How to Optimize Your Site for Voice Search

Ready to improve your site's visibility to voice searchers?

With more than 50% of the US population using voice search features daily, it’s time to get serious about optimizing for voice search technology.

If you’ve optimized for traditional searches and want to dig into voice search SEO next, this piece is for you!

In this article, we’ll quickly review what voice search is, why you need a voice search strategy, and four simple things you can do to cater to voice search users.

What is voice search?

Performing a voice search means using your voice to ask Google or another search engine a question instead of typing it into the search bar.

For instance, if you’ve ever asked Siri to look up the nearest coffee shop, you’ve performed a voice search. Or, if you’ve ever asked Alexa to play a song, you’ve completed a voice search.

Here’s a list of common voice-enabled devices and search engines you may have used when performing voice search queries:

• Microsoft Cortana: Bing

• Google Home: Google

• Amazon Alexa/Echo: Bing

• iPhone/Siri: Safari

• Google Assistant: Google

• Android phones and devices: Google

  From a technical point of view, voice-enabled devices can recognize voices via Artificial Intelligence. They then place the query into a search engine, which results in one to three answers, depending on the device you use.

Why do I need a voice search strategy for my website?

Isn’t optimizing for text search enough?

Unfortunately, no.

Think about how often you use your voice to search for information. Whether it's asking your smart speaker for the weather forecast or using your phone to find the nearest gas station, voice search has become a convenient and popular way to find quick answers to our questions.

Source: Demandsage

And here’s the kicker: When people perform voice searches, they speak to their devices differently than they would when typing in a text query. Voice search users also have different reasons for their queries than when searching via text.

For instance, when using their voice, users tend to speak in a conversational tone, the way they speak in real life.

Much like how voice actors artfully modulate their speech to evoke emotions, the tone and natural flow of voice searches reveal user intent in a more profound manner. This means websites need to cater to conversational keywords and long-tail keywords to account for voice searches. We’ll cover this more in a bit.

Voice searchers also perform different queries. This may include:

• Asking local search questions

• Asking trivia-based questions

• Shopping for products

• Looking for instant answers to problems, such as how to fix a window or change a tire

  Now that we’re clear on the importance of optimizing for voice search, let’s take a look at four simple strategies you can employ to cater to potential customers using voice search.

#1. Optimize your site for mobile devices

Not only does Google take into account the mobile user experience when ranking web pages, but as of 2023, 27% of people use voice search on mobile devices. That’s why it’s critical to use responsive web design when optimizing your site.

By using a responsive template or applying responsive web design principles, you can make sure your site caters to all screens, sizes, and device types, boosting your chances of ranking for mobile searches.

It’s important to run a website performance audit to verify that your site loads quickly, is free of bugs and lagging issues, and applies Google’s E-E-A-T principle.

Take Tailor Brands as an example: Source: TailorBrands

As you can tell from the above image, Tailor Brands’ homepage is mobile-responsive and provides a seamless mobile experience.

People using mobile devices can thumb through its site quickly and easily due to its intuitive layout. There’s also no confusion about what Tailor Brands does, its expertise, or who it helps.

Its site also applies conversational keywords, such as “easily launch your business online” and “set up a professional business email address,” to cater to human language search terms.

Source: TailorBrands

#2. Ask your web developer to use structured data and schema markup

Another way to optimize your site for voice search is by using structured data and schema markup. Structured data helps search engines understand the context and meaning of your content, and schema markup provides additional information that can be displayed in rich snippets.

For example, if you have a page that compares different authentication protocols, such as SAML vs OAuth, you can use schema markup to indicate the type of content, the main entities, and the key differences between them. This can help your page rank better for voice queries that ask for SAML and OAuth comparisons or definitions.

If you’re not sure how to do this, ask your website developer for help.

#3. Make your content more accessible with text-to-speech software

Create content for voice searchers by expanding the type of assets you create for your website, such as audio and video content.

For instance, if you run a B2B ecommerce business and specialize in selling industrial power tools to manufacturing companies, then your target customers are probably curious about how your products work.

In this case, you could use Lovo.ai, one of the best text-to-speech software options available, to create quick explainer videos about how your metalworking fluids, lathes, and measuring tools work.

Source: Penntoolco

This adds a new dimension to your written content and satisfies voice searchers in need of quick answers to their problems.

What’s more, Gen Zers favor audio and video content over text, so if they’re a part of your target audience, using text-to-speech software can give you a convenient way to cater to their needs.

Video and audio formats are also invaluable if you sell complex products or services that are difficult to describe using text alone.

Here are some additional benefits of using text-to-speech software:

• Easily integrates into your content creation process — simply write your blog post and then turn it into an explainer video.

• Communicate to your audience in different languages (this is key if you serve a global audience).

• Improve customer support options by using AI voice software to quickly respond to customer questions. Apply this to phone lines or voice chatbots on your website.

• Create a variety of content formats to appeal to different learning styles.

#4. Add conversational keywords

When it comes to searching for information, text searchers and voice searchers have their own unique behaviors. Text searchers tend to use short and simple queries, while voice searchers prefer to use full phrases and ask questions.

For example, imagine someone looking for business development strategies. If they were using voice search, they might ask Siri or Google Assistant something like, "Hey Siri, please help me find the top business development strategy ideas for new startups."

On the other hand, if they were typing in their query, they’d likely use shorter phrases like "business development advice" or "startup business development".

To optimize your website for voice search, it's crucial to use conversational language in your content. This means incorporating phrases and words that real humans would use in a conversation.

To find conversational keywords, you can use tools like WebCEO's Keyword Suggestions and search popular forums like Quora and Reddit for related questions. You can also explore the "People Also Ask," and Google autocomplete suggestions for common questions.

Once you’ve identified conversational keywords, it's important to use them naturally and relevantly throughout your website. Hint: Product pages are a great spot for relevant keywords.

In addition to incorporating them in your on-page copy, be sure to also create content like blog posts, guides, and case studies. To go the extra mile, you can also integrate them in your FAQ section, Help Center or Knowledge Base, and informational videos.

By adapting your content to fit the conversational nature of voice search, you can improve your chances of ranking higher and connect with users who prefer voice over text search.

Wrap up

And there you have it.

Today we discussed the power of voice search, including what it is, why it matters, and four strategies to apply it.

Now, over to you.

Bookmark this article, share it with your content marketing team, and print it out for easy reference.

Then, begin strategizing ways to incorporate these tips.

Host a meeting and carve out time to put these insights into action. Then, watch as the voice searchers start rolling in.

For good measure, here’s a quick recap of today’s tips:

• 1. Optimize your site for mobile devices
• 2. Ask your web developer to use structured data and schema markup
• 3. Make your content more accessible with text-to-speech software
• 4. Add conversational keywords

  That’s it, for now, SEOs.

Here’s to your success!

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