Voice search is a more advanced way of searching. It is widely becoming popular among mobile users and is right around the corner for being the fastest and convenient way of finding any information via the internet. Whether it is finding out the score of the game or finding the closest Italian restaurant, voice search is now revolutionizing the mobile industry. People are finding it easier to just speak into their phone rather than typing. So how does this affect SEO? Well, it affects it in many ways. This is where voice search optimization comes in.
Voice search is an important topic when it comes to SEO service. That is slowly becoming the future of search because of the increase in mobile users and the convenience it has to offer. Voice search works when a user speaks to a virtual assistant, it recognizes and understands what the user is saying and then provides results verbally. It is no secret that as time goes on, things change. Similarly, the way people search for things has changed over time. It is important to keep up with the trends in order to have the most successful SEO.
Importance of Voice Search Optimization
In this section, the author discusses the impact of voice search on the current information retrieval scenario. The author begins by discussing the widespread use of smartphones in everyday life. Many smartphone users now use their phone’s virtual assistant (such as Google Now, Siri, or S Voice) to perform searches without the need to use their fingers to type. The author states that virtual assistant users are the most likely to be carrying out voice searches. I would be interested to know what data the author has to back up this claim. The author goes on to claim that it will soon be a necessity for any company looking to stay competitive in the market to have a functional mobile app, due to the rapid migration from desktop to mobile searches. These broad claims are somewhat hard to believe. While it is true that there has been a moderate increase in the use of mobile devices for internet browsing, similar claims were made around 5 years ago concerning the need for mobile websites. What research can the author provide to substantiate these claims? The most compelling argument presented in this section is that voice search can act as a meta tool increasing the efficiency of all other tools and devices. An interesting example is given of a factory worker being able to avoid the high opportunity cost of pulling out a smartphone to look up a solution to a problem that voice search could quickly provide.
Benefits of Voice Search Optimization
Understand intent: Voice search capabilities are getting better and better at understanding the intent behind the spoken word. This means that optimizing for voice search will likely have an impact on general search visibility. Google’s Search Console has already started showing voice query data, and if the use of voice search grows, it is likely this will become more detailed.
Voice search is great for the multi-tasker. Someone who can speak a search into their smartphone while completing a household task or writing an email will receive information without having to stop what they are doing to look at search results. This provides a more convenient way to attain the same information.
Local search: As many are aware, local businesses are becoming more and more concerned about their rankings in search engines. This generates voice spoken results as an important variable in local business. This might have a lot to do with the tie-in to mobile, but we have found that nearly 56% of on-the-go searches have local intent. Users that are utilizing mobile voice search are most likely trying to locate a nearby business.
With voice search being a hot topic in the industry, we find many questioning the discrepancies and what this means for SEO. Below are just some of the reasons why voice is becoming a go-to in search:
Understanding Voice Search
Once the digital assistant has successfully understood what the user is saying, it will then seek to determine what the user wants. This can be a simple process in the case of a command or can involve the digital assistant asking further questions in order to define the request. In the context of search, the assistant essentially needs to determine the query that the user wants to ask. This can be one of the most difficult parts of the process, as it requires reasoning skills to understand the user’s intent and may require the assistant to draw on contextual information to get the right answer.
When a user speaks a query into a voice search enabled device, the digital assistant that is built into the device, mobile app, or search engine (i.e. Google App, Siri, Cortana) will begin to process what the user has said. The voice is changed into a digital signal, which is then compared to the stored data to recognize what the user is saying. This is known as automatic speech recognition (ASR) or speech to text (STT), and is the first step of the process.
Voice search is a speech recognition technology that allows you to speak a query and get an answer. It recognizes what you are saying, transforms it into text, conducts a search, and then returns the answer.
How Voice Search Works
In order to understand how to effectively optimize for voice search, it is important to understand how voice search functions. In a speech recognition system, spoken words are not simply identified and transcribed, but also understood. When a user speaks into a device, the audio is encoded and stored as a digital file. This file is then put through acoustic signal processing which breaks it down spectrographically in order to identify the fundamental frequency. This is then compared against a large database of linguistic signal of all the possible spoken words in order to identify the most probable sequence of words. Once the sequence of words has been obtained, this is passed through a language model which will help to determine what was said based on possible word sequences in a specific language. This then often requires a search on the internet for the identified words using a standard search engine. This can occur through a variety of methods including an XML request to a proprietary API, scraping/indexing of search engine data or via direct database access. Steps are being taken to move away from using external search engines where companies are attempting to use their own speech recognition databases to provide search results.
Popular Voice Search Assistants
The two most popular voice search assistants are Apple’s Siri and the Google Voice Search. Siri has been out a little longer and it comes standard as a feature on the new iPhone 4S. Siri is a beta application that is constantly learning and adapting to your voice, therefore it is still a little rough around the edges. Siri can be used to send messages, schedule events and reminders, search the internet and much more. Siri is built to understand users’ normal voice pattern and over time it will utilize this data to interact with the user in a more personal manner. It has been said that Siri is a precursor to a higher level artificial intelligence and it will help users with a vast array of tasks both online and offline in the future. Google Voice Search, in comparison, is a more stripped down and to the point application. With Google Search, you can still ask your phone anything you would normally type into the search bar and it will happen in the upcoming Knowledge Graph update where Google will be moving from semantics-based search to word relativity-based search. Currently, the application is only set to do search queries and will support a few more languages than Siri. Changes to the iPad and Android offline voice typing bring potential for greater voice support on more mobile devices. Google aims to be able to answer any question anywhere, and voice search will be a part of providing accurate answers to those questions.
Impact of Voice Search on SEO
Due to this trend, SEO personnel understands that consumers will begin to shift from typing to oral and more searchers will begin an inquiry via voice. Ultimately, voice search users will begin to adapt to the same categorizations of search queries and it will influence the way content is created. This will affect the queries into questions as the searchers will be demanding specific answers stated and will not infer data that is required for specific questions. Voice search snippets are not a paid ad nature and have a higher chance of getting clicks. SEO personnel will need to optimize the content to increase chances of voice snippets. This will aid the usefulness of voice search and a voice-enabled search obviously eliminates the usage of a written search. Voice search is more appropriate than manual search and it is definitely for the visually impaired or those who are multitasking. These devices and those who are afflicted underscore the aspect of creating websites that are more user-friendly and voice search. In addition, voice search includes the global market and all nations using multi-languages will seek the convenience brought by voice input. This will result in the required expansion of SEO to include multi-language-site optimization and more the content area such as video and audio files. With quality voice device translations, it is even possible that the language choice of the next generation will differ.
Voice search is already impacting search query volumes. Then, followers gathered by a research were cleft into age groups, voice search users and non-voice search users. It was observed that the young generations are considerably adapted to changes to oral search. The primary modes of searching for the young generations were the engine, followed by voice-enabled search for the usage of mobile and PC devices. As for the adult searchers, they are more included to seek for information mobile-mounted app and tablet with voice search. There is an obvious trend where generations are beginning to adapt to voice search and in time to come it will switch the primacy of written between the adult mass of today. Google categorizes search queries into 3 different categories of informational, navigational, and transactional. It was understood that voice search tends to concentrate on informational queries and location-based information seeking.
Optimizing Your Website for Voice Search
It is recommendable to update meta data by adding or changing the current page titles or meta descriptions to better reflect the conversational phrasing and questions that your potential customers will be asking when they need your product or service. After you have edited your meta data, using Schema.org markup on question and FAQ pages will be an additional tactic to potentially increase visibility of these pages for answering questions on voice search.
Consumers using voice search tend to use a more conversational tone or question phrasing when they ask for our website, services, or information. Because of this, the focus on long-tail keyword phrases increases when compared to the shorter text phrases of conventional searches. Long-tail keywords are typically used throughout website copy to increase search visibility from landing pages. With voice-enabled devices now in play, you will need to adapt long-tail keyword tactics to your meta data strategy for the purpose of expressing what’s on each specific page of your website.
Voice search is revolutionizing the way mobile users perform searches, providing immense challenges and opportunities for change in the way we market and optimize websites. Voice search queries are different from text queries, so it’s important to understand this and implement a strategy to ensure your website is prepared for the inevitable growth it’s going to make in the next few years.
Keyword Research for Voice Search
Voice searches are longer and more conversational than typed searches. This typically translates into a greater use of question words (who, what, where, when, why, how). Research has shown question-based queries begin with who, what, when, and where, and contain a higher incidence of adverbs or adverbial phrases than in non-question-based queries. An easier way to understand this is to look into the differences in how someone might ask a question, versus how they might phrase a statement on the same topic. For example, a user looking to find weather information at the weekend’s destination could phrase this as a statement, “I want to know the weather for my weekend trip,” or as a question, “What will the weather be at my destination this coming weekend?” These differences in queries have implications on the types of keywords website owners will target. The adverbial weather information querier is likely to focus on standard descriptive weather-related phrases. However, the weekend traveler may want to target some location-specific weather information as well. Both parties should identify relevant keywords and speak them into devices to determine the most common search queries and the results. Keep in mind the average cost to improve rankings for voice search will vary depending on the competitiveness of keywords. This will also be true about general SEO.
Creating Voice-Friendly Content
Firstly, long-tail keyword phrases must be exploited… literally. When using voice search, many users adopt a conversational style of speech. For example, a person using a text-based search might type ‘best pizza London’, with the voice alternative being ‘What is the best place to eat pizza in London?’. Due to this, content for voice search should mimic the way search queries are spoken. To exploit these queries, questions and phrases should be used as subheadings within the content. FAQ pages can also be valuable, since voice search questions often begin with who, what, where, when, why and how.
Creating voice-friendly content is a crucial step for improving your website’s search ranking. After all, the data from Backlinko concludes that the average Google Voice Search result is written at a 9th grade level. This is no surprise. Google needs to extract data from websites and display a snippet which answers the question. By creating high quality, authoritative content, you increase your chances of securing the coveted position 0! But how do we make content voice friendly? After all, SEO has always had a solid focus on keyword targeting.
Structured Data Markup for Voice Search
The importance of structured data has gained prevalence in the SEO community due to its associated future-friendly component. With structured data, webmasters are essentially providing interactions to search engines so that content can be represented in new and surprising ways. Anytime webmasters provide implicit information to search engines, it is generally regarded as a positive influence on search engine behavior. This is the basis for an ongoing SEO test as webmasters will try to “feed” search engines as much information as possible in order to clarify a site’s subject material. With structured data, the data fed to search engines is not only explicitly clear, but it is organized with precision.
Before we dive into the nitty-gritty of structured data, let’s first understand what this vocabulary means. Structured data refers to a specific kind of information that is highly organized and is presented in a predictable pattern. One of the primary examples of structured data is a data table, where data is organized in a very predictable manner. Other forms of structured data include audio and video data that can feed rich snippets, which are interactive tools that enhance the usability or usefulness of a website. Rich snippets can take many forms such as event listings, review aggregations, or recipes that provide users with an interactive widget directly on the search results page.
Mobile Optimization for Voice Search
As the majority of voice searches are done on a mobile device, mobile optimization of your website is crucial for voice search. In fact, it is no surprise that Google included mobile friendliness as a ranking signal in its search algorithm. Firstly, you will want to ensure your website is mobile friendly by taking the Google Mobile-Friendly Test. If your website does not pass this test, it could mean that it may not rank well in Google search results and in turn, may not be included in search results done by voice with Google Assistant. This is particularly important for local businesses that are aiming to rank in local voice search results on mobile devices. Keep in mind you can also monitor mobile usability problems in the Mobile Usability report in Google Search Console as seen in the example below. This allows you to identify issues tripping up the mobile experience for your site, so that you can take steps and improve this for voice search.
Voice Search Best Practices
What really makes the Google conversational search effective is the contextual continual search, which compiles results on the fly to create an informed answer. This is ideal for the nature of FAQ pages, which now could see an increase in traffic due to the change. This enables results that don’t have a defined answer (such as “can I eat eggs if I have high cholesterol”) to compile from the information from the page’s metadata. So, is this the future of search? Well, it has the potential to be so. The severe rise of mobile device usage has influenced conversational search, and if webmasters follow this Voice Search Optimization guide, their content will be ready.
In present day, answers returned by Google tend to be informative, however, to put it simply, unimaginative. If you enter a search (using a keyboard) on “how to tie a tie,” which has a high search volume of 301,000 global monthly searches, the results are normal and one way, with no style.
Providing Clear and Concise Answers
Various sorts of questions will necessitate different types of content. For instance, a simple fact-based question may not require a long-winded explanation. Rather, a concise but comprehensive answer would be the most useful. On the other hand, a question concerning various conflicting topics or opinions could possibly be best addressed through a comparison and contrast analysis. In this case, it will be beneficial to provide a link to a separate, more extensive article. In any case, the quality, credible content is the essence of the informational website, and answering the patron’s question must take precedence.
When providing answers to user queries, it’s essential to provide clear, direct answers. To determine candidate answers, construct a listing of attainable inquiries that may be asked by your target audience. Typically, website content will provide potential solutions without really answering the question that was implied. Think about the frequent misunderstandings that a layperson might have in regards to the matter, and particularly address these within the informational content. A really effective method to determine specific questions is to inquire of your audience. This can be done by posing questions to your readers or, in case your website has high traffic volume, by conducting a survey.
Using Natural Language and Conversational Tone
Finally, it’s important to satisfy the user with valuable content. One of the goals of natural language queries is to speak the first result aloud directly from the SERP and trust that it answers the user’s query, possibly resulting in a conversion. Webmasters must ensure that their content is well-researched and directly answers a query with no ambiguity. If the user has done a search for “inventor of the airplane” and the question is answered with the simple statement being Samuel Pierpont Langley, the user will likely repeat the search until they are given a better answer. This may result in an increase of long clicks and a decrease in SERP CTR, which could indicate lower quality content to search engines. By utilizing natural language and properly answering questions in a conversational tone, user trust in content will increase, and they will be more satisfied with the content they are hearing.
As with all voice search optimization strategies, using a conversational tone is a best practice that should be extended to all existing content and new content as it is being developed. This means using language and phrasing that is natural and easy to understand—avoiding overly formal content or industry-specific jargon that may not translate well to voice search queries. Webmasters should be looking to inject the content with personality and to imagine they are having a conversation with the user. This could involve asking and answering questions related to the topic at hand, telling stories or anecdotes that help to illustrate a point, or using humor or wit to entertain the user. At all times, the language used should focus on proper grammar and pronunciation and be something that can be easily read aloud from start to finish without any linguistic hiccups. This is very important as voice search queries are often accompanied by a spoken grammatically correct question such as who, what, where, when, why.
Optimizing for Local Voice Search
Consider adding a “locator” schema on your website. This code can help search engines provide data to users more effectively about nearby locations. This is commonly used for businesses with multiple physical locations. For example, if a user has a Pizza Hut app on their phone and they use voice search to say “what’s the closest Pizza Hut to me?” they may get a map-like result with several locations presented. This data could also be presented in the future through audio means, so it’s useful to set this up now.
The first thing you can do is register for a Google My Business account (if you’re a brick and mortar business). This can help Google find your business and provide data to users when they look up your business name. This is especially beneficial for appearing as a result for the “what’s the best pizza place near me” type searches.
Just a quick note before we get started: all the methods described in section 4 apply to making content more friendly for voice search. Features in your voice search profile are generated automatically.
Voice searches are inherently more local in nature; the user is typically looking for something nearby. Therefore, local optimization is crucial for voice search. In fact, according to the Thrive Analytics study, 22% of voice searches are for local content. This is a great opportunity for local businesses. Here are several things you can do to optimize for local voice search.
Monitoring and Analyzing Voice Search Performance
Monitoring your voice search performance is essential for your strategy to stay updated with the constantly evolving technology and language processing. One of the main ways we monitor voice search performance is by checking the traffic of the page. You want to see if there has been an increase or decrease in traffic coming from organic search. A decrease in organic traffic could indicate that your page is not appearing as a featured snippet; it might have been overtaken by a competitor, or the device might be reading the featured snippet from another website. Currently, there is no direct method for tracking traffic coming specifically from voice search so you may need to look deeper into traffic sources and conduct regular checks to see if it is voice search traffic. You can also use rank tracking software to monitor for changes to the featured snippet position and the page’s overall ranking. It is also important to monitor the types of queries that are leading to visits to your page and this can be done by checking the search terms in search console. If the search terms are not relevant to the content on your page then it may need further optimization to provide better context for the search engines. This check is also important for monitoring the effectiveness of local voice search. If the queries are for local businesses or services then the information provided needs to have more geo-specific relevance.
