Voice Search Optimization : Business Guide

Voice search is so mainstream in 2021 because the Apple Siri prank is a thing.

So having Voice Search Optimization is really important in this future era.

Let’s search for these, I tell you.

But why is it so popular, you ask?

On other hand, according to a report from Bing, searching with voice is 3x faster than typing.

So, not surprisingly, for big brands, it is now big business and so is its optimization.

For instance, Purina runs Ask Purina, an Alexa skill that people can use to find dog breed information.

Moreover, Estee Lauder, a big makeup and skincare company, has partnered with Google Home to create a voice-activated skincare expert called “Liv”, who answers people’s beauty-related queries.

So here’s a simple FAQ on the increasingly important field of Voice Search Optimization:

1. What is Voice Search SEO?

So voice SEO is optimizing keywords and keyword phrases for searches using voice assistants such as Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa, Apple Siri, etc.

2. What are essential related facts I should know?

So here are the seven most crucial voice search facts for voice SEO that every business should know right now.

Fact #1: Somehow smart speakers are one of the fastest-growing consumer electronic products.

So by 2024, global smart speaker sales will surpass $30 billion.

Source: Global Market Insights: 

Therefore, with the increase in the use of smart speakers, the future of voice search will rise, and so you will need a voice search optimization services provider to lead you in the right direction.

Fact #2: So only 25 keywords account for almost 20% of all voice search queries. These mainly question words such as “how” or “what” and adjectives like “best” or “easy”.

Source: SEOClarity

Fact #3: Somehow 58% of online shoppers use voice search to find local business information. Reason: It is convenient to do a voice search.

Source: Search Engine Journal

Fact #4: Somehow searching and researching restaurants is done by 51% of people using voice search. Moreover, people also search for local doctors a lot using voice search.

Source: BrightLocal

So don’t think that voice search optimization is not useful for your business, As if you properly optimize for voice search it will directly help you increase your leads.

Fact #5: Making a phone call is the most common action taken by users after a voice search – 28% of voice searches result in a phone call.

Fact #6: Somehow, phone calls are one of the most valuable conversions businesses can win from voice searches for voice search optimization.

So phone calls convert to 10-15 times more revenue than leads coming in from other online presence. Source: BIA/Kelsey

Tip: Track the phone calls resulting from voice searches, measure your total ROI and optimize appropriately.

Firstly, analyze the phone calls to your business for the questions your consumers ask before buying.

And add answers to these questions to the FAQ page/product specific FAQ section to improve voice search SEO and CRO.

However, analyze phone calls resulting from voice search to decide if it would be profitable to retarget the caller and what kind of ad campaign.

Moreover in addition analyze phone call conversations to find out how a particular business location converts callers to customers and finds a successful tactic.

Fact #7: Somehow voice Marketing is increasing year by year. Around 3.25 billion people use voice-activated search as of now through voice assistants worldwide. It’s almost half of the world’s people.

• Reports predict the number will hit 4 billion in 2020, 5 billion in 2021, and 6.4 in 2022.

• So according to Gen Z stats, 38% of them are willing to purchase via voice-activated ordering.

3. What are the 3 Main kinds of Local Voice Searches?

So now we know that 58% of voice searches are done for local business information. (see above)

Voice search types are broadly divided into three types: discovery, direct and knowledge.

Examples of Discovery: “What are the best Chinese food restaurants near me?” or “Find an A.C. repair person in Santa Clarita.”

Examples of Direct Voice Search: “Call Richard, PiedPiper Software” or “Make a reservation at Hogwarts Restaurant.”

Examples of Knowledge: “How much taxes has Trump paid so far?” or “Who is this 2020 Nobel Prize winner for Physics?”

4. What are the Main Voice Search Engines?

The main Engines and their sources of information are as follows:

1- Apple Siri: Somehow, it has a 36% market share for it.
Source of data: Apple gets reviews and photos mainly from Yelp and some other category-specific sources.

2- Google Assistant: Similarly, it has a 36% market share for it.
Source of data: Google Assistant gets all of its local business data from Google My Business, including reviews and photos.

3- Alexa (from Amazon): However, it has a 70% share of the smart speaker market, but only 25% overall market share for it, including other devices including phones, computers, and game consoles.

Source of data: Alexa gets local business data, photos and reviews from Yelp, and Amazon provides product specific information.

4- Microsoft Cortana: On another hand, it has about 20% market share for it mainly because of Microsoft’s extensive product range – Microsoft Windows, Xbox and Microsoft Office.

Source of data: Cortana get its general business information from Bing Places.

5. How do I quickly Optimize for Local Voice Search?

As the above answer states, you need to make sure your optimization for it is optimized. And it is to have your business listing up to date and through (all product and service photos, questions and answers etc.) in all the directories used as sources by the leading to these engines.

 TIPS:

#1: Make sure your listings answer all your customers’ questions about discovery, brand, and knowledge queries.

 #2: Moreover mention updated phone number and address

 #3: Optimize for “____ Near Me” searches – Add “near me” in the title tags, meta description, and anchor text.

Related tip: As “near me” searches have exploded, local searches have zoomed in more. People search by the “block” / immediate neighbourhood, not by the “city”.

– To optimize for Apple Siri: Claim and optimize your Apple Maps business listing.

– To optimize for Google Assistant: Claim and optimize your Google My Business listing.

Create lots of questions and answers type of posts, answering all probable customer questions.

– To optimize for Microsoft Cortana: Claim and optimize your Bing Places business listing.

– To optimize for Amazon Alexa: Claim and optimize your Yelp business listing. Yelp also provides business information to Apple and Bing.

6. How is Voice Search SEO different from regular SEO?

Other than speaking into the device bit? If you are wondering how to optimize it then here is your answer:

A. Well, voice ones are usually longer than traditional text searches.

And however they are more conversational (“How is the weather today?”), not robotic and sterile (“Weather. June”.)

For this SEO optimize your content to long-tail keywords and queries likely to be spoken aloud.

B. Their keywords and queries differ from traditional text searches, but the same SEO principles apply.

In all your online content, follow the usual SEO best practices to help you with improved search engine ranking for VSO.

7. How do I Optimize my Online Content?

1- Use more Natural Language Content to Optimize 

e.g. “How do I follow the intermittent fasting diet if I am desk-bound.”

So instead of Computer-like technical language – e.g. “intermittent fasting”… “diet”… “desk job.”

2- Provide Answers to Question Keywords

“how much “…” where can I “…

Use services such as the Google Keyword Planner tool to find out question keywords and segment them according to the three kinds of it mentioned above.

Make sure you include all the “filler words” such as “a” and “me” and “for” in your question keywords. We use many filler words and phrases when we speak.

Including filler words increases your chances of matching and ranking.

3- Give Short, Concise Answers only

Google generally answers these queries with fast, 29-word results – so keep the answer under 30 words or less.

4- Create VSO FAQ Page/s

Create FAQ pages, preferable one for every product/service, filled with 30 words or fewer answers to customer questions.

And properly organized, comprehensive FAQ pages are the best way to optimize your online content for Featured Snippets on Google it.

According to a study, 40.7% of its answers come from the Featured Snippet.

Tips to Create FAQ Pages

1- Make Long FAQ Pages: A study by Backlinko found out that, on average, a typical Google voice-based search result is 2,312 words long. So it looks like Google source voice search answers from longer articles.

2- Use Long-Tail Keywords in your longer content pages. (Just like something I am trying to do here)

3- Please write for a 9th Grade Reading Level (or below): Know that the average of its results registered at a 9th-grade reading level.

4- Higher Google search results in better Google voice search listing
Well, some fundamentals never change. Your website’s authority matters. It would help if you still got your content ranked. It would be best if you got links.

A  study found that 75% of its results rank in the top 3 for that query.

However, do not sweat it—especially all you small, local businesses of the world.

Get the basics right first.

Make sure you have your business is listed in all the directories mentioned above for its Optimization.

Publish lots of questions and answers related to your product/service on your Google Business listing, as well as dedicated FAQ pages

Your journey into the exciting next phase of search has now started.

Where is my coffee?

P.S. The rise of answer boxes and a reduction in the quality of Google search results means that searchers are spending more time in the result pages and asking questions than they are on your website. This is a worrying trend because it demands a fundamental change in thinking – how online information is catalogued and displayed, how tech monopolies are…we have all listened to the song.

However, if an online /voice searcher discovers information leached from your web presence, it helps build your brand.

When a search thing mentions the information coming from your page, it starts reinforcing the idea that your brand is now a ‘Preferred Brand.’

Let this be a silver lining amidst all this relentless competition and change.