How to optimize for voice search for technical SEO

Voice search is becoming increasingly popular as more and more people use virtual assistants like Amazon’s Alexa and Google Assistant to perform online searches. In order to optimize for voice search, it’s important to understand how people speak differently than they type, and how this affects the way they perform searches.

One of the key differences between typing and speaking is that people tend to use more natural language when speaking, rather than the specific keywords they might use when typing. This means that it’s important to include long-tail keywords and phrases in your content that reflect the way people actually speak. For example, instead of just including the phrase “best running shoes,” you might also include related phrases like “What are the top rated running shoes for men” or “where can I find the best deals on running shoes?”

In addition to including long-tail keywords in your content, it’s also important to make sure that your website is structured in a way that makes it easy for search engines to understand the content. This means using proper heading tags (H1, H2, H3, etc.) to organize your content and including meta tags like title tags and meta descriptions that accurately describe the content of each page.

Another important aspect to consider is the entities on the web-pages, this includes name, address and phone number, these information helps search engines to understand what the web-page is about, and improve search result accuracy. Make sure the website has clear, accurate and up-to-date information about the business, and that it’s easy for users to find.

In addition to on-page optimization, it’s also important to pay attention to technical SEO. This includes things like making sure your website is mobile-friendly, that it loads quickly, and that it’s accessible to search engines. A mobile-first website design is an important aspect of a voice search optimized website, this ensure that your website can be easily navigated on small screens and be loaded quickly, with minimal distraction.

Ensure that your website has a valid schema markup which help search engines to understand the content, this will include information such as reviews, ratings, business hours, prices and more. It also creates rich snippets in search results, which makes your website more likely to be featured in the top results for voice searches.

Furthermore, getting high-quality backlinks from reputable websites is also crucial to optimize your website for voice search. This is because backlinks act as a vote of confidence, telling search engines that other websites consider your content to be valuable and trustworthy. Building a backlink profile takes time, so it’s important to start early and be consistent in your efforts.

In conclusion, optimizing for voice search requires a different approach than traditional SEO. By focusing on long-tail keywords, proper website structure, technical SEO, entities and schema markups, mobile-first design and high-quality backlinks, you can improve the visibility of your website in voice search results, and increase the chances of your website being featured in the top results.

In addition to the above-mentioned strategies, there are a few other things you can do to optimize your website for voice search:

1. Create a FAQ page: Having a FAQ page on your website can be a great way to optimize for voice search because it addresses the common questions that people might ask when they’re searching for information. By including long-tail keywords in the question and answer format, you can improve your visibility in voice search results.
2. Optimize for featured snippets: Featured snippets are the answer boxes that sometimes appear at the top of search results. These snippets are often used as the source of information for voice searches. To optimize for featured snippets, make sure your website is structured with clear headings and subheadings, and that your content answers questions in a concise and clear manner.
3. Use natural language: As mentioned before, people tend to use more natural language when performing voice searches. To optimize for natural language, you should use sentence-case formatting for headings and subheadings, and avoid the use of overly technical terms.
4. Optimize for local search: A lot of voice searches are for local businesses and services, so it’s important to optimize your website for local search. This includes claiming your business on Google My Business and other directories, and including your business name, address, and phone number on your website.
5. Monitor your website’s performance: use analytics tools to monitor your website’s performance and see what are the top queries and keywords, by doing so you will be able to optimize your website accordingly, you could also track the behaviours of your users and use it to your advantage.
6. Optimize for Google Home/Amazon Echo: optimize for featured snippets as it will give your website a better chance of being listed, as Google Home and Amazon Echo mostly display featured snippets as their results.
7. Optimize for Google Actions and Amazon Skills: optimize for Google actions and Amazon skills, these are voice applications that are accessible via the Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa respectively. This will allow users to interact with your website through voice commands, which will greatly enhance the user experience.

By implementing these strategies, you can make your website more visible in voice search results and increase the chances of your website being featured in the top results. Remember, voice search optimization is an ongoing process and you should keep monitoring your website’s performance, keep updating and optimizing your website, to stay ahead of the competition.

8. Optimize your site’s load time: Site load time is an important factor for both traditional and voice search. Voice search users expect results to be delivered quickly, so it’s important to make sure your site loads quickly, or you risk losing potential customers. Use tools like Google’s PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix to analyze your site’s load time and identify areas for improvement.
9. Use structured data: Structured data, also known as schema markup, is a way to help search engines understand the content on your website. By using schema, you can provide context to the search engines, which in turn can help improve your visibility in voice search results. There are many types of schema available, such as those for local businesses, recipes, reviews, and more.
10. Make use of the Google Assistant Actions: Google Actions allow you to create a branded Google Action for your business that can be accessed by users via the Google Assistant. By creating a Google Action, you can provide users with access to your products and services directly from their voice-enabled devices, which can help drive traffic and sales to your website.
11. Leverage the power of social media: Social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn are great places to share your content and drive traffic to your website. You can use these platforms to engage with your audience and build a following, which can help increase your visibility in voice search results.
12. Use Google’s Voice Search analytics: Google provides a way for website owners to see how their website is performing in voice search. The Voice Search Analytics tool can be found in Google Search Console and it can provide you with insights into how your website is performing in voice search, which can help you identify areas for improvement.
13. Optimize your website for multi-language support: As voice search is becoming more and more popular, the need for multi-language support is growing. By optimizing your website for multi-language support, you can reach a wider audience, which can help improve your visibility in voice search results.

By implementing these strategies, you can make your website more visible in voice search results, increase the chances of your website being featured in the top results, and ultimately drive more traffic and sales to your website. Keep in mind that optimizing for voice search is an ongoing process that requires regular monitoring and updating to stay ahead of the competition.