Optimizing Search for an Increasingly Voice-Driven World

The method I’m referring to is optimizing your content for voice search.

According to Google, 20% of all mobile search queries are voice search, and Forrester states that 66.3% of households will have smart speakers by 2022. ComScore states that approximately half of smartphone users use voice technology. They also claim that a third of those users use voice technology on a daily basis.

It's time to start optimizing your content for voice search. However, optimizing for voice requires a different approach than traditional search engine optimization.

The first thing to remember is that voice search queries are longer than text search queries. For example, text searches are usually 1-3 words while voice searches are about 3-5 words long. Hence, when doing keyword research, you need to think about lengthier long-tail keywords.

Additionally, voice searches are more conversational. They contain trigger words like how, what, when, who, where, best, or why. For example, when people conduct a voice search, their query is in the form of a question. They may ask something like, "Alexa, where is O8 located?"

You may have noticed featured snippets when searching for something on Google. A featured snippet is a concise answer to your question. It contains a summarized answer from the site and a link to the page containing the answer. Also, the featured snippet has a greater chance of appearing in voice search. Thus, appearing in a featured snippet spot can be invaluable to your SEO efforts.

There are several things you can do to increase your chances of becoming a featured snippet. Make sure to write your content in conversational language and use trigger words. Also, write posts that answer a specific question and use headings (H1, H2, H3). Furthermore, use unique title and description tags on each page. Finally, you should include keywords at the beginning of your posts and within the page’s URL.

There are a few SEO tools that can help you optimize your pages for showing up in featured snippets. SEMrush and Moz Pro allow you to search competitors for featured snippets. Finally, you should add a schema markup to your site. At a basic level, schema tells search engines what your pages are about. Google makes that information searchable by voice assistants. Thus, schema can increase the chances of your content showing up in voice searches.

The time is now to start optimizing for voice search. You can gain a competitive edge by optimizing for voice, but that advantage will not last forever. If you don't have time to optimize for voice yourself, or could use someone to bounce ideas off of, send us a note. We're happy to help.