Imagine you've finally started ranking on the first page of Google, and you're getting some traffic. But you still aren't quite at the top, and you know you could get more views.
Before you try new SEO tactics, consider voice search optimization services. Then, you can take advantage of people using their voice to search, and you may get more traffic and customers.
Table of Contents
What Is Voice Search Optimization?
Voice search optimization is similar to search engine optimization (SEO), but you focus on attracting people who use voice search. It has a lot of similar best practices that you can follow.
However, voice search optimization can be a lot more competitive. A lot of companies will hire voice search optimization services to increase the chances of their result being the one the voice assistant shares.
And you can optimize for voice & visual search without compromising one or the other. Because if you can optimize your content for voice search, you can optimize it for general search as well.
How Does Voice Search Work?
An important part of voice search optimization is knowing how the process works. Of course, it requires the user to speak their question or query rather than type it in on their computer or phone.
Voice search can work on those devices, but it can also work on devices like Google Home or Alexa. You will need to trigger the device in question to listen to your question, and you can ask it to search for you.
The device will then read the top result back to you. Ideally, the first result would answer your question, and you can either click on the link to learn more or go about your day.
What Is Conversational Search?
One of the biggest ways how voice search is changing SEO is by making searches more conversational. Most people speak in a different way than they type, especially when it comes to searching for something.
People may ask more questions or use full sentences when they use voice search. On the other hand, they might use choppier keywords when typing.
So if you want to rank in Google or YouTube voice search, you'll need to target conversational keywords. That way, you can get your content to show up higher in search results.
How to Get the Featured Snippet
Whether you want to rank on YouTube, WordPress, or Shopify, voice search can be very competitive. Voice assistants don't give as many results as a standard Google search.
For example, Siri on iPhone may show three results when you use voice. If you use a device like an Amazon Echo, it will tell you what the top result shows for your query.
Meanwhile, a visual search on Google will display the top 10 results on the first page. To take advantage of voice search, the top 10 isn't good enough.
The featured snippet is often what voice assistants will pull since it's the top result. Luckily, you can do a few things to increase your chances of getting the featured snippet for a given question or keyword.
Research Keywords
Whether you want to focus on voice search or general SEO, you need to choose good keywords. However, your keyword strategy for voice search will be a bit different.
You should focus on long-tail keywords, which have more words but are less competitive. Long-tail keywords can be full questions, or they may be shorter phrases.
Either way, they're more specific. For example, a short-tail keyword could be the word "shoes." But a long-tail keyword would be something like "how to find your shoe size" or "how do you find your shoe size."
Long-tail keywords may not get as much search volume, but you can make sure the keywords are directly relevant to your business. Then, when someone does search for that, your result may show up, and the person may become a customer.
Create Quality Content
The next step in your voice search marketing strategy is to use the keywords you found to create content. You should make sure the content is authoritative, but it also needs to be conversational.
While you may optimize the content for one keyword or phrase, you can rank for other keywords. Using the shoe example, you may optimize for "how to find your shoe size," but you can also include "how do you find your shoe size" as a question.
Then, you'll be able to show up higher in search results for both voice & visual search. Being conversational can also help visitors relate to you, so they may start to trust you more.
But don't let being conversational keep you from making the content good quality. Even if you're conversational, the page may not rank highly if the content isn't trustworthy.
Organize the Content
You should also think about how to organize the content to help tell Google about the topic. If you just write the content without any organization, it can be hard for search engines and people to understand it.
Try to include plenty of white space to make the content easy to read in case someone using voice search clicks on it. But you also want to use some organization to help get the featured snippet.
For example, if your content naturally lends itself to a bullet or number list, include that. A lot of featured snippets will have lists of some kind since they're easy to consume by reading or listening.
Write Good Subheadings
As you organize the content of a blog post or page, you should include subheadings. Not only will this make the content easier to read, but it can tell search engines more about your content.
You can also make some of the headings more conversational to help rank in voice search. Take the second heading of this article, which is "how does voice search work" instead of "how voice search works."
More people will probably ask a question when using voice search, so questions are great to use as headers. But if you write a list post, add numbers to your headers.
Then, Google may show those headings as a number list if you make the featured snippet. Voice assistants can read off the headings to people using voice search.
Include Questions
If you want to show up in more voice search results, you should include questions. As mentioned, it's good to include questions as headings when you can.
However, you may want to start adding a frequently asked question section to your content. Then, you may be able to rank highly in search results or even land the featured snippet spot for those questions.
That can help you get more clicks from voice search users. And you don't have to worry about creating separate posts on every question just to try and get traffic.
Update Your Google My Business
If you have a Google My Business (GMB) profile, be sure to update it whenever you have changes. For now, you should fill out as many fields as possible with your location, hours, and contact information.
Google tends to favor local results in voice search, so local and voice search marketing can work well together. The more information your GMB profile has, the better Google will be able to use it.
Then, you may start to show up in voice searches from local customers. Even if your business is online, this can be an excellent way to increase your traffic from search results.
The Rise of Voice Search
Voice search is becoming more popular by the year. Google claims that about 20% of searches in the Google app are voice searches, and odds are good that the percentage will continue to increase.
There are many reasons for this increase, and they all relate to convenience and accessibility. Of course, blind people may tend to prefer voice search because they may speak faster than they type.
However, other people can choose to use voice search when they don't have a free hand. For example, if you're in the middle of kneading dough, you may want to use voice search for a quick question.
If you break your hand or if you have arthritis or carpal tunnel, you might also choose to use voice search. For whatever reason, voice search is going to grow.
Don't let your business and website lose out on traffic because you don't keep up with a trend.
Benefits of Voice Search Optimization Services for Your Business
As more people use voice search, you should include it in your SEO strategy. If you don't know where to start, you can look into some of the best voice search optimization services to help.
Yes, hiring can be scary, and it can be hard to guarantee results, especially if your customers also use voice search optimization. But it's well worth exploring VSO to make sure you can attract traffic and customers.
Consider some of the ways that voice search optimization services and VSO in general can help your business.
Better Brand Awareness
If a voice assistant pulls your website as a search result, you can get more eyes on your content. You may be able to show up for people who have never heard of your business.
But if your result is helpful and provides the information the user needs, they may remember your brand. And if they start to search for similar topics, your website may come up more and more.
At some point, the casual user may decide to visit your website to learn more. Then, they could move down your sales funnel and become a customer.
You can build brand awareness at any time, even if you don't have anything to sell yet. If you set up something like email marketing, you'll have a list of people who will be ready to buy.
More Visibility
Along with brand awareness, voice search optimization can help you get more visibility. If you only rely on general SEO, you may get some visibility, which can help grow your business.
However, you may also limit your visibility as more people rely on voice search. That's particularly true if your target customers are more likely to use voice search than the average user.
Be sure to work on voice search optimization to get your content in front of more people. That way, you can focus on converting those users into visitors and then into clients or customers.
Visibility is also nice because it can get your content in front of people outside of your target audience. Maybe someone is shopping for a gift and they buy from you. Or they might talk about your business to someone they know who is in your audience.
Attract Local Customers
If you have a local business, voice search can do a lot of good for your local SEO strategy. When you conduct a voice search, Google will try to bring up local results if it can.
This can help you show up in search for people in your area. For example, someone may search for a restaurant while they're walking to their car for lunch.
Your restaurant website may show up in the results of that search. If the person wants to eat the type of food you have to sell, you may get an extra customer without a ton of extra work.
Even if your business is online, you can take advantage of local traffic. Then, you may choose to meet with clients in-person to discuss their needs and close a sale.
Answer Questions Quickly
Voice search optimization services can help you optimize your content for questions. Then, you'll be able to show up in a voice search result and answer someone's question as quickly as possible.
If you don't know how to write your content or titles, a service can help. The company will help you figure out which questions are common and how you can write a short answer that covers what someone may want to know.
While you can write the content yourself, you may not know how to optimize questions and answers. Working with a service can take a lot of the stress off you and help you increase your chances of showing up in voice search results.
Showcase Your Expertise
Getting to rank in voice search can help you tell users that you're an expert. For example, a shoe store may rank for questions about shoe sizing and fit.
You can write content that shows you know what you're talking about when it comes to shoes. The more you show up in voice search, the more you can prove to people that you're a good source for that subject.
Even if someone doesn't click on your site, they may start to see your site pop up for similar queries. Soon enough, they may decide to check out your website and buy from you.
Build Trust
Voice search optimization also gives you the chance to get people to trust you. By including an authoritative answer, you can show others that your business is legitimate.
Then, you can use your website to continue building that trust with your ideal customers. As people click around your website, they can see all of your services and products and learn that you're the best in the industry.
While you can build trust with visual search, voice search can give you an advantage. If someone uses voice search, they won't have to click through a ton of websites to get to yours, so you may not have to work as hard to get that initial click.
Good Customer Experience
You may do your best to optimize your site for voice search, but the work doesn't stop there. A good SEO company can also help you work on the rest of your website.
That way, you can provide a good user experience to the people who trust you enough to click. Because a lot of people use voice search on mobile devices, you want to make sure your website is responsive.
The last thing you want is to get a lot of search traffic that results in a high bounce rate because your site unusable. If that happens, Google may take notice, and you could lose your spot at the top of search results.
Be sure to hire voice search optimization services that can also help with your website. Then, you'll be able to improve both so that they can work together.
Increase Website Traffic
Another, more obvious, benefit is that voice search optimization may help you get more website traffic. By showing up in more search results, you'll have a better chance of getting clicks and views.
You can use voice search as part of your overall SEO strategy to help get more people to click on your site. If you only show up in visual search, you may get some traffic.
But as more people use voice search, you may lose out on more traffic. Sure, your loyal fans may continue to click on your links or search for your website specifically.
However, if you want to attract new leads to your site, you need to use voice search optimization. Then, you can attract as many potential customers as possible.
More Sales and Revenue
As you get more clicks to your website, you may be able to get more sales and generate more revenue. Clicks don't guarantee sales, so you may not see a ton of results.
However, consider that voice search tends to be very specific. If you sell handbags for moms, someone might click on your site when searching for gift ideas for their mother.
In that case, you may have an easy time converting the visitor into a sale. At the very least, that conversion will be a lot easier than trying to convert someone who is searching for handbags in general.
Plus, the more traffic you get, the more chances you'll have to get people to buy from you. Then, you may bring in more revenue from your voice search marketing efforts.
Higher Conversion Rate
Your conversion rate refers to the percentage of people who take a certain action on your site. A brick-and-mortar business may track things like reservations or emails.
Meanwhile, an eCommerce store might track email sign-ups and purchases. No matter what you want to track, voice search may help you increase your conversion rate.
As mentioned, voice search can be very specific, so you can target your ideal client or customer. If you only focus on general keywords and SEO, you may get clicks from people who would never buy from you.
That extra click may be nice, but it can negatively affect your conversion rate. The more you can target the right visitors, the easier it will be to get a high conversion rate.
Stay Ahead of the Competition
As you run your business, you need to think about what your competitors are doing. If you find their search results would perform well in a voice search, you need to use voice search optimization.
Even if your competitors aren't focusing on voice search, you should. Then, you'll be able to stay ahead of your competitors and get more of the traffic from voice search.
By the time other businesses start to optimize for voice, you may have a solid strategy that works. You can steal some of the traffic that might otherwise go to your biggest competitor.
Diversifying your marketing strategy can also help you attract people who shop from your competitors. If the customer ever decides to use voice search, you can swoop in and get the customer to buy from you instead.
Will You Take Advantage of Voice Search Optimization Services?
Voice search optimization services will become more and more important as more people use their voice to search on Google. Before you try to optimize everything yourself, consider why you should hire a company.
Then, you can make the most of your optimization efforts to get that featured snippet. Soon enough, you may get a decent amount of traffic from people searching with their voice.
