Voice search optimization takes search query to the next level. Your website can enjoy SEO benefits once you start optimizing it for voice search. The following easy steps are what you can do for a start:
1) Think in Conversational Phrases
Voice search manifests how we converse in full thoughts with each other since we aren’t trained to speak like a robot. Our natural speech mode is essentially involuntary. For instance, how you would ask questions in regular conversation would be relatively the same when using voice search. If you use only the shorthand style of asking questions via your keyboard, the result may not be totally the same.
Note that shorthand text search typically comes back to the 5 Ws:
- Who?
- Where?
- What?
- Why?
- When?
In order to optimize for voice search, you just have to ask a lot of questions that comes back to the 5 Ws and answer them in your content.
Steps to Take:
The only rule to optimize using conversational phrases is to integrate them into your content.
You can do the basics by starting with the tips below:
- Try to think of the different questions a user might ask that could lead to the article you are writing. Incorporate those questions naturally and answer them effectively in your article.
- Use subheadings, definition lists, blockquotes, and lists in a semantic sense. Learn about the nature of semantic SEO to pull this off well.
- Take the time to write FAQ-style gist towards the end of your articles. A FAQ-format would naturally elicit conversational questions & answers.
Think about the future and get ready to map out a voice-centric strategy with the 5 Ws in mind. You can consider these steps as your guide:
- List the different topics relevant to your website.
- Do research the keywords you’re already ranking for. You can use Rank Tracker to track.
- For every unique keyword, make at least one good list of questions using the 5 Ws.
- Answer these questions in your blog article or landing page thoroughly.
2. Go Mobile-Friendly
You probably have heard of this tip each and every time. Your site has to be mobile-friendly. You can hardly make your voice search campaign successful without this step.
Do remember that mobile traffic is increasing day by day, soon surpassing the volume of traffic desktop searches get. Remember that most voice searches are done using mobile phones. if your website is not responsive yet, it’s never too late to do something about that today. Do take note that mobile-friendliness does not only relate to the design but also the speed of your site. With the diminishing attention span of the online users today, you can hardly compete if you literally lag behind. Mobile users demand fast sites, and search engines always find a way to meet what the users need and want.
Steps to Take:
Make sure that your website makes use of fluid layout together with conditional CSS media queries in order to apply various styles based on screen sizes. Your site should be conveniently viewable on any device and any screen size. Aiming for a responsive design is key.
3. Go Local Friendly
Most voice searches are done to look for local results. Voice searches are dominantly composed of actions that users can immediately take. They usually speak the keywords “near me” to look for directions, phone number, opening hours, etc. Thus, you need to highlight these data for them to be easily visible to interested prospects.
Some companies even optimize to the extent of catering to someone who searches for the query “directions to nearest convenience stores”. However, despite your efforts to optimize your website, Google and other leading search engines still prefer to give favor to the established, huge channels. If you want to maximize this chance, you need to put your business on these big sites, like Yelp, Facebook, and Google Business. When optimizing for local search, gear your focus to the goal of finding the best ways to bring new clients in.
Steps to Take:
In order to make a list of the optimized keywords and phrases to target, simply think about the possible questions that any average user would ask. Stick to the questions that relate to your site. For example, if you own a coffee shop in Woodlands, Singapore, you can try the questions:
- What are the most affordable coffee shops near Woodlands, Singapore?
- What is the coffee shop near me with the fastest internet connection?
- What is the best coffee shop in my area?
- Where can i find White Chocolate Mocha vendor near Woodlands?
You can make your list long. Think outside the box. Just write down whatever ideas that pop up in your head.
Once you have the nice long list, you’re just a few steps away to optimizing your blog or landing page according to what users need.
Don’t forget to put your business on leading websites, like Yelp, Facebook, and Google Business.
4. Siri, Google Now, & Cortana: Understand Their Differences
Cortana, Siri, and Google Now all have to be taken into consideration when optimizing for voice search. Siri and Cortana are famous native interfaces. Because of this, some people think that Bing could potentially take over the voice search game. But that is not exactly the case. Looking at the actual data, the global market share of Android in 2016 was a whopping 83.7% and iOS only had 15.3%. Google search is and probably will stay dominant for the years to come, but that does not mean you should wipe out Bing in the picture totally.
Steps to Take:
In order to do optimization for the mass market, you can take Google as your main search engine target. If you want to gear your focus on Cortana and Siri, you may have to focus on Bing-related tactics.
These are the key differences between these two:
-
Keyword Optimization
Being prefers very specific keywords while Google is way better at semantic search approach.
-
Double-Meaning Searches
The search engine Bing focuses more on local results, and Google ranks the most popular topics first.
Conclusion
The principles of the traditional SEO game is actually just similar to the voice search space. You just have to focus on they key areas that make voice search distinct and do adjust your SEO campaign according to the main aspects that you have sorted out.
Work on the following:
- Use conversational-style phrasing
- Make sure your website is mobile-friendly
- Optimize using action-driven and local questions
- Add some microdata to your web pages
- Do understand the key similarities and differences of Siri, Cortana, and Google Now.
The concept of voice search is still yet to advance. For now, what you can do best is experiment on this opportunity and continue to move your SEO campaign forward. The results may not come in an instant, but as long as you exert efforts in advancing your SEO pursuit, success is just around the corner.
