The way people search for information online is fundamentally changing. With the rise of virtual assistants like Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant, voice search is becoming an increasingly popular way to find what we need on the web. In fact, studies suggest that by 2022, voice search will account for over 50% of all online searches.

For businesses, this shift in search behaviour presents a new challenge: optimizing their websites for voice search.

What is Voice Search Optimization?

Voice search optimization (VSO) is the process of optimizing your website content and technical SEO to improve your ranking in voice search results.

Why is Voice Search Optimization Important?

There are several reasons why VSO is important for businesses:

• The rise of voice search: As mentioned earlier, voice search is becoming increasingly popular. If your website is not optimized for voice search, you could be missing out on a significant amount of traffic.
• Different search intent: Voice search queries tend to be more conversational and informational than traditional text-based queries. This means that you need to optimize your content for long-tail keywords and natural language phrases.
• Local search focus: Voice search is often used for local searches, such as “find the nearest pizza place” or “what are the hours of the library?”. Optimizing your website for local SEO is essential for capturing this type of voice traffic.

How to Optimize Your Website for Voice Search

There are a few key things you can do to optimize your website for voice search:

• Focus on long-tail keywords: Voice search queries tend to be longer and more conversational than text-based queries. For example, instead of targeting the keyword “pizza,” you might want to target the long-tail keyword “best pizza near me.”
• Optimize your content for natural language: People speak differently than they type. When optimizing your content for voice search, use natural language phrases and answer questions in a conversational way.
• Improve your website’s speed: Voice search results are often delivered through voice assistants, which means that users expect a fast and responsive website. Make sure your website loads quickly on all devices.
• Claim your Google My Business listing: If you have a brick-and-mortar business, claiming and optimizing your Google My Business listing is essential for improving your local search ranking and visibility in voice search results.
• Use schema markup: Schema markup is a type of code that you can add to your website to help search engines understand your content better. Schema markup can be helpful for improving your website’s visibility in voice search results.

By following these tips, you can optimize your website for voice search and ensure that you are reaching your target audience when they are searching for your products or services using their voice.

Additional Tips for Voice Search Optimization

• Use question and answer formats: When creating content, consider using a question-and-answer format, as this is how people naturally ask questions using voice search.
• Optimize your website for mobile: Since voice search is often conducted on mobile devices, it is important to ensure that your website is mobile-friendly.
• Focus on featured snippets: Featured snippets, also known as answer boxes, are short summaries that appear at the top of search results pages. Optimizing your content for featured snippets can help you improve your visibility in voice search results.

By following these additional tips, you can further improve your voice search optimization efforts and ensure that your website is seen (or rather, heard) by more potential customers.

Voice search is a powerful new trend that businesses can’t afford to ignore. By optimizing your website for voice search, you can ensure that you are reaching your target audience when they are searching for your products or services. With a little effort, you can make your website voice search friendly and take advantage of this exciting new opportunity.

Let Narayan Digital Help You with Voice Search Optimization

At Narayan Digital, we are experts in SEO and can help you optimize your website for voice search. We can help you with keyword research, content creation, and technical SEO to improve your website’s ranking in voice search results.

Contact us today to learn more about our voice search optimization services!