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Voice Search SEO

The Future is Here, Talking to Your Phone is Normal

Voice Search SEO

Where am I?

Voice search SEO revisits a concept that SEO experts have emphasized for a long time: long-tail keywords, or keyword phrases. Many people, especially older individuals, find it challenging to use the small keyboards on cell phone displays. As a result, it’s easy to see why voice searches have quickly become popular.

As are many SEO practices, optimizing a new website for phrases is our common practice at Glenn Website Design. Using phrases and long-tailed keywords is still the easiest ways to get website traffic, call it the low hanging fruit.

How Can We Improve Your Voice Search

Voice search is not an offering we provide as a stand alone service. It has become part of our overall SEO strategy. When we research for SEO we no longer focus on keywords. We focus on finding search terms that people are using to find your product or service. We look for ways to answer questions related to your business and answer them.

  • Long-tailed keywords/phrases
  • Local SEO
  • Google My Business Listing
  • Mobile-Friendly Design
  • Answer Frequently Asked Questions
  • Structured Data

The Future Has Arrived – It Is Not 1986 Anymore

Scotty might feel a little more at home here in the year 2024. Voice Search SEO has come a long way to let us use the phone hands-free. There are still improvements that are going to be needed as more and more applications and devices are being developed that allow users to input data and have the computer take actions through voice recognition software. Voice search is already being used by many and will continue to gain popularity through 2025 and on. Combined with A.I. technologies being developed it will not be long before everyone will be talking to their phones and computers just like they would with real people.

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home 1986

Scotty: Trying to use voice search in 1986.
Computer. Computer?
Scotty:
Hello, computer.
Dr. Nichols:
Just use the keyboard.
Scotty:
Keyboard. How quaint.

voice search seo
Voice Search SEO

What does Voice Search mean for search engine optimization? In the past, we have optimized web pages based on what people might type in to find a service or product. People are generally lazy when it comes to typing and most often keep it as short as possible.

  • EXAMPLE TYPED SEARCH: Best web design company in Atlanta
  • EXAMPLE VOICE SEARCH: What is the best web design company in Atlanta?

As people start using voice search more and more they will also extend the query from a simple sentence to a normal voice question. To Voice Search SEO for this, you should be structuring your content around normal speech use.

Specialists predict in the near future a real change in user habits more and more towards voice search. Already more than 40% of searches are done from voice search. This is all the more true for voice search that directly relates to content, which is the most time-consuming part of SEO.

What Is Voice Search

Voice search essentially allows users to dictate their search on their phone or tablet, rather than typing keywords on their keyboard. The technology used is able to understand what the user is saying with extreme precision. The answer is then provided orally by the device and can be supplemented by traditional research results. Voice search is used by programs like Google Assistant, Siri, Cortana (Microsoft), or Alexa (Amazon).

Devices like Google Home or Alexa are capable of scanning Spotify’s music database, “reading” Wikipedia, or finding a product on Amazon at the request of the user. These performances, therefore, demonstrate the advantage of optimizing our websites today so that they can meet future user expectations.

What Is The Impact of Voice Search

This new search mode is revolutionizing the user experience, which is why search engines such as Google are putting more and more emphasis on optimizing voice search. The purpose of natural referencing is indeed to classify websites in a relevant way so that users can find the information they are looking for as quickly as possible. In January 2018, there were no less than a billion voice searches per month worldwide, but SEO by voice search and traditional SEO is still fundamentally different. As a result, certain factors influencing the ranking of sites may or may not have the same effect on voice search and vice versa. So today there is an artistic vagueness around voice research,

When Internet users use voice search, they can have several intentions: to buy, to play music or a video, or to find information on a subject. However, despite these very different intentions, Google uses the same algorithm to make its rankings. One of the first steps for voice search SEO is to determine the research intent behind a voice command. Rather than trusting an impression, use tools such as Answer the public to tell you the questions around a request.

Favor Questions Rather Than Affirmative Sentences

Faced with ever more powerful programs, users tend to literally ask questions to their device, as they would to a real person. Interrogative pronouns (how, where, why …), which until now seemed meaningless, have become essential today.

When users search for content on their desktop or mobile phone, they get straight to the point and prefer short sentences. For example, a user looking for a ranking of the best restaurants in Paris would type “best restaurants in Paris”. But if he uses voice search, he will rather say: “What are the best restaurants in Paris?”. In addition, these pronouns allow to better target the search intention of the Internet user. A user who asks “how to do…” looks a priori for a guide or tutorial on a specific subject. Questions can also be a major asset in the race to the zero position. Answering a need or answering a question is a great way to generate traffic through voice search.

Take Care of Your Ergonomics

Ergonomics is today and more than ever a determining factor in natural referencing and for users. Much like traditional search engine optimization, Google voice search favors websites that load quickly. You should therefore ensure that you provide a responsive site compatible with all mobile devices. To make sure your pages load quickly, you will need to optimize and compress images and files, use caching, or even reduce server response time. The Google Page Speed ​​Insight tool will allow you to obtain an exhaustive list of all possible optimizations for your pages.

Optimizing Local SEO

The local SEO conquered the web for years. Search engines are thus seeing a growing number of companies that are creating their own platforms by focusing their SEO strategy on local search. When it comes to common voice searches, such as “what is the best sushi restaurant in …?”, A large number of users tend to search for establishments near their home or their location. Optimizing your site for voice search gives you an advantage over the local competition and vice versa.

Use Long-tail and Short Sentences

To make sure your content is optimized for voice search, you should include long-tail keywords that are more “natural”, as opposed to shorter, more catchy keywords that work better in search results. traditional. In addition, the sentences should be short and simple. So even if your content is complex, break it down so that it becomes easy for anyone to understand. Even if short sentences must be preferred, the overall content must be substantial. Long articles are always better classified in the voice search and traditional search lists. Aim for at least 1000 to 2000 words for competitive sectors.

Aim For Zero Position

A featured snippet also called a zero position, or a quick response is a summary response from a web page. In desktop search lists, these snippets appear right after paid ads but before organic search lists. To put the odds on your side, include a concise summary of your main content above the text, about 29 words (average number of words in the zero position). Paragraphs that use tags, lists, and bullets are easily readable by Google and also work well. Also, be sure to include your long-tail keywords among the keywords used.

In Conclusion

Voice search, therefore, seems to be part of the future of natural referencing and it is better to prepare for it now. By applying these few effective tips, you may be able to use voice search to your advantage and stay ahead of your competition. You have to keep in mind that natural language is becoming essential for robots to understand your page, which means that you have to create more “conversational content”. The latter must answer specific questions with exact answers, which you can continue to enrich with structured data.