Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is undergoing rapid change.

Whether you realise it or not, voice search will account for 50% of all online searches, and that percentage is steadily rising.

Now is the moment to optimise your website for voice searches if you haven’t already.

Why?

Voice search is the future, after all.

Did you know that speech-activated commerce is expanding quickly and that by 2024, there will be 8.40 billion devices with digital voice AI assistants such as Alexa?

If you wish to compete in the future, we hope that this has persuaded you to optimise your website for voice search. So let’s get into the specifics.

What is SEO for voice searches?

First, let’s discuss voice search.

By using speech recognition technology called “voice search,” a person can speak a search query into a gadget.

Simply put, voice search enables a user to conduct an Internet search using voice commands. In other words, it enables users to conduct searches on a computer or smartphone by speaking.

People can utilise a variety of systems to browse the internet using their voice. Google Assistant, Microsoft Cortana, Apple Siri, Amazon Alexa, Samsung Bixby, and other digital assistants are examples.

Let’s now discuss SEO for voice searches.

Search by voice SEO is involved with optimizing your content for voice assistants. Finding those terms that people use for voice search therefore is crucial for you. With a voice search, people utilise different keywords to look for information online. For instance, while utilising voice search, people can ask, “What is the nearest hospital near me?” instead of typing, “Hospital nearby me.”

Do you realise?

People frequently utilise “elaborated i.e., long-tail keywords” in voice searches.

What are the advantages optimizing your website for voice search?

Listed are a few of the major benefits of voice search site optimization in 2023 and beyond.

Higher rankings: A research claims that approximately 75% of voice search results will appear in the top 3 results for a given query on a desktop search. As a result, if you’re optimising your content for voice assistants, search engines like Google will start sending you more visitors.

Improved authority: Once you start appearing for voice searches, your site’s authority will increase. Your website will be found via new audiences, increasing its overall organic visibility.

High revenue: If more people began accessing your website using voice searches, it would eventually increase your website’s revenues (or eCommerce profits).

So, are you prepared to learn about voice search SEO? Let’s check.

Voice Search Optimization: 7 Smart Ways to Optimize Your Website for Voice Search in 2023

1.Optimize for Google’s Rich Answer Box

Instead of displaying the top 10 search results, voice search will only provide ONE response. You will only receive one response, for example, if you use a smart voice control device like a Google Home or an Amazon Echo (i.e one result).

What then can you comprehend?

You must offer the biggest response to a user’s command if you want to maximise the benefits of voice search SEO.

Voice search is transforming SEO in that way. A fascinating case study on voice search was conducted by Backlinko, and they discovered that “Information that ranks highly in desktop search is also quite likely to surface as a voice search response. In fact, the top three results for that question account for around 75% of all voice search results.

This is true for serves as the medium voice search devices like Google Home, as they only return a single result (one result).

Fortunately, when consumers conduct voice searches on their smartphones, desktop computers, or laptops, they may select one of the top three items in the rankings—not always the first one.

Here is where “Rich Answers” content optimization really can come in handy.

Specify your optimization for featured snippets. A featured snippet is a condensed version of a user’s query’s resolution. It is taken from a web page together with the page’s title and URL and shown at the top of Google search results.

2.Utilise Question Based Keywords

Google aims to answer any questions that users pose when they conduct a search using a keyword term that contains a question. Google offers a brief response (also known as a “answer box” or “featured snippet”) when you look for a question-based phrase like “what is the population of the world?”.

Google processes user requests using “semantic search technology”.

The same semantic technique is used by Google’s “Searches related to” section to display pertinent keyword words at the end of search results.

In order to make your website voice search-friendly, start focusing on question-based keywords.

How can I locate keywords that are questions?

Using Google’s “Searches relevant to [your keyword]” suggestions can help you locate all the keywords your visitors are looking for and is the easiest (and free) way to find question-based keywords.

For instance, you can use the “Google searches related to” topic to figure out what queries people are really asking if you’re trying to rank for “how to clean Laptop”.

3.Pay Attention to Long-tail keywords

Did you realise that long-tail keywords account for 70% of searches?

Do you know why 70% of all online searches use long tail SEO? The majority of people are gravitating more and more towards long-tail searches since natural language processing (NLP) is expanding quickly.

Additionally, long-tail keywords account for 57% of purchases on major e-commerce websites like Amazon.

Here are some other justifications for using long-tail keywords in 2023.

• High conversion rates are offered by long-tail keywords.
• It is simpler to rank for them (because of less competition or monthly searches)
• Most of the time, ranking #1 for long tail keywords doesn’t need building a tonne of links.
• When conducting voice searches, people adopt long tail terms.

What is the best way to choose long-tail keywords for your niche?

Taking a broad subject and starting to type it into Google is one of the fastest ways to identify long tail keywords.

4.Make Conversational Content

The average Google voice search result is written at a 9th-grade reading level, did you know?

Content that is straightforward and simple to read may aid with voice search optimization.

Moreover, be sure to write conversational material.

Avoid using jargon. Avoid using a formal tone when writing. Write as you speak. The ideal method to prepare your content for search results is in this manner.

Here are some practical suggestions for producing conversational content that improves your voice search SEO.

• Solving a problem: Every time you create a blog post, try to find a solution to an issue. Choose one subject (or topic) to focus on for each individual post. Cover every aspect of the topic as you can.
• Make it look good: Make extensive use of graphics in your blog entries, including images, videos, and infographics.
• Tell a tale: Whenever you can, tell a tale. Tell us about your experiences. Stories help people feel something.
• Provide lengthy content: Did you know that extended articles often receive 77.2% more links than short ones? The statement that “long-form content always performs well in Google” is supported by a wealth of facts.

5.Adapt your Website to Mobile Devices

It makes sense to thoroughly optimise your website for mobile devices since the majority of voice searches take place on mobile.

The most crucial factor is that Google adopts mobile-first indexing.

Google has this to say about it: “Mobile-first indexing implies Google prefers to index and rank material that is best suited for mobile devices.”

Absolutely, there was a period when all search results were determined by the desktop version of your website (including your mobile rankings).

But, since the adoption of mobile-first indexing, only the quicker and more user-friendly mobile responsive sites are achieving first-page rankings in mobile search.

6.Increase the speed with which your website loads

Even Google dislikes slow-loading websites. In truth, Google encourages faster loading pages, therefore website speed is a ranking consideration.

The same is true for voice search SEO: you can improve your ranks by optimising your website’s page loading times and performance.

In fact, TTFB (Time To First Byte) is an important factor in increasing your Google rankings. The time to first byte is the amount of time that a website user must wait for the original reaction after requesting anything over the Internet.

Google discovered that mobile bounce rates are 9.56% greater than desktop bounce rates.

Smartphone users, particularly those who utilise voice search, have a shorter attention span. As a result, you must ensure that your website pages load rapidly, especially on mobile devices.

7.Enhance your local SEO

Did you know that 39% of voice searchers seek business information? Therefore, you can’t neglect local SEO since you need to optimise for local SEO rankings because consumers use voice searches to find local companies. As can be seen above, local firms with superior local SEO optimization can achieve higher organic rankings.

Local business indexes such as Yell, Yelp, Google My Business, and others can help you display customer ratings, business information, and so on.

These are some local search ranking elements that you should not overlook.

• At 41 words, Google Assistant provides the longest answers.
• While marketing for Google Assistant, businesses can use local SEO tactics.You can
• improve your ranking in Apple’s Siri by accumulating a high Yelp rating and positive customer feedback.

Establish a Google My Business (GMB) account if you want your company to appear in Google searches. Be certain that you submit accurate business information such as your name, location, and mobile number (NAP).

Conclusion

Voice search is not only an important part of today’s digital marketing scene; it is also the future. As search engines (primarily Google) and virtual assistants improve in understanding their users’ queries, they will deliver more and more accurate results.

Its precision, in turn, may encourage more people to use voice search rather than the time-consuming traditional search method.

As a result, if you want to have a competitive advantage, you should work on optimising your website and content for voice searches. We hope the actions indicated above will get you started in the right direction.