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The use of voice search is increasing globally. In 2019, 2.45 billion voice assistant in the world. This number is expected to reach 8 billion he by the end of 2023, which is roughly equivalent to the world’s population. The rapid growth in the number of voice assistants globally has created a new ecosystem that businesses can leverage to reach and connect with their ideal customers.
And let’s not forget the staggering number of smartphone users, search engine users and IoT devices. We are already living in the age of voice search.
But what does that mean for your business? How can your business leverage voice search for growth?
Related: Why (and How) to Optimize Your Website for Voice Search
What is voice search?
Voice search allows users to search by voice rather than text. Major search engines such as Google and Bing allow users to perform search queries with voice commands. This feature is available across devices and is not limited to smartphones.
Search engines use automatic speech recognition (ASR) technology, which converts audio signals into text, and search engines find relevant search results from databases. The text is converted to speech and the most relevant results are verbally sent to the user. Essentially, every voice search backend has a text-based search query that the search engine uses to return.
why people are using it
In one study, 21% of people Use voice search every week53% according to another SEO Tribunal study Use voice search while drivingThis puts a premium on convenience as it’s much easier and safer to search by voice while driving.
Voice search is also easier than traditional search, making it ideal for using voice search when your hands are free. A study by the SEO Tribunal found that 61% of people use voice search when their hands or vision is already blocked, 30% find it faster, and 24% find it difficult to type on certain devices. , using voice search.
Speaking of faster results, 4.6 seconds The average search results page takes 8.8 seconds to load, while the voice search results page takes 8.8 seconds to load. Not only is it fast, it’s also very accurate.of Google voice search accuracy rate 95% for English. This means that the user is expected to get accurate search results for her 95 out of 100 attempts with voice search.
Voice search also helps people with disabilities use search without typing or looking at the device.Studies show that people with motor, speech and cognitive disabilities can easily and effectively interact with voice assistants Helps improve accessibilityIn another study, 16 Amazon Echo users with disabilities were interviewed and found: people with disabilities You can easily operate the voice assistant.
The advantage of using voice search is over text search. This is why people from all walks of life love to use voice search.
RELATED: Voice search is exploding, and your digital strategy will never be the same
Why Your Business Should Leverage Voice Search
Voice search optimization connects you with your target audience, makes your website more accessible, and improves the user experience. With the growing number of voice assistants, the growing number of smartphone users, and the shift from text search to voice search, there are many opportunities in the business of optimizing websites and content for voice search.
Think of voice search as an additional channel to interact with your target audience. Search engines like Google and voice assistants use existing content to serve voice queries, but companies that optimize their content for voice will always have a competitive advantage.
Adding schema markup to your content is one of the key voice search optimization techniques. Websites that use schema markup for voice search are more likely to perform better with voice search.For example, Google has its own Schema version For voice search (called speakable), which helps the Google Assistant understand text and convert it to speech.
A staggering 27.4% of all websites Do not use structured data of any kindCompanies don’t use regular schema markup, but voice search schemas are another story. If your competitors aren’t doing it, they should do it now.
The same is true for conversational keywords, which play a big role in voice search rankings. Most businesses are intent-focused and target keywords for commercial purposes that are rarely conversational.
For example, “I’m looking for a pharmacy that is open 24 hours and delivers to ABC Street” is a conversational search query. Businesses, on the other hand, typically optimize their content for search queries such as “pharmacies near me”, “pharmacies in XYZ city”, and “best online pharmacies”.
These gaps need to be filled, ensuring a competitive advantage for leapfrogging companies.
Related: 3 Ways to Optimize Voice Search to Acquire New Customers
Voice search SEO vs traditional SEO
If your business is ready to take advantage of voice search, your website and content should be optimized for voice search.
There are some big differences between voice search SEO and traditional SEO.
- Voice search focuses on long-tail keywords in conversations. As mentioned earlier, this is because when people search for something by voice, they speak in a normal tone. For example, “What is the best route to the nearest coffee shop?” On the other hand, his traditional SEO, with or without a conversational approach, targets general keywords, including short-tail keywords.
- Google uses featured snippets as voice search results and Assistant reads them to you. This means two things for your business. First, you need to lower your organic click-through rate even further. Next, we need to focus more on the schema markup. Featured snippets should be targeted and should use relevant schema markup to provide voice search users with direct and accurate answers.
- Voice search is more local than traditional search. This is because over 50% of people use voice search while driving and are more likely to search for stores and restaurants than how to lose belly fat while driving. is different from traditional SEO. Voice SEO should focus above all on local search queries.
RELATED: Intelligent search drives more customers to your business than your website
How to optimize voice search and add it to your SEO strategy
Keyword research and targeting alone are not enough to optimize your website for voice search. Must be part of his SEO strategy for the business.
Method is as follows.
1. Update your buyer personas
Understanding your target audience and how they use voice search is the first step. For example, millennials are more likely to use voice search than Gen X and baby boomers. Similarly, more than half of all voice searches are about sales and transactions.
However, there is no general rule of thumb. To get one step closer to your target audience, you need to conduct research and interviews.Understand how they use voice search and do the same buyer persona.
For example, if your target audience includes taxi drivers, they’re more likely to use voice search because they’re mostly on the move. On the other hand, if you have an e-commerce store, chances are a small portion of your audience uses voice assistants or voice search because online shopping is rarely done with voice search.
You need to understand your target audience and how it uses voice search.
- What percentage of your audience uses voice search and voice assistants?
- How often do potential customers use voice search?
- What smart devices and voice assistants are they using?
- When are you more or less likely to ask for help from voice search?
- Why is voice search preferred over text search?
Getting answers to these (and similar questions) from your target audience is the first step in optimizing your website for voice search.
RELATED: About Buyer Personas: What Personas Are, Why You Need Ones, and How to Make It Effective
2. Keyword targeting
Conversational long-tail keywords are the norm in voice search. If you want to optimize your content, target conversational keywords.
To optimize your content for voice search, you need to find and target your conversational keywords. One easy way to target conversational keywords is to switch to a conversational style. Write your content as if you were talking to someone. This can make the content a little informal, but it works.
For example, use “me” and “I” in your content and add long-tail questions and answers to make it conversational.
You don’t necessarily have to change your brand voice and style to do this. He can create an FAQ section to answer common questions and publish each question and its answer as one blog post. Do this alongside a traditional blog so as not to stray too far from the voice of the brand.
3. Optimize content for voice
Create niche-based and targeted content. Don’t try to target all buyer personas with one piece of content. Content should be specific and personalized.
Optimize your content for voice search by following these best practices:
- Distribute your content to different sections. Add headings to each section and make sure you have 2 or 3 sentences per section (this equates to 20-30 seconds of content).
- Create a short summary of the article with short section bullet points. Add audio structured data (speakable) to the summary only. This greatly improves your chances of being featured in voice search.
- Voice search is more relevant to mobile than desktop, so optimize your website, blog, and content for mobile.
- Optimize content for local search queries targeting specific markets.
- Focus on getting featured snippets, FAQs, and rich results as they are the building blocks of voice search.
- Use headings, subheadings, bullet points, short paragraphs, and precise information to make your content scannable. Avoid fluff and get to the point quickly.
Don’t forget to get backlinks when creating great content. Backlinks still play a role in voice search.According to research, a 2,500-word blog post is You are more likely to get backlinks Natural and organic stocks.
Related: 3 Ways Entrepreneurs Position Brands to Dominate Voice Search
final thoughts
The best thing about voice search is that it works like text search. Voice commands are converted to text and vice versa. This means she doesn’t have to create separate SEO strategies for voice and text. A better approach would be to integrate voice search into his existing SEO strategy. Voice search optimization should be part of his SEO strategy, and both should be coordinated.
Think of voice search as an additional marketing channel with great potential for your business.