EMBiz: How to Optimize Content for Voice Search

How To Optimize Content For Voice Search

Cody H. Owens

Hi, Cody here, content director at Elevate My Brand, and in this EMBiz video I want to talk to you about voice search. As opposed to traditional search, which is text-based like your typical Google search in your web browser, voice search is using voice assistants that are either on your phone or on things like Google Home or like Alexa or Siri devices, in order to speak your search out loud to get voice results back to you.

So these are really, really popular. So that's why it's really important to have a conversation about how it impacts your SEO, and what you need to do to optimize your content for voice search. How important is it? Well, about 4% of the globe uses Voice Search on their phone, and in the US, almost 2/3 of American adults use Voice Search. So it's really important because if you're not focusing on voice search optimization, then you're missing a large swath of the population.

So, how do you optimize your content for search? Well, I have 5 tips for you.

Use Natural Language

The first is to use natural language. So it seems like a no brainer, but it's important that when you're writing your content that you're not using highfalutin language or that you're writing as if it's text-based. You need to make sure that you're kind of balancing the two because people talk differently than they write. 

So, whereas someone might write the optimal way to cook an egg. Then if people are actually voice searching, they're gonna say, how do I cook an egg, right? So make sure that you are optimizing our content for both voice search and for text. So you can use some of the, you know, more flowery language that people might use in those common text-based searches, but you definitely need to make sure that you're including keywords that are going to be optimized for the way people speak.

Focus on Featured Snippets

Second tip on how to optimize for voice search is to focus on featured snippets. So if you've ever used a voice search device, which most of you probably have, you notice that when it gives you a response, it's a pretty short response. Your voice assistant isn't talking for 30 minutes to give you a novel of an answer, right? They're giving you the most condensed version that they can, and oftentimes, those are in bullet point form or it's just giving you one or two sentences.

So, you need to make sure that you answer the question of whatever that search query is. You need to make sure that you're doing that in the most concise way possible, so that you can show up in voice search results, and also so that the voice search sees you as a viable option for a quick response to whoever the searcher is.

Include Locations

The third way that you optimize your content is through keeping it local. So a vast majority of voice searches are including the key phrase “near me” in them these days, because people want to know what are the restaurants near me, what are fun things to do near me. And so people not only use near me but also use those location-based keywords. 

So, if you are a brick and mortar location, include the city that you're in. Maybe the neighborhood that you're in. Maybe even using the street that you're on in some of your content if it's relevant, and if it fits in within the first tip, which is making it seem like natural language. So, if you have a local component, make sure that that's included in your content to be optimized for voice search.

Maintain Site Health

The fourth tip is to ensure that your site is healthy. If your site has a really low load speed or it has a bunch of technical errors on it, then the voice searches are gonna be less likely to choose your site to compile or to select its response. So especially if your site is very slow on then those voice searches are not probably going to pick your site, which means that you're never going to show up in those voice search results. So make sure that your site is technically healthy and has a really great speed for user experience.

Consider Different Search Engines

Then the fifth and final tip for how to voice optimize your content is to consider Google, Bing, and Yelp. That may come as a surprise, but if you consider that the three major players in Voice search are Apple's Siri, Google Assistant, and Alexa, which is Amazon's Voice Search Assistant. Then it makes a little bit more sense, right, because they all use different platforms for different things. 

So, as an example, whereas Siri and Google both use Google Search, Amazon's Alexa actually uses Bing to compile its responses. Then Siri and Alexa use Yelp as opposed to Google Assistant, which uses Google search, obviously. For those more like business listings, and then finally they all use different things for like location-based business stuff. So one uses Apple Maps, which is gonna be Apple Siri, Google Assistant uses Google Maps, and then Amazon's Alexa uses Yelp for those business kind of, details.
 
So, if you are going to focus on voice search optimization, the big one and the one that most people miss is that you need to be looking at more than just the Google results. So, those are our top five tips on how to optimize your content for voice search, which is incredibly important because so many people are using Voice search these days.