Search technology is developing at an incredible pace, and nowadays we can even search for information on the internet using our voice. Although it is too early to say that this technology has already reached its peak, the claim that it has practically reached the halfway point is certainly justified. Here are some facts that allow us to conclude that this search method is becoming increasingly popular:
- In 2019, nearly 40% of adults and 55% of teenagers worldwide use voice search on a daily basis.
- Voice searches accounted for nearly 20% of all Google searches.
- Since 2008, voice searches have increased 35-fold.
These statistics confirm a clear fact – voice search is not a thing of the future, it is already quite widely used. And the more you delve into this issue, the more interesting it becomes. As many as 25% of searches performed on the Windows 10 operating system are done by voice. This refutes the belief that this technology is intended exclusively for mobile devices. This is also confirmed by the fact that owners of smart speakers such as Google Home or Amazon Echo cannot imagine going back to conventional devices. These products can be called the new refrigerators, as they will soon be in every home. And if more and more people use voice search with smart speakers, SEO will also have to adapt. It is believed that voice search will account for 50% of all searches this year. And if this prediction comes true, it will certainly have an impact on SEO content optimization.
Why is voice search gaining so much momentum? There are three main reasons for this. First, voice search is faster. According to Microsoft Bing experts, people speak 3.7 times faster than they type on average. And faster searches mean faster answers. So it's no surprise that more and more people are choosing this method. Second, voice is ideal for mobile searches. Last year, 60% of mobile device users used voice search at least occasionally. And finally, voice search is simply more convenient. Many voice search users mentioned not having time to type when asked about the main reasons for their choice.
So, in summary, we can confirm that voice search is not just a temporary phenomenon, it is a clear trend and it is already influencing SEO. It turns out that voice search is very different from how it is done by typing. The differences relate to how people search, when they do it, and what they are looking for. Let's take a closer look at each of these aspects.
How are searches performed?
There are two main things that voice search affects:
- Searches are becoming longer;
- They are more like a conversation or communication.
How does this manifest itself? Bing engineers have noticed that voice searches use significantly longer keywords than typed searches. More specifically, people tend to type their searches when they consist of 1-3 words, but when the key phrases become longer, voice becomes the more popular search tool.
Not only are searches getting longer, but they are also becoming less like "computer language." In other words, they are more like normal conversation. For example, a few years ago, if we wanted to make iced coffee at home, we would usually type "make iced coffee" into the search box. However, when using voice search, the query looks completely different. The search becomes longer and sounds more natural: "Google, how do I make cold coffee at home?" It goes without saying that this has a significant impact on keyword research and the overall SEO performance of a website.
Voice changes search locations
Due to their obvious convenience, voice searches are used much more frequently and in more diverse locations. According to Google data, there has been a particularly sharp increase in searches ending with the words "nearby, now." In addition, the searches themselves are being performed in unexpected places. According to a study, people are increasingly using voice search in public places such as restaurants, gyms, and even public restrooms.
Voice is changing how people get search results
Google is slowly turning from a search engine into an "answer engine." Thanks to features such as Knowledge Graph and Structured Snippets, clicks on organic search results have decreased by 37%. The reason is simple: answers are displayed among the search results, eliminating the need to visit websites.
In addition, Google is striving to adapt technologies that focus on providing answers. Therefore, even though all queries currently receive the usual 10 links, when using voice search, the answer is read from structured snippets. What does this mean for SEO and content creators?
Content must provide direct answers to people's questions. Otherwise, it will become increasingly difficult to show content to those who are looking for it. Let's look at how to select keywords that are suitable for voice searches.
First, you should look for more natural keywords. As we mentioned, voice searches are more like natural language. Therefore, more computerized searches of individual words such as "paleo," "diet," and "athlete" are replaced with "how athletes can follow the paleo diet." This is something to keep in mind when evaluating keywords.
Most people base their keyword selection solely on search volume, cost per click, and seasonal trends. However, when evaluating voice searches, you should also pay attention to keywords that sound natural. In other words, the more keywords resemble phrases commonly used in conversation, the more their use will grow as voice search develops.
You should also not avoid very long keywords. Why? Because although few people search for them, as voice search becomes more popular, "normal" keywords will become longer and longer. Therefore, don't be afraid to optimize your content using phrases longer than 5 words. Of course, you shouldn't optimize using only long phrases; rather, you should "scatter" them throughout your content.
It is important to focus on question keywords. Previously, if we wanted to learn more about higher rankings on Google, we would enter the word "SEO" into the search engine. However, when using voice search, we would most likely ask the question: "How can a website achieve higher search rankings on Google?" Thanks to voice search, the use of question keywords is growing by almost 61% every year.
So how should you optimize your content for voice search? The main thing to remember is that you don't need to completely change all your content and your website. A few small and relatively simple adjustments will be enough.
Include short, concise answers in your content. A large study conducted in 2018 on factors influencing SEO results for voice searches revealed several interesting findings. One of the most important was that Google tries to respond to voice searches with short, 29-word results. That is why it is important that your content responds to someone's query with statements no longer than 30 words. However, it would be illogical to create a blog post that is only 30 words long. Therefore, you should take the following steps:
- Create frequently asked questions (FAQ) pages for voice searches. This is a great way to focus on the words being asked, which, as we have already established, are becoming increasingly popular in searches. It is also easy to fit them into 30 words. So FAQs allow you to kill two birds with one stone. This is probably why voice search results show almost 1.7 times more answers from FAQ pages than searches performed on stationary devices. So if your FAQ page answers the query, there is a high probability that your result will be displayed. In addition, you can compile a large number of different questions here, each of which becomes a separate keyword.
- Optimize for structured snippets. Getting among them is like using a voice search "cheat code." Over 40% of voice search results are taken from structured snippets. They are even more important in Google Home and Alexa searches because they only read one result. So if you don't fit into structural fragments, you are invisible to these devices.
- Write content in natural language. This is necessary because of the "more natural" form of search already discussed. Therefore, the content must also match the form of the questions asked.
- Insert long keywords into longer content. As we have already established, voice searches are longer than those typed on a keyboard. However, this does not mean that you need to create 1,000 pages and optimize them for 1,000 different phrases used in voice searches. A very surprising discovery when researching the factors that influence voice search SEO results was that less than 2% of the results matched the keywords used in the search. Google simply extracted the answers from the information on the page, even when it constituted a small part of the total content.
If you decide to seriously tackle voice search optimization, there are a few advanced SEO tips to keep in mind:
- Use "filter" words. As we already know, questions are becoming more and more common in searches, thanks to voice search. Various pronouns such as "I," "me," and prepositions such as "in," "on," and "with" serve as filters. According to Bing specialists, the more words in the search match the result, the greater the chance of being among the leaders in voice search, and even the shortest words are counted.
- When writing, you should aim for a ninth-grade level. This means you should avoid slang and fancy words. On the other hand, it is better not to use them in any case, even for ordinary searches.
- Improve your website speed. Voice search results load almost four times faster than average websites. Again, this factor is important in all cases.
- Unlike traditional SEO, when optimizing a website for voice search, its authority is not as important as a large number of links. Essentially, because only one result is important when searching by voice, Google values the reliability of the domain more than the page. It is precisely the strengthening of domain authority that should be focused on in order to be more highly valued in voice searches.
- Longer content means more voice search traffic. You've probably heard that, on average, the top ten Google search results consist of approximately 1,900 words. However, when it comes to voice searches, the results are slightly longer, up to about 2,300 words. However, the fact that longer content makes it easier for search engines to find matches for queries may be a factor here.
- You should also optimize your content for searches that use the words "...near me." Previously, this required entering a city or county. However, searches have recently narrowed from city to neighborhood or district. So if your business is located near well-known places (parks, bridges, squares), you should mention this in your content, as it will increase your chances of appearing among the options when a customer searches for businesses located near a specific place.
- The last tip is to use highly rated videos. Recently, Google has started to frequently present search results in so-called video snippets. When using natural language, such results appear much more often. If we search for similar information using a keyboard and voice, the same video may appear in the results in both cases, but its position will differ. When searching by voice, videos are more likely to appear in the top positions in the form of structured snippets. This is a very important part of Google's strategy for responding to voice queries, so you should make sure that your videos are among the highest ranked.
Source: https://backlinko.com/optimize-for-voice-search
