How to Optimise for Voice Search

If you’re reading this, then there’s a good chance that you’ve heard of a voice search. You may have even tried it for yourself or seen an article about the latest developments in the field. 

How to Assess Your Target Audience

Voice search is one of the newest technologies to be released by Google and it has been gaining popularity over the past year. It’s only natural that many businesses are wondering how they can optimize their website for voice search, but what exactly does that mean?

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In this article, we will go through some basic steps on how to assess your target audience and see if you should be optimizing for voice search or not.

What Is Voice Search And How Does It Work

Voice search is the process of using your voice to input a question so that it can be converted into text and answered in real-time. This process has been done before but primarily on mobile devices, due to its convenience factor when someone does not want to type something out, they typically will use their voice.

Now with technology improving people are seeing this shift happen more frequently across different mediums including desktop computers because users find this an easier way to get results than typing them in or scrolling through long pages for information.

Search engines like Google have even started incorporating the feature directly into the sites themselves allowing you access to everything within just one page without having to navigate elsewhere!

Why Use Voice Search?

– It is easier to use than typing and scrolling.

– Voice Search can be done anywhere: in the office, on a run, while cooking dinner etc…

– People can use voice search when they are busy doing other activities, such as driving or cooking.

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– It’s helpful for people who have visual disabilities that restrict their ability to read from a screen.

How To Assess Your Target Audience For Voice Search Optimization

When optimizing for voice search, it is important to understand your target audience and what types of questions they will be asking. There are several tools available that allow you to quickly see which keywords people in your industry or niche use when searching on Google.

You can find this information by using a tool like Sensor Tower, KeywordTool.io, or even just doing some basic research into the most common questions asked within your field of work/knowledge area.

Implementing Voice Search Optimization In Your Content Strategy

Ensuring that you are using the right keywords for voice search optimization is also a top priority when it comes to making sure that your website ranks well and continues to grow traffic from organic sources. The following tips will help ensure that your site is optimized properly so you can succeed with voice search as opposed to being left behind by those who know how to optimize their content correctly.

Make Use Of Schema Metadata

To optimize your pages for voice search. Using schema markup on product, recipe and movie pages helps give a better picture of what’s in the content to Googlebot – this means you can rank highly from ethical link building as well as organic web traffic.

Optimize For Human Comprehension

Optimizing for voice search is different from traditional SEO because it requires optimizing your content to be read by a machine. The algorithm that does the searching wants to make sure the answer you provide matches up with what people are looking for, so if your target audience uses basic language and speaks in plain sentences, then keep this in mind when you’re writing. If possible try recording yourself speaking or having someone else record themselves reading back one of your posts; listen carefully for words like “and”, “our”, etc., which will lead to more accurate results but can also clutter up how easy it is to comprehend information written down on paper (or screen).

Focus On Conversational Keywords

You have to know who you are writing your content towards so that when someone is searching, they find the information relevant and useful to them. It will also help you create keywords lists if there’s a particular person or group in mind while writing. If it’s not targeted then Google has no idea what type of individuals would benefit from this SEO optimized piece which can lead to less traffic and links coming through, as well as fewer conversions overall for your business. Keep these points in mind when optimizing:

– Research common searches done by specific demographics.

– Read Analytics reports for insights into audiences searching habits online.

Understand Your Customer’s Devices And Location

Voice search is now available on the most popular smart devices such as iPhones, Android phones and Google Home.

– what device they use to access the internet (computer vs phone)

– where they are located geographically (country or state)

-how their network speeds vary from city to country/state. In fact, 40% of all mobile queries every month come from either an iOS or Android device. So it goes without saying that you should optimize for these platforms too! There is no one size fits all formula when it comes to optimizing for Voice Search.

Update Your Google My Business Listing

This is to make sure it’s optimized for voice search in your area.

-Do a quick google my business listing assessment to make sure you have the required information listed and properly formatted. This info can include things like hours, address, call button/option etc…

– Include links to other social media profiles that are relevant such as Facebook or Instagram if they do not already exist on Google My Business Listing.

– Add proper formatting & keywords based on what type of industry/product you offer so people will find your website when searching for specific products or services related to yours.

How to Use Voice Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to Market Your Local Business

Voice search engine optimization (SEO) offers an innovative and effective way to market your local business. Research conducted by SCORE found that 58 percent of consumers performed at least one voice search for a local business in the past year. With voice SEO, you can draw these consumers to your local business at little or no cost.

The Basics of Voice SEO

Voice SEO is a segment of digital marketing that revolves around reaching consumers who perform voice searches using a virtual assistant. Virtual assistants are artificial intelligence (AI) programs that simulate natural language dialogue with users. Rather than typing a search query, consumers can speak it. Virtual assistants are able to recognize, process and respond to voice searches.

The primary goal of voice SEO is to encourage virtual assistants to select a particular listing, such as your local business’s listing, as the answer to a consumer’s voice search. Virtual assistants are powered by a search engine. Some of them are powered by Google, whereas others are powered by Bing. When a consumer performs a voice search, the virtual assistant will pull a listing from the search engine powering it.

Some of the most common virtual assistants include:

•   Google Assistant

•   Amazon’s Alexa

•   Microsoft’s Cortana

•   Apple’s Siri

You can use voice SEO to market your local business. All virtual assistants are powered by a search engine, and search engines are able to return localized listings. If they believe a search has local intent, they may return listings for local businesses or places. Voice SEO is all about getting virtual assistants to select one of your local business’s listings when responding to consumers’ voice searches.

Optimize Website With Location Information

For better voice search rankings, optimize your website with location information. A website is an invaluable asset for your local business. If a consumer wants to know what products or services your local business sells, he or she may visit it. And by optimizing it with location information, virtual assistants may select your website’s listing.

Location information is any piece of information that helps consumers find out where your business is located. Addresses are local phone numbers are considered location information. You can add your local business’s address and its local phone number to your website. With this location information, virtual assistants may select your website’s listings for local, voice-initiated searches.

Target Conversational Keywords

When creating digital content for your website, try to target conversational keywords. Conversational keywords are SEO keywords consisting of naturally spoken phrases. When compared to traditional keywords, they are typically longer. Conversational keywords are also more likely to be structured as a complete sentence.

Conversational keywords are synonymous with voice searches. According to Backlinko, the average length of a voice search is approximately 29 words. Most voice searches don’t consist of one or two words in a broken sentence. Rather, they consist of a naturally spoken phrase that’s structured in a complete sentence. Targeting conversational keywords will make your website relevant to these phrases, thus encouraging virtual assistants to select your website’s listing.

Improve Website Security

Virtual assistants are more likely to select listings for secure websites than their insecure counterparts. Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) is a moderate-weight ranking signal for Google and Bing. Both search engines, as well as the virtual assistants that they power, prefer HTTPS websites over Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) websites.

If your website still leverages HTTP technology, you may want to upgrade it to HTTPS. HTTPS offers a higher level of security by automatically encrypting traffic. When search engines discover it, they’ll acknowledge your website as being secure, which may encourage them to rank it high. Higher rankings in the standard search results will carry over to voice search rankings.

Claim Your Google Business Profile

You should claim your Google Business Profile. Virtual assistants may return listings for Google Business Profiles. If you don’t have a Google Business Profile, or if you haven’t claimed it, they probably won’t select it.

A Google Business Profile is a directory listing with information about a locally operated business. Your Google Business Profile may appear in Google’s organic search results — specifically the local pack section at the top of the organic search results — and on Google Maps. Consumers who use Google Assistant to search for your local business may encounter your Google My Business listing.

Create a Yelp Page

In addition to a Google Business Profile, creating a Yelp page can help your local business rank for voice searches. Yelp is an online business directory and review platform that supports listings known as pages. You can create a Yelp page for free. Search engines may rank your Yelp page, and virtual assistants may even select it when responding to consumers’ voice searches.

Not all virtual assistants are powered by Google. Alexa and Cortana, for example, are powered by Bing. When processing voice searches for local businesses, they may select a Yelp page. Google Assistant will usually select a Google Business Profile for local, voice-initiated searches, but Alexa and Cortana may select a Yelp page.

Build Backlinks

How many backlinks does your website have? Search engines rank websites based on dozens of signals, one of the most influential being backlinks. With plenty of backlinks, search engines will trust your website and view it as a leading authority.

Keep in mind that you can build backlinks to other properties under our local business’s name. You may want to build backlinks to Google Business Profile or Yelp page, for instance. Backlinks will drive traffic to these alternative properties while earning search engines’ trust in the process. Even if they are tagged with nofollow, backlinks are still useful for voice SEO.

While it can benefit all types of businesses, voice SEO is particularly beneficial for local businesses. Voices searches are performed using virtual assistants, which are typically installed on mobile devices. You can rank your local business for voice searches by optimizing your website with location information, targeting conversational keywords, improving website security, claiming your Google Business Profile, creating a Yelp page and building backlinks.

Conclusion

As you can see, Voice Search is not something to be ignored. It’s a powerful tool in your content marketing strategy that can help generate more traffic and sales for your company or business.

One of the best ways to get started with Voice Search optimization is by assessing who your target audience is and how they search online; once you know this information, you’ll have an easier time figuring out what type of voice-based content will resonate with them most effectively.