As voice recognition technology has achieved greater accuracy, it’s become a more useful and popular search tool, especially on mobile devices. More people now conduct more online searches using voice commands – and get accurate search results. Voice search has emerged as a major digital marketing trend since Google’s voice recognition software achieved a 95% word accuracy rate for English, according to Mary Meeker’s annual Internet Trends Report.
“Voice commands are a great tool when you’re cooking and need to check a recipe but your hands are covered in flour,” says Chaitanya Chandrasekar, CEO and co-founder of advertising platform QuanticMind. “It’s also a popular hands-free method to get local business information while driving.”
People seek information about deals and sales, personalized tips, information about upcoming events and customer support. They want information about small local businesses as well as large companies operating nationally.
Most businesses optimize their websites for voice search as an afterthought, adjusting existing content to improve voice search results. “While that approach can be somewhat effective, it won’t be worthwhile in the long run,” Chandrasekar says. “If you really want to stand out from the crowd for search engines, you should consider voice search optimization when developing content from the beginning.”
Experts recommend these steps to optimize websites for voice search.
Find the right questions. Voice search is more conversational than text searches. Instead of typing a few words, searchers ask a complete sentence: How much does it cost to work with a PR firm? What kinds of results can I expect from a PR firm? The key is to find questions consumers ask related to your keyword.
SEO tools can help. Answer the Public produces a list of commonly asked questions related to your keyword. Google’s “People Also Ask” feature generates related questions when you type in a question. The Related Keywords tool in SEMrush helps identify phrases related to your keywords.
Answer questions. Include specific questions that customers ask and deliver precise answers in a question and answer format. Link frequently asked questions on your FAQ page to major sections of your site to integrate them into the site’s structure. Another option is to include the questions and answers on relevant pages.
“Based on how content is conveyed to the user, marketers must ensure that landing pages are designed in a specific way to showcase long tail keywords and a short, yet comprehensive response to the voice result to easily find it,” stresses digital marketing consultant Chris Giarratana.
Organize questions. Organize questions into categories and link them to content relevant to stages in the buyer’s journey. Internet marketing expert Benu Aggarwal, president and founder of Milestone Inc. cites three categories:
- Informational intent (guides and how-to content),
- Navigational intent (store locations, services, press releases, customer service info) and
- Transactional intent (videos, product information, comparisons, product stories).
Understand the searchers intent. “Voice search is all about the user, the user’s intent and the user’s challenges in articulating the query,” states SEO expert Amanda G. Watlington, CEO of City Square Consulting, in Target Marketing. Create pages and copy that mirror users’ intents.
Optimize local listings. Location plays a significant role in voice search results for large companies as well as mom and pop stores. Make sure information on Google My Business, Yelp and other local listings is complete and accurate. Respond to all reviews and encourage customers to leave reviews.
SEO actions. Create a sitemap and submit it to Google Search Console if you haven’t already. Also use structured data (schema) markup. Structured data markup helps create metadata for content that tells Google about the content but doesn’t affect how the content appears for users, Chandrasekar explains.
Optimize for mobile. Because most voice searches are conducted on mobile phones, it’s essential to optimize your site for mobile devices. That means optimizing site speed, making sure search engines can find content on a mobile search, and avoiding Flash, which is not supported by many mobile devices.
Alexa Skills and Google Actions. Consider developing Actions on the Google App or building custom skills in Alexa. But don’t create an app just for the sake of voice optimization, Chandrasekar cautions. Create one that people will use – one that meets the needs of customers and Alexa or Google Assistant.
Bottom Line: As popularity of voice search explodes, digital marketers are scrambling to optimize their websites for voice search. Marketers will have a key role to play in creating and organizing content that answers customers’ questions.
William J. Comcowich founded and served as CEO of CyberAlert LLC, the predecessor of Glean.info. He is currently serving as Interim CEO and member of the Board of Directors. Glean.info provides customized media monitoring, media measurement and analytics solutions across all types of traditional and social media.
