The Impact Of Voice Search On SEO - Semalt Prompts
In the last ten years, voice search has been called the future of online search. Voice search was more of a novelty when Google first introduced it in 2011. But speech recognition technology has come a long way, making voice search the most popular form of search marketing.
Voice search is becoming increasingly popular, so the number of people who use it will keep increasing. As of 2022, the installed base of smart speakers in US homes reached 95 million units, an over 100% increase from 47.3 million in 2018. The good news is that the SEO community has come up with ways to make site optimization work with voice search.
If you have any difficulties optimising your site for voice, you can contact SEO companies like Semalt. At Semalt, we have strategists that can carry out voice search optimization so that you can reach out to your targeted customers irrespective of their search medium.
This post will help you understand what a voice search is and its impact on SEO.
What Is Voice Search?
Voice search may be something you're familiar with if you've used Siri on your phone or devices like Amazon Alexa or Google Home. When you use voice search, you talk to an apparatus and ask a question out loud instead of typing it.
When you use voice search, the device will either give you an answer from a website or send you to a website where you can find more information.
The device informs you about where it got the answer as it tells you the answer. Some devices, like Google Home, will send a link to the Google Assistant app. This lets users click on the link and read more about the subject.
Impact Of Voice Search On SEO
Voice search is not the same as typing in a search query. People don't talk like they write. This means that voice search queries must be part of your SEO plan.
Most of the time, when people use voice searches, they ask questions. For example, instead of typing "car battery for a 2008 Honda Accord," they ask, "Where can I buy a car battery for a 2008 Honda Accord?" This is a verbal search.
This means that your business needs to be ready for more questions that come up in conversation. People talk to voice search devices as if they are another person, so you need to consider the tones and phrases they use in conversation.
Voice search means that you need to focus your SEO plan on how people search with their voices, what words or phrases they use, and what information they want to find.
Now let's look at voice search SEO tips.
SEO Tips For Voice Searches
You may already be familiar with basic SEO, but these tips listed below can help you optimize for voice searches as a business. They are as follows.
1. Pay Attention to Semantic Search
Semantic search is a type of search strategy where you learn more about what people are looking for when they search. This lets you make content that better fits people's needs, which will help you get more voice search features.
When you know what the user wants to find, you can ensure your site shows up in search results that match what they were looking for. It will help you learn more about the people who use voice search so you can make your site work better for those keywords.
2. Try to Get to "Position Zero"
If you want to show up in more voice searches, you must ensure that your site is set up to get featured snippets and, eventually, position zero.
According to a study by Moz, 87% of the answers to voice searches come from "featured snippets." This number shows how important it is to get to the top of the search results.
So, you may be wondering what featured snippets mean. Featured snippets are a paragraph of information that appears at the top of the Search Engine Results Page (SEPR) after a query.
When you search for something online, you might see a box at the top of the results page. Usually, it is a paragraph of information with the words you searched for in bold. The information in this box, called a "featured snippet," comes from a site that Google thinks has the correct answer.
When a search result is in position zero, a featured snippet is shown on top of the first organic search result. Google pulls information from featured snippets for voice searches. They usually have the right information, and it's short enough for Google to pass it on to the user.
When Google reads the featured snippet, it also gives credit to the right website for the information. Google will say, "According to [website]" or "We found this information on [website]" if the information came from your site.
Some voice search devices also send users links to read more if they want to. Even if the searcher doesn't visit your website, they will still learn about your brand and be more likely to choose your business in the future.
If a search doesn't bring up any featured snippets, your business can get one and get ahead of the competition.
3. Create Valuable and Informative Content
When you write content, using terms and jargon from your field is tempting, but the average reader might need to learn what they mean. If you want to do well with voice search optimization, write in your audience's language.
Writing in a conversational style is better because your audience will be more interested in it. They will also understand what you write. If they do a voice search, your information will be easy to know if it is written in the same way they talk.
Want to learn more about how your customers talk and what they're interested in? Look at how they use your website and social media to talk to each other. This will help you figure out who you're writing for and how to write in a way that makes sense to them.
It's also essential to think about how people use their voices to search. They will often start their questions with who, what, where, why, when, or how. You can also use Google's autofill feature to see how people search for a particular subject.
4. Claim your Google Business Profile
People who want to find local businesses use voice search a lot. Your Google Business Profile listing is the key to getting people in your area to visit your site.
Siri lists the top three places near a person whose voice is used to search. It's called the "local SEO 3-pack."
To show up in the local SEO 3-pack, claim your Google Business Profile. After you've claimed your listing, you can fill out all the information about your business. Please pay close attention to the contact information, address, and hours of operation to ensure they are accurate and up-to-date.
These pieces of information are essential because voice searchers will often ask for them. They'll want to know where your business is or call for more information when it's open.
You can also optimize your listing by adding links to content, photos, and reviews and getting reviews from others. You'll see good results if you take the time to optimize your Google Business Profile.
5. Make Sure People Can Read Your Brand Name
Getting a featured snippet is a great way to get people to know about your brand. But your brand name must be accessible for Google to read. If Google doesn't know how to say your brand name, people won't be able to understand or remember it.
Do a radio test to find out if people will understand your website. Radio tests look at different parts of the name of your business to see how people might misunderstand it.
For example, if the number 2 is in the name of your business, people could get confused when they hear it. Do you say 2, two, to, or too? Your audience might be able to figure it out based on the context, but if they need to know your brand, they might not.
This can also happen when two words sound the same. For example, when someone says C, see, or sea, they all sound the same. If someone heard that in a voice search, they wouldn't know what kind of "see" it is.
These are just some of the tests you need to pass if you want your brand name to be easy to read. Make sure your brand name is easy to read so that people will remember it and return to your site.
6. Make an FAQ Page
Most of the time, when people search for something, they ask questions to find answers. Making an FAQ page can answer people's questions and bring them to your site.
Frequently asked questions are a great way to answer questions about your products, industry, or company. You can share information with your audience and help them learn more about your business.
By making a "Frequently Asked Questions" page, your information could be used in snippets. If you want to go a step further, you can create content that directly answers questions that people often have. It's good for your business to help bring in good leads.
Conclusion
Voice search is no longer a part of SEO's "near future." It's already here, and marketers are competing to use it best.
If you're ready to start optimizing your business site for voice search, contact Semalt today. We have a team of professionals with vast experience in basic SEO and voice search optimization. Our services can help give your business a lift and rake in the required traffic.
Give us a call today!