Why Should You Optimize Your Copy for Voice Search?
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These days, instead of typing text in search engines on phones or laptops, many people are directing questions to Siri, Google Assistant, or Cortana using their voice – and they are expecting precise and immediate answers. Voice search is faster and easier than using traditional search methods, and that’s likely why it’s estimated there are 1 billion voice searches every month. Data company, Statista, estimates that by 2024, there will be 8.4 billion voice assistants across the globe, which is a figure higher than the world’s current population!
Need even more evidence that voice search is growing at explosive rates? These recent statistics should convince you that it will continue to play a major role in brands’ efforts to appear in search results:
- By 2022, 55% of U.S. households are expected to own at least one smart speaker.
- Voice search is used by 58% of those who are trying to find information about a local business.
- Voice search devices have become part of a daily routine for 72% of people who own them.
- More than half of America’s teenagers use voice search every day.
Source: Review42.com
How do Voice Search Results Differ from Typed Searches?
Using standard search methodology, you type a keyword or phrase into a search bar and the search engine populates your screen with hundreds or thousands of results. Voice searches, in contrast, are typically phrased as questions, which isn’t unusual since we tend to name our voice assistants and speak to them like they are real people. You wouldn’t approach a friend and blurt out a keyword or phrase – you’d ask your question using the grammatical construction of a full sentence.
But unlike your human friend, who may come back to you with a list of possible answers (obviously, a shorter list than what Google would provide), your voice assistant tries to answer with as much efficiency as possible. You’ll get one answer in response to your question, and the answer will be based on the best content that’s available online.
What can your business do to ensure that voice assistants select your business’s content when answering a question? You must optimize content for voice search – in a way that differs slightly from ordinary SEO efforts.
How to Optimize for Voice Search
Which type of content is going to attract the attention of voice assistants, and how should it be presented? Here’s how to write with voice search in mind.
Provide Answer-Based Content with Conversational Long-Tail Keywords
Considering that most people use voice assistants to ask questions, it makes sense to write copy that uses a question-and-answer format. For example, write your title or header in the form of a question, and let the body copy provide the answers.
Why should you use long-tail keywords in headers? Because they include more details that may be relevant to the question. For example, if someone is searching for a highly reviewed restaurant in the area, he’d likely ask his voice assistant to find “best-reviewed restaurants near me” rather than just the single keyword, “restaurants.”
A proactive way to include questions and answers in your content is to develop a set of frequently asked questions and set up a page on your website for FAQs.
Focus on Local SEO
Many voice searches are directed at finding local results, as in the restaurant example above. If you’re a business that relies heavily on local traffic, the best thing you can do to improve local SEO is to activate your Google My Business account and fill in as many details about your company as possible.
Searchers typically want to know how to reach you, how late you’re open, holiday hours, customer reviews, and answers to their questions about your products or services. Keep your information up-to-date and strengthen your content by including recent photos and news about promotions and events. The more details you offer, the more likely your business will turn up in voice assistant search results.
Make Your Content Mobile-Friendly
Mobile users are three times more likely to use voice search than those who are using home-based devices like desktops or laptop computers. In fact, over the past three years, desktop share of internet usage has been steadily shrinking, while smartphone and tablet use continues to rise.
With more people using mobile devices, it’s wise for marketers to optimize their content for smaller screens and easier reading. Use more paragraph breaks and shorter sentences, and then add some bullet points to break up long blocks of copy.
But it’s also necessary to make sure your website is mobile-responsive. Use Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test Tool to see how your website performs and whether or not it needs tweaking.
Contribute to the Conversation by Optimizing for Voice Search
With mobile usage increasing and AI playing a bigger role in search, it’s time to offer content that’s more conversational and better at answering specific questions. Tailor your content to anticipate questions, and then provide the answers in a way that is optimized for voice assistants and mobile screens.