Voice assistants—from Alexa to Siri and beyond—are now part of our daily lives, helping us conduct searches completely hands-free. What does this mean for you and your business? If you have a website (and you should), it’s time to optimize your content for voice search.
Half of all Searches Will Be Voice Searches by 2020
Voice search is here, and it isn’t going anywhere. Around 50% of all searches will be voice searches by 2020, which is just around the corner. And although only 13% of households owned a smart speaker in 2017, that number is predicted to rise to 55% by 2022.
Content optimized for voice can do wonders for your business.
- For starters, it can improve the customer experience by offering content that is easy to consume on the fly.
- Additionally, voice search is a new frontier, where only one result is received by the listener. That means customers won’t have all the options a traditional search results page offers. Instead, they only have you.
3 Quick Tips for Optimizing Your Website Content for Voice Search
Now that you understand the impact voice will have on your website content, it’s time to optimize. To get started, here are three quick tips you can use now to create content optimized for voice.
1. Use Questions in Your Copy
Most voice assistant users ask questions when looking for information. To best serve your customer, use questions in your copy and provide detailed answers. For example, some businesses find it easy to add FAQ pages to their website to answer specific questions customers have about their business.
You can use online tools such as Answer the Public and Quora to find commonly asked questions in your industry. By answering these questions on your website, you have a better chance of being the result your customer hears in response.
2. Go Beyond the One-Word Keyword
Use phrases and long-tail keywords in your copy. When we use voice search, we use natural or conversational language versus the language we use when we type. Use full sentences to optimize your copy instead of one-word keywords. For example, you might type “coffee Minneapolis” in your search bar, but search for “the best coffee in Minneapolis” via voice.
3. Keep Your Area Information Updated
Voice searches are 3X more likely to be local-based than text-related. This means that the areas you serve and your contact information are critical for voice search. Using the same example as above, you won’t show up as a result for coffee in Minneapolis if your website doesn’t mention your business being near that location.
List the areas you serve as well as your address and phone number throughout your website. Make sure you update it as your business changes.
Is Your Website Ready for Voice Search?
If your website isn’t ready for voice search, you could be missing out on critical leads for your business. To learn more about optimizing your content for SEO and voice, send us a message.
