Voice search first emerged onto the digital marketing scene when Google introduced it as a new feature in 2011. Voice search was largely considered a novelty in the early stages, as voice recognition technology was inconsistent and unreliable.
As the technology has evolved and improved in recent years, it’s been pushed into the spotlight by digital marketing as a powerful tool that aligns with user behaviors on mobile devices.
What is voice search?
Voice search relies on voice recognition technology (VRT) embedded into smart devices, be they smartphones or smart speakers. The VRT translates speech to text, which is then passed into the search engine to conduct a search query and deliver relevant results.
Voice search vs. traditional search
Traditional search is entered by the user into a text entry box, and on average uses 1-3 words to perform the search query. As users have transitioned to using voice search with mobile devices over the last few years, search users have used increasingly natural speech patterns to perform those searches. Natural speech search queries leverage longer-tailed keywords and average more than seven words in length [1].
Voice search more effective at revealing search user’s intent
The tendency for voice search to be much longer than traditional search comes from the fact that users are speaking out loud. Users feel more comfortable framing their inquiries as fully formed questions than the shorthand they might rely on when typing.
Google and other search engines have found that these long-tailed keyword rich inquiries are much more effective at revealing the intent of the user, and changes have been made to algorithms so that voice search results are much more accurate and relevant.
Google prioritized voice search and user intent in an effort to improve the search user experience in the bidirectional encoder representations from transformers (BERT) algorithm update. This update leverages machine learning and natural language processing to better understand voice search queries and deliver more relevant results.
Why is it important to optimize content for voice search?
Voice search isn’t a fad. Data shows that more than 1 billion voice searches take place monthly across 4.2 billion voice assistant devices currently estimated to be in use[2].
While businesses have been leveraging longer-tail keywords increasingly over the last few years, refining and optimizing content around voice search are crucial tactics that must be incorporated into modern marketing practices. Doing so will allow businesses to evolve their content management strategies to match user behaviors.
Risks of unoptimized content
Unoptimized content is at risk of being considered irrelevant by search engine algorithms in coming years, resulting in your online content falling off search engine result pages (SERPs) as your competitors increasingly incorporate voice search optimization into their strategies.
RELATED: Consumers and Voice Search Study[themify_icon icon=”ti-new-window” link=”https://upcity.com/experts/consumers-and-voice-search-study/” icon_color=”#D37728″]
Best practices for voice search SEO
Optimizing content for voice search is an intentional shift in how content creators go about creating online content across web assets, especially their company’s website and across the various levels of the inbound sales funnel. It requires content creators to make some very specific changes in their writing and adopt a number of best practices.
Use headers that answer specific questions
You might have noticed significant changes in the structure of Google’s SERP pages after several of the most recent Google algorithm updates. Of relevance to the recent prioritization of voice search is that question-based voice searches will result in top results in the Featured Snippet and several other sections that are direct answers to your voice search query.
In order to achieve such results, content creators should include high-level headers in their content that are followed by the definition of terms relevant to the query they are trying to answer. This will be a signal when your page is crawled by search engines that your content is relevant to that topic or question and should be prioritized in results.
Leverage targeted question-based keywords and long-tail keywords, but keep it conversational
The content itself should be rich with targeted long-tail keywords and crafted to include keywords relevant to specific questions your writers have set out to answer. Crafting content to be informational and educational in this way resonates with the current Google algorithm paradigm and allows your content to be easily prioritized in search results.
Not only should the content be informative and engaging, it’s important that it’s also conversational. Remember that search users are now “speaking” to their devices and are creating inquiries that read to Google as less formal.
You want to create content to match the tone and intent of the user’s search, so using much simpler language, directly addressing the audience with inclusive language such as “we” and “you,” Casual doesn’t mean poor quality however, so ensure you’re still writing high quality content.
Use Schema markup to maximize both on-page SEO and voice search optimization
Implementing schema markup means using HTML markup that’s invisible to the user. This markup provides search indexing bots with detailed information about your business—such as hours, address, contact information, reviews, and other vital information—that helps your content appear to be more contextually relevant to search queries.
Mistakes to avoid
Navigating the intricacies of SEO is already challenging. As Google and other search engines’ algorithms increasingly prioritize voice search, businesses must continue to evolve their content marketing tactics to meet those changes. While we’ve enumerated a number of best practices, it’s important for marketing experts to be aware of the pitfalls they might have to navigate in the process.
Don’t neglect your Google Business Profile Listing
Your Google business profile and your listings on other major search engines are probably the most powerful tools you can leverage beyond your web pages in boosting your visibility for voice search queries. Remember that voice search users are most often seeking information about your business such as location, hours, and ways to contact you.
Search engine business listings that are properly optimized with this information will signal to search engines that your business is engaged and should be prioritized in voice search results over businesses that have neglected their listings.
Keep answers brief and direct to maximize the user experience
Your content should play to the audience, so when creating voice-optimized content designed to rank in voice search queries, remember that search users are looking for fast answers. Keep your text short and free of complex jargon.
Voice search queries prioritize short, quickly digestible, content-focused text blocks. By meeting the expectations of voice search users, your page will increase in rankings as more users engage with your optimized content.
Don’t forget to lean into local SEO
Voice search is one of the most leveraged local search tactics by users—in fact, mobile searches account for three times more local searches than text search [same number as above in voice vs. traditional]. Most often, locally focused searches are being used to find directions for a local business or to call those businesses directly from search.
Remember to keep your site design mobile adaptive and keep it fast
Website performance and mobile adaptivity are not new tactics for boosting your SEO performance. However, the last few years has seen a shift in consumer activity that has elevated voice search for digital marketing professionals.
This shift can be characterized by the fact that more than half of all global search traffic originates from mobile devices, with 27% of those users relying on voice search. This behavior isn’t confined to smartphones and tablets, as consumers have gravitated towards an increasing reliance on smart home technologies such as smart speakers.
Prioritizing web page speed and mobile adaptivity are now even more important for the success of your digital marketing strategies as they apply to your web assets [3]. Google has shifted site prioritization in rankings in response to this shift in response to evolving user behaviors.
Algorithm updates in the last few years have already prioritized sites built around responsive web design, mobile-friendly standards, and maximized load times for website pages in search results.
The growing reliance upon mobile devices and smart home devices to execute voice search queries means more recent updates have added voice search optimization into the mix. This has made it a necessary focus for business owners in order to maximize their rankings and outperform competitors in search engine results.
Examples of voice-search optimized content
The most effective way to illustrate how businesses are leveraging voice search optimization in their content effectively is to share results from a specific voice search query. Using an Apple iPhone, the voice search, “What is an example of long tail keywords?” the following results were delivered by Google:
Tools and resources for keyword research to optimize content for voice search
The growing popularity of voice activated search has resulted in service providers launching a plethora of software as a service (SaaS) solutions and tools.
The Voice SEO website provides a comprehensive list of powerful solutions to help businesses improve their SEO. Their resources include several tools that are designed specifically to help marketing content creators in crafting and optimizing their content with voice search prioritized [4].
A few highlights from the list include:
- Google has two tools that are extremely helpful in voice search optimization
- Keyword Planner provides direct insight into trending Google searches, essential to succeed with voice search optimization for content giving Google’s prioritization of voice search as a ranking factor for search results.
- Google Correlate is another tool that pulls insight directly from Google to let users know which keywords are being combined most often for specific searches, helping users better understand and target long-tail keyword phrases.
- ClearScope helps users discover top performing content relative to supplied keywords and delivers results that include relevant terms, readability, and content type.
- Power Suggest Pro provides users insight into relevant keywords and long-tail keyword phrases being used by search users.
- Wordstream is a powerful paid marketing research tool, but the Keyword Niche Finder function provides insight into search behaviors of your target audience you might not be able to find using other tools.
Get optimized for voice search and position your brand’s content for success
There is a paradigm shift in motion as service providers and search engine developers increasingly leverage AI-driven machine learning tools to improve the overall user experience.
If your content marketing plan doesn’t include a plan for voice search optimization, explore the UpCity Marketplace to connect with an SEO service provider that can help position your content marketing strategy to take full advantage of consumers increasingly relying on voice search queries on search engine platforms.
Voice search optimization Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How do I optimize content for Alexa, Siri, Google Assistant, Cortana or other specific AI-driven search assistants?
Using natural language and long-tail keywords in conjunction with SEO strategies will ensure your content appears in voice search results performed using AI-driven search assistants like Siri and Alexa, as they rely on the same VRT embedded into each platform’s proprietary hardware or search algorithms.
How long should content optimized for voice search be?
When writing content optimized for voice search, paragraphs should answer specific questions, use simple terms, avoid industry-specific jargon, and be no longer than 25-30 words to maximize your SERP performance.
Will optimizing my content for voice search impact SEO?
Search engines prioritizing long-tail keywords over traditional search tactics that focus on traditionally simpler keywords has forced many marketing experts to restructure their SEO practices around voice search.
Sources