In a world that’s always advancing, aligning your SEO strategies with voice search trends is a necessity. Voice searches analyse the content that uses natural language and responds directly to specific user inquiries.
Optimizing content in this way can boost its chances of being seen on SERPs (search engine results pages) and make it a featured snippet. This means it will be shown as concise direct answers to commonly searched questions and appear prominently on SERPs.
Keyword Research
Ensuring your website or blog is optimized for voice search is vital for online success, as most voice searches only provide users with the top three results. While rules may change over time, following best practices will allow you to take full advantage of this new technology and increase web visibility.
To start, conducting keyword research will help you identify what phrases are most often used by your target audience. Once you have your list, sort them into “what,” “where,” “how,” “why” and “when.” Doing this helps you understand user intent better and predict how many future clicks your brand will receive from each category.
Long-tail keywords are more helpful for search engines when trying to comprehend user intent and deliver relevant results. Additionally, optimizing local content can improve the likelihood of being featured at the top of other search result formats like rich answer boxes or featured snippets.
On-Page Optimization
Your keyword-focused campaigns will need to evolve if you want to attract voice search users—since they don’t use them. Understanding how people phrase their questions should be top priority when creating content that’s optimized for voice searches.
Your website or blog needs to directly answer questions asked in an easy-to-read manner in order to rank higher in internet searches. Optimize it by making sure frequently asked queries such as who, what, where, why and when are answered within the text itself.
Voice search relies heavily on local optimization — meaning it needs to know the user’s location. So, make sure your Google My Business listing is current and up-to-date, and encourage customers to leave positive reviews. Using schema markup to display informative elements like publication dates or star ratings also makes you more likely to be featured in rich answer boxes or featured snippets.
Schema Markup
When search engines understand what your pages are about, they can include them in their SERPs — this leads to increased organic traffic and visibility as featured snippets on voice searches.
The most common types of schemas that exist include articles, products, recipes, local businesses, events and reviews. When creating content related to these areas, make sure the appropriate schema is included and implemented correctly within the text. It’s important to note that Google prioritizes certain types over others so staying up-to-date with trends is essential in this practice.
Once schema markup has been integrated, use web analytics to measure its impact. Observe the fluctuations in CTR and organic traffic, as well as user engagement metrics such as time spent on site; any jump is solid proof that schema markup is at work! Also take note of variation in search rankings between pages with and without schema markup.
Local SEO
Thanks to voice search technology, customers can find businesses near them easier than ever before. That’s why having a solid local SEO strategy is crucial for brands.
To optimize Google Business Profile, verify that address and phone numbers are accurate and consistent. Including customer reviews will also boost voice searches and help increase ranking for voice searches.
Content should be optimized to serve natural language queries by using long-tail keywords and conversational language to improve searchability. Long-tail keywords typically have lower competition levels, enabling more visitors to find your site directly. Plus, they could lead Google to feature your snippet in their SERP — an information box that appears above organic search results.
Simultaneously, your website must load swiftly. Fast-loading sites are given priority by Google’s algorithms — which can impact voice searches’ speed in returning results. To hasten website speed for voice searches or reduce them altogether, try minimizing images on each page, compressing files or decreasing response time.