, Web Design, and Digital Marketing Agency that assists small and medium-sized businesses with their online footprint. She earned her Bachelor's Degree in 2013 from the University of Houston with a Major in Communications and a Minor in Marketing and has been working in the Digital Marketing world ever since. When not working, you can find Kellyann trying new recipes, enjoying a good nap, or watching Friends for the 500th time.
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