Why do you need voice search optimisation tips for your website? Because voice search appears to be future of online searches – at least until we invent something even simpler and more convenient. With the increasing popularity of smart home devices like Amazon Echo and Google Home, people can now search for information or order products without stopping their current activity.
Thus, completely hands-free and immersed in doing chores or watching a movie, everyone can renew their Amazon Prime subscription, find out when the next episode of their favourite TV show airs and order a new washing machine or a fashionable pair of shoes.
Your Problem: Few Sites Have Voice Search Friendly SEO
Here is the real reason why we are writing about voice search optimization. You may have the ideal product for a large number of people, or the information they are looking for. But your website will not be suggested by any of the most popular digital assistants.
The reason for this is that your keyword research and SEO efforts are focused on written searches, not spoken ones. Believe us, there is a very big difference between the two of them. When they type or tap, people want to save time and effort and use only 2-3 basic words. When they speak freely, they use entire sentences of 9-10 words.
Our Top Voice Search Optimisation Tips for You
Now let’s get to the nitty-gritty. Here is how you need to optimise your website to become voice search-friendly.
1. Focus on Natural Language in Your Keywords
Your regular keyword research will return suggestions such as “car repair Chevrolet Sidney”. And you are working hard to create content that contains this exact phrase. In many cases, no matter how skilled your copywriter is, the phrase simply does not sound natural in the sentence.
And no wonder, because no one ever speaks like that. A voice search on the topic will sound like” Find car repair shops specialising in Chevrolet cars in Sidney”. That is a natural language, and this is what you should aim for in your keyword strategy.
2. Include Q&A Pages in Your Website
Another great voice search optimisation tip we have for you may seem very basic, but it is extremely effective. Since people ask full questions when interacting with digital assistants, do the same on your website. Create FAQ or Q&A pages where you integrate the kind of questions a prospect may ask about your products.
By providing the digital assistants both with the question and a relevant answer, your website has a higher chance of being selected as the adequate reply to the query. At the same time, you also provide valuable information to people who use traditional search methods during the consideration phase (comparing products and offers).
3. Make Your Content Less Technical
We have always advised you to make your content as reading friendly as possible. Trying to show off your expertise through detailed technical information and industry jargons will create the opposite effect. Most of your clients do not understand these terms and will leave your website.
Now we have one more reason for you to keep your language clear and simple. According to a study conducted by Backlinko on Google Home devices, most of the content recorded by the device has the complexity of a ninth-grade student’s vocabulary.
4. Include Localisation Phrases in Your Content
This voice search optimisation tip is very useful if you are running an online/offline business. Most people will use phrases like:
- Close to
- Near me
- Around (city/borough name)
- In my area
These phrases, together with good optimisation of your business location (name and address) will help digital assistants match your website with the user’s query.
5. Speed Up Your Website
This goes beyond voice search optimisation. It should be a basic prerequisite for any website. People are no longer used to wait for anything, especially for a website to load. They want the information they need NOW.
After all, they have plenty of other options – your competitors. If their website loads faster than yours, you have lost many potential customers. This is why you should perform page loading tests frequently and strive to resolve any problems that may slow it down as soon as possible.