Do you know that millions of users are using voice search to discover businesses online? Thanks to the rising popularity of digital assistants and smart speakers, there’s an estimated 1 billion voice searches performed every month! This is a great opportunity to get your website or business discovered. Here’s more about voice search and how you can optimize your website for the same.
Voice Search – What Does it Mean?
For those who don’t know, voice search is a feature on smartphones, tablets, and PCs, with which users speak to their devices to search for a local business or a topic. For instance, if you are driving and want to grab a bite, just say “Where can I get pizza”, and your device will pull a list of pizza shops close to your current location.
Unlike text search, voice search is usually conversational. When you ask a question, the digital assistant will transcribe your voice into text, and provide you information gathered from search engines such as Google. Popular digital assistants include Google’s own Google Assistant, Siri by Apple, and Cortana by Microsoft.
How to Optimize for Voice Search?
Here’s some tips from the digital marketing experts to get your website discovered with voice search:
- Update the Google My Business Listing:
Since voice search is more frequently used to search local businesses, make sure your Google My Business (GMB) listing is up to date. Add your business details such as name, address, phone number, working hours, website URL, and anything relevant. This allows digital assistants to display your business in the search results. Besides Google, update your details on Bing and Yelp as well.
- Optimize Content with Long Tail Keywords:
As mentioned earlier, voice search queries are usually longer and in conversational form. This is why you must optimize your web content with the use of long tail keywords. You can find long tail keywords using the AnswerThePublic tool, by simply entering your target keyword and getting a list of suggested questions.
- Use Structured Data:
Since semantic search is implemented on search platforms, using structured data for your site matters. Create high quality content that helps search engines understand it more clearly. Incorporating structured data benefits websites when it comes to voice search.
- Improve Page Speed:
When you ask questions on a particular topic, digital assistants respond by reading out featured snippets displayed in SERPs. Page Speed is important for voice search. When pages load faster, it helps your website to rank higher, meaning there’s a better chance for your content to be used as a voice search result.
Since mobile devices and smart speakers are frequently used as search tools, it is important for businesses to devise a voice search strategy that improves brand awareness. Talk to a digital marketing expert if you need assistance.