One of the biggest developments affecting SEO today is voice search, which is gradually taking over search queries because of its convenience and compatibility with a growing number of devices.
Here are some ways to optimize for voice search with your SEO strategies.
Create Content with a More Conversational Tone
One of the most important aspects of content creation with the development of voice search is conversational language. The more natural your content reads, the greater your chances of using phrases and questions that people are likely to ask via voice search.
When developing content, consider the searcher’s intent to determine which language will appeal to your audience. Ask yourself what types of question keywords the users enter, how they speak, the most common questions they ask, and the specific answers they’re seeking.
Look at current results to see what performs the best and base your content on those.
Use Long-Tail Keywords
The fact is that voice search queries will be longer than most text queries because of their conversational nature. While you shouldn’t target every long-tail term that people could ask, you can naturally include these queries in long-form content that comprehensively covers a topic. The more exhaustive and natural your content is, the more it will incorporate those long-tail terms and phrases that people are likely to search.
Improve Page Load Times
Page load time will affect user behavior regardless of whether they perform a text or voice search. If people don’t find the answers they’re looking for on a website that’s quick to load, they’ll be quick to abandon it to look elsewhere. This makes it important to optimize your pages’ loading times, particularly for landing pages where you want to direct the most traffic.
You can optimize page load speed by compressing images and videos, using HTML5 and CSS3 frameworks for mobile webpages, reducing HTTP requests, and minifying JavaScript and Style Sheets.
These are simple ways to optimize for voice search and appeal to those users who may not otherwise find you. For more information about voice search and how to improve your SEO to prepare for these queries, contact us today.
How Does Voice Search Affect SEO?
In recent years, voice search has been exploding in popularity – we ask Siri, Alexa, and our Google assistant to tell us where to eat lunch, find the nearest plumber, or simply answer our everyday questions. With the rise of voice search, the way we use search engines has fundamentally changed.
A search engine delivers the best answers by ranking the most relevant and useful results higher on search engine ranking pages (SERPs). So if we want our business to rank highly on SERPs, it’s important to stay on top of the latest search engine trends.
Optimize For Voice Search
Voice search has undoubtedly changed SEO. While voice recognition technology is still developing and getting more accurate, it’s time to prepare for those changes. Stay ahead of the curve with these voice search SEO tips:
- Make it conversational – when people use voice search, they aren’t looking for the best link. They are looking for an answer to their question. Keywords are still important, but instead of focusing on using them in a particular density, focus on making your content conversational.
- Use schema markup and microdata – schema is an underutilized tool that can provide search engines with more data about your web pages. Google will show this data on SERPs, and users value this data because it helps them find answers faster.
- Concentrate on local searches – many people use voice search to find things nearby, so use this to your advantage. Include location data in the content of your pages, and make sure to claim all business listings.
Voice Search Trends
Voice search is still in its infancy, and as artificial intelligence and voice recognition continue to grow, voice search will become more and more effective. During this year, it’s expected that 33,2 million US consumers will shop using a smart speaker, and already more than 50% of all online shoppers in the US use voice assistance to help them research products.
Now is the time to start developing your voice search strategy. Focus on making your content informative, relevant, and conversational, and include microdata to help search engines learn more about your pages.
Don’t hesitate to contact our NetSuite eCommerce experts to start building a perfect SEO strategy for your eCommerce business!
