With the advent of voice recognition technology, voice search has become an integral part of any search engine. Hence, you will enjoy many benefits if you optimise voice search on your website. How to do it? Check that out!

Speaking to robot assistants regularly sounded like a concept of sci-fi a few decades ago. But, today we have become too accustomed to the infamous names Alexa, Siri and Google. With the advancement of smart devices that support these voice assistants, the graph of voice search usage elevated quite high, and it is no way going to stop now.

As even more consumers buy smart speakers and begin utilizing speech functions on their smartphones, the percentage of online research that is voice-activated will rise to above 50%.

In order to ensure that you are reaching new clients, SEO for voice search has to be optimised given that over 1 billion voice searches are performed each month.

Need help choosing the right marketing solutions?

Simply take a look at the following voice search statistics to see why you should incorporate them into your keyword optimization plan: 

• Voice is used in about 20% of smartphone search queries.
• 58 per cent of individuals use voice search to find out about nearby companies.
• 72% of voice search users have incorporated it into their everyday routines.

You may be wondering why voice search is expanding at such a rapid rate. One benefit is that it is simpler and faster than entering your search. Additionally, it is simpler to utilise while searching for a certain store or eatery while on the road. Moreover, voice-activated gadgets are becoming increasingly accessible and inexpensive. It will not be a surprise if people stop using keywords in the future.

Therefore, now you understand why voice search optimization is necessary for 2022. Diving a little bit deeper into this.

What does voice search SEO mean?

Firstly, let’s understand what a voice search is.

It is an automatic speech recognition technology that permits users to search for a query through their own voice commands. Search engines allow the usage of this feature by speaking directly to your smartphone.

Moreover, many platforms use the searching through voice command feature to look for information on the internet. Special voice assistants are devised for some recognized platforms to help users search through their voice commands, for example, Cortana, Siri, Google Assistant, Alexa, Bixby and many more.

Now, let’s discuss what SEO is for voice recognition.

Voice search SEO focuses on preparing your content for voice searches. Finding the key terms that people use for voice search is henceforth quite crucial for you.

People do voice searches to seek out information online using an array of terms. For instance, while utilising voice search, consumers can ask, “What is the nearest movie theatre near me?” instead of typing, “Movie theatres near me.”

Users tend to use long-tailed keywords more than short ones when they search through voice commands.

So, let’s see some statistics based on SEO for voice search to understand its excessive use and impact.

• By 2023, there will be more than 8 billion digital voice assistants in use, according to Juniper Research.
• According to Oberlo, the three most popular voice assistant tasks are playing music (74%), checking the weather (66%), and setting alarms and reminders (58%).
• According to Statista, the speech recognition industry will surpass $27 billion by 2026.

Why you should optimize voice search?

Searching through voice commands via automatic speech recognition feature has become a norm nowadays. And, it has some of the biggest benefits!

• Elevated rankings

A report suggests, approximately 75% of voice search outcomes will rank in the first three positions for a certain query searched via desktop. Thus, optimizing voice search content will automatically attract more visitors from various search engines.

• Enhanced credibility

Ranking voice searches will lead to the better authority of your website. Hence, new users will discover you improving the site’s organic traffic.

• Impact on SEO and site rating

Voice search optimization can benefit your site’s overall SEO and rating. Search engines enjoy it when websites are voice search optimised since it gives your site more authority and lands it better positions on results pages, maybe even in the voice search results.

• Large revenue

If several people began accessing your website using voice searches, it would eventually increase your platform’s profitability.

Since, now that you know the benefits of optimising voice search, your next question must be, how? Well, here it is!

Methods to optimize a website for voice search

You already know now how users use voice commands to look out for information online via search engines. So, you can understand that making your website voice-search-friendly can actually help you discover and expand your visitor base.

Here are some of the voice search optimization strategies that can actually make your business influence voice technology.

1. Produce the best result with featured snippets

You must have noticed how in various search engines voice search only produces one result, even though there are plethoras of answers lined up in the SERP.

Anybody would want to know the best answer to their search query; so basically, you need to provide the best answer you can find to feed the curiosity of a visitor. Moreover, optimising your website can help you feature a snippet of that top search result, just like Google.

• Use question format long-tailed keyword

Yes, when you optimize your website, you need to use more conversational question-based keywords. Implement them thinking what would a user probably ask through voice commands when searching for information on the internet.

For example, “Which is the world’s largest ocean?”

Remember, this is one of the most significant voice search optimization strategies.

• FAQ helps!

It’s common knowledge that having a FAQ page on your website is beneficial for SEO, and this is unquestionably true. When a user asks a question, you should be prepared with a response. It is SEO experts’ recommendations! However, “questions” and “answers” are the keys here because that’s what voice search is all about! But, ensure to provide short and crisp answers as visitors prefer quick solutions to their questions.

• Make your website mobile-accessible

It is a no-brainer that people mostly use voice search from mobile phones. So make sure to optimize your website for perfect mobile usage. Google uses mobile-first indexing first, which means the search engine principally uses the mobile version content to index and rank websites. 

• Focus on your website loading speed

Even Google dislikes websites that take a long time to load. In reality, Google favours quicker-loading websites, making website performance a ranking consideration. The same is true for voice search SEO; you may improve ranks by speeding up and optimising the functionality of your website.

• Consider engaging with social media users

Right! Social platforms are voice-friendly too! Generally, voice results receive many likes or comments on recognized platforms. So, opening accounts there and staying well-interacted with the users can increase your visibility online.

• Get a Google business profile through a business listing

About half of voice search users look up information about nearby businesses every day. Being at the top of the voice results is essential given how localised voice search is.

This is a simple step and cost nothing for voice search optimization. Build your listing, complete it with the most accurate information you have to provide, and then await approval. Congratulations! You now have a strong SEO asset.

• Boosting your domain authority

The next section is likely the least enjoyable for you.

Voice recognition often selects the top search result for the uttered query. Therefore, you must rank your website high on Google’s first page if you want to be found in voice searches. The better, the closer you are to the top spot.

The best course of action is to step up your SEO efforts on all fronts; including backlinks, user experience, local search, technical concerns, and everything else you can think of.

Voice search is no more the future of SEO. It is already here, and marketers are competing against each other to see who can manage it the best. Accordingly, consider applying these voice search optimization strategies to successfully optimize the voice recognition feature on your website.