The website is one of the most significant resources for a business. We attract visitors through the website and try our best to convert them to customers. And a higher conversion rate can mean the difference between surviving and thriving.
For years we have been working on search engine optimization for our website. But, this is not enough as the optimization will ultimately depend on how the users search. And user search trends keep changing with time as technology changes.
Despite our persistent efforts for search engine optimization, the activities that worked for typed search would not fare equally well for the voice search.
We are well aware of the increasing trends of voice search globally. Even as per the statistics, almost 84% of children and teens in the UK have an access to Smartphone voice search. And, this further justifies why we cannot ignore voice search optimization of our website.
Generally, the local businesses need it more as the voice assistants are centered mainly on local search results.
But, for businesses as a whole, it is better to optimize their website for a voice search as the trend is picking up like never before.
How to Optimize Your Website for Voice Search
Now that you know why it is important to optimize your business website for voice search, you must focus on how to do that.
Here are some such ways.
1- Long-Tail Keywords
When you are asking someone for something, you do not just speak assorted words. You would rather ask a question. Similarly, voice searchers are asking questions to Google.
Thus, the assorted keywords like “brownies near me” are gradually being replaced by the long-tail voice search queries such as “Where can I get good brownies near me?”
And, if you observe the search string closely, it already has the keywords for a normal text-based search as well. So, it is definitely a good idea to follow the long-tail keywords concept when optimizing your website for search, whether voice or text-based.
As such it is easy to make the keywords of website content compatible with voice search. But, if you need help with this, you may use the free online tools such as SEMRUSH, KWfinder, Google Auto-suggest and more, for selecting the long-tail keywords in the question format.
A recent research suggests that voice search will capture content with natural speech patterns. So, to make our site compliant with the voice search trends, we must use the natural flow of language in our content. This is to ensure that the content is phrased exactly the way the user searches on the internet.
2- Ask Google
You read it right! I am asking you to directly ask Google about the keywords that people are searching for.
And how do you do that? The answer is, “search Google”.
When I type, “check domain authority”, in the list of search results, you will find another Google feature captioned, “People also ask”. This shows the frequently searched questions for the searched keywords.
This feature can guide you in making your questions more effective for voice search. Try it yourself!
3- Social Media Integration
I know you are tired of reading this. And this post is about your business website. So, why discuss social media here?
The answer is that you cannot ignore social media when it is a prominent source of incoming traffic for your website. If you have optimized your website but your social media posts and profiles are still not voice search compliant, the whole effort can end in a failure.
Thus, social media becomes one of the determinants of voice search optimization for your website.
Social media can be used to capture more visitors for your website. The keyword optimization and selection factors are equally applicable here as well to get better organic rankings in voice search.
And, social media platforms are also effective paid marketing channels. So, when the users are switching over to voice search, integrating your website and your social media PPC for voice search becomes equally important.
4- Type of Audience
Every business has different types of target customers. For example, a teenage fashion brand will mostly have teenagers as their target customers.
So, the content on the website should be teenager-friendly. In other words, it should be simple and conversational.
And, irrespective of what you have been reading about the language on your website, make sure that your content writer knows who the target audience is and uses a tone that matches theirs.
If your business is global and has a varied audience, the matter is different.
The internet has users with varied ethnicity and age groups. And a majority of them are not CEOs of the famous brands. Nor are all of those technical experts.
We cannot expect their voice search queries to be very formal or technical. So, it is important to use simple and conversational language.
5- Make Your Website Fast Loading
Bootstrapping your website for smartphones is not enough. Now you also need a faster website as Google ranks the sites on this factor as well.
You must choose the content for your website based on the requirements of your business. For example, if you do not require very dynamic content, a static website generator can also help you build a faster loading website.
Some of the most popular open source CMS packages also act as very good platforms for developing faster websites. WordPress and Joomla are the best ones in this category.
Increasing the load speed of your website also requires using lighter images and videos. Some of the top tools which can help you make your site media load faster include KeyCDN Website Speed Test, Google PageSpeed Insights among others.
6- Image Optimization
Use of image optimization is catching up further as image search is growing more and more popular. And, image search is one more channel for your business to reach prospective customers.
Appropriate use of “alt” and image descriptions is common. But, now you must also use appropriate long-tail keywords in the image captions and descriptions.
And, it is not so difficult to select the right keywords for voice search optimization of your images either. Just think, how would you ask Google to suggest you the best place for Brownies near you? The answer should suggest you how to rename your images.
If you are still doubtful about how to get the optimum levels of voice search optimization for the media on your website, hiring an SEO agency is a good idea as that can save your time.
7- Frequently Asked Questions
Haven’t you been using FAQs on your website for years?
But, now to make your website voice search optimized, these frequently asked questions are more important than ever.
We have already seen in the previous points that voice search is dependent on question-based queries. And FAQs are just content in the form of questions and answers.
The example that follows further explains how FAQs have manifold SEO benefits.
A hotel website displays FAQs such as, “How much does the suite cost?”
Either the answer can directly mention the cost of a suite, or if the cost is dynamic, they can write an answer with a CTA such as, “Contact us for details and discounts”.
Now you know how many search keywords you can very simply incorporate just with the right use of FAQs on your website.
And, you don’t need to have a separate page or a dedicated section for FAQs on your website. A relevant FAQ in the existing long-form content is equally good for voice search optimization.
Further to our example, if the hotel website has a page or blog post about the features of a suite, the question can be placed right there, as a part of the content.
8- Do Not Over-Optimize
Scandalized? Don’t be! I know I’ve been talking about tips on how to optimize your website for voice search all throughout the post. Now, suddenly, I am turning cold turkey and asking you not to go overboard with optimization.
But, let’s face it! Excess is always bad and it is worse when it comes to search engine optimization.
If you optimize too many pages for the same query, Google will push you down in the search results. And, you do not want that to happen, obviously!
With knowledge of SEO and an intention to not go overboard, you can optimize your website for voice search. A variety of tools and SEO software are also available for this purpose.
Conclusion
Voice search trends are not just changing the search results. They are also influencing the keyword analysis process.
So, it is important to concentrate on voice search optimization for your website.
Mastered the art of voice search optimization, haven’t you?
So, why not try it?
Do also share in the comments if you have any tips on how to optimize a website for voice search.
Bout the Author
Jin Markov is a Content Writer with GoodFirms.co, a research firm in the USA. He has an experience of 5 years and has been writing on areas related to technology for small business, SEO, and marketing.
