By 2021,
30% of all website sessions will be performed without a screen, i.e., using
voice aids and voice commands.
It turns
out that Voice Search only allows users to browse the Internet and consumer
information without actually having to scroll through websites on desktop and
mobile devices. This new technology may be the key to successful brands in the
future.
What is
Voice Search?
Voice
Search essentially allows users to speak to a device rather than typing keywords
into a search query to generate results.
Voice
technology uses speech recognition to understand what users are saying very
precisely and then provides the results orally to the user.
Although it
sounds like a completely new concept, voice search technology has been around
for a while, programs like speech to text and voice calling are great examples
of voice search.
Besides,
all programs such as Google Assistant, Siri, Microsoft Cortana, and Amazon Alexa
use voice search capabilities.
While specific
devices can be optimized for voice search, brands, platforms, and websites can
also be improved.
For
example, Amazon Alexa can seamlessly search for Spotify music stock, get
instant answers from Wikipedia, or shop on Amazon quickly, explaining how some
brands choose to improve their interface to be compatible with Voice Search.
How does
voice search affect SEO in general?
Voice
Search dramatically improves the user experience, and by 2020, half of the internet
searches will be done through Voice Search.
Due to its
heavy use, search engines like Google place more emphasis on improving voice
search.
After all,
the goal of SEO is to rank websites accurately so that users can find the best
information for their search queries as quickly as possible. The user
experience is ultimate at the forefront of search engine optimization.
By January
2018, there had been an average of one billion voice searches every month,
proving that voice search was increasing.
But it is
important to remember that SEO Voice and SEO traditional websites are two
different, so some factors that influence website ranking may or may not have
the same effect on Voice Search and vice versa.
Fortunately,
there are a few tips that can help you balance the SEO strategies and your
website's ranking for search and voice search.
4 tips for
improving voice search
When users
use Voice Search, they usually hope to complete an action such as playing a
song or buying a product or information about a topic.
But despite
the different intentions, Google uses the same algorithm to classify sites,
here are 4 simple steps to improve your voice search rankings, regardless of
your goal.
First: make
sure your website loads quickly
Just like
traditional SEO, Google Voice search prefers fast-loading websites, ensuring:
Your site
responds and works well on mobile devices.
The images
are improved.
The files
are compressed.
Website
buffering is used to improve page speed.
The server
response time is reduced.
And other
tasks that speed up traditional sites.
Second:
Write the way you speak.
When users
search for content on their desktop or mobile device, they tend to type in
almost short phrases; for example, if a user wants to find a great web designer,
he can write "the most important web design company" in Google.
But if they
use voice search, the user might say, "Who are the biggest web design
companies in the world?"
To ensure
that your content improves voice search, include those long, seemingly more
natural keywords compared to faster and more fast keywords that work well on
desktop SEO.
Keep the
phrases short and simple. The voice search results are usually written at the
ninth grade reading level at most, so although your information may be
high-level, divide it in a way that anyone can easily understand.
Professional
advice: Although the phrases should be short, great content is still
better-ranked both in Voice Search and in traditional search listings.
Third:
include distinct blocks of content
The average
voice search result is about 29 words, although we know that shorter answers
perform better, so how can we ensure the content that Google will select and
read to users?
Create a
great snippet, of course!
Featured
Snippet - also called the Quick Answers or Answers box, is basically a brief
answer from a webpage, in desktop search listings. These snippets appear only
after paid ads but before organic search results.
To improve
your content for a great snippet, include a summary of the main content above
the fold on the page under 29 words.
Sections
using H tags, menus and points can be easily read by Google and thus work well.
Plus, be sure to include long keywords in the featured snippet.
Focus on
local searches
22% of
voice search queries to search for geo-based content, so brands have a greater
chance of producing voice search content if they invest in local content.
Try using phrases like "near me" or
insert the geographical map into a webpage.