Voice search didn’t use to be so popular. First off, up until recently, mobile devices which make the voice search what is today weren’t so wide spread. Next, the user experience with voice search was terrible.

It didn’t register most words properly and it delivered poor search results. However, times have changed. Now everyone has a mobile device, voice search is accurate, convenient and delivers great results.

This makes it very popular with all generations. Younger generations are used to it while older generations find it easier to speak than to type things into their phones. Voice search still isn’t where it needs to be in terms of usage but it’s getting there.

More than 22% of voice searches are for local content and the rest is dispersed almost equally between general information, fun and entertainment and personal assistant.

6 Voice Search Optimization Tips

Voice search optimization is nothing like SEO in many ways. People speak in a certain way that differs from the way they type. For instance, they will speak in a form of a long sentence that is usually a question, but they will type as short as possible.

So, you need to adapt to them.

Here is how:

1. Write like FAQ

This doesn’t mean that you should write like FAQ exactly, but answering questions in your posts is really important. This will help keep your posts as optimized as possible for the voice searches because people tend to ask questions when they use the voice search.

2. Optimize existing pages

Just because your website is full of content already, it doesn’t mean that you should forget about it and move on by making your other content mobile friendly. Have an audit and make the rest of your content just as optimized for Google voice search as your new content and website in general should be.

3. Aim for structured data

Structured data will help you stand out on Google. While it doesn’t really change your ranking much, it helps the search engines restructuring your content and enable you to have a visually appealing appearance in the results.

You can read more about the Schema markup and importance of structured data in this ultimate guide to start a blog using WordPress.

This can definitely increase your traffic. When users look for local businesses, they are searching for working times, contact information, pricing, reviews and so on. When you optimize your pages with structured markup, you give them precisely that which helps you stand out and give them everything they need to contact you.

4. Write great and mobile-friendly content

Writing readable and compelling content is equally important on desktop and on mobile. But, if you want to truly impress your readers, you need to focus on creating truly amazing content that’s easy to read on mobile. Here are some tools that can help:

– Read content copy writing guides that can help you write the best copy for your website in a way that will make it look fun and informative.
– Use content editing tools that will help you weed out all of that unnecessary content from your blog posts and copy.
– Grammarly is a grammar checker that also offers tips on proper grammar and style you need to have for voice search.
– Content formatting tools can help you format your content in a way that will make it readable and easy to consume.
– There are many great free tools to generate catchy titles, subheadings and keywords that would be helpful to you when you need something fresh and new.

5. Optimize for Google snippets

Google snippets have become one of the best ways to get noticed on Google. In a way, it’s the rank zero where you get the most traffic. Some expert have stated that this reduces overall traffic but if your answer to the user question is good, you will get plenty of traffic. Make sure that you optimize your posts so that they answer questions from your niche.

6. List your business on Google My Business

You need to list your business on Google My Business if you want to be easy to find in local searches. When people google places or businesses with voice search, this comes up.

People can review your business, you can list some basic information there so that people can know when you work, what you do and so on.

You should fill out various types of data like your working hours, contact information, general information, images and so on. Ask your delighted customers to give you great reviews to help you get a better ranking and attract more visitors.

WPastra has published a blog How To Optimize Your WordPress Site for Voice Search, If you are using WordPress, Go ahead and read this article.

Voice search still has a long way to go but it’s already really important, especially if you want to rank for local searches in your industry. Optimizing for voice search is really important and you need to keep up with it.