Why Is Google Voice Search Optimization Important to SEO in 2022?

July 7, 2020 Why Is Google Voice Search Optimization Important to SEO in 2022? By Gaurav Madan

Every day, Google is changing its algorithm at least twice. Every year, new technological developments shift the boundaries of a digital marketing agency business. At times, it is challenging for companies to take advantage of all the new opportunities, but the adoption helps businesses in the long term.

One such transformation has been raised in the market due to the adoption of voice search SEO and its effect on internet usage.

Voice search is currently on the rise, and there is no end in sight. The Los Angeles SEO agency leaders of the world have predicted voice search to be governing the future of SEO.

But is voice search optimization important in SEO?

The answer is YES!

  • More than 50% of smartphone users use voice technology for their daily search.
  • As per Andrew NG of Baidu, more than 50% of all searches will be voice-initiated by 2020.
  • More than 72% of users who own a voice-activated speaker say that they use their devices often.

Why Do We Like Voice Search SEO So Much?

Well, as it is way faster than turning on a computer and typing, and the answer comes without involving any click! You can ask your smartphone or the smart speaker about anything immediately when you think of it. These all are the reasons that affect the momentum of voice search optimization.

With so many people using the trending voice search, you need to be sure if your website is optimized to use the resource for your business.

Let us start with Answering Some of the Vital Questions:

  • What is a voice search?
  • Difference between typed search and voice search.
  • Why is Google voice search optimization important to SEO in 2020?
  • How to optimize voice search SEO for your business?

What Is A Voice Search?

When talking about voice search, most people tend to think about their mobile devices. Well, the fact is that voice search optimization is growing beyond smartphones. Voice search refers to smartphones, desktop computers, laptops, and many other digital devices with a digital personal assistant or any device which uses voice like Alexa, Siri, or Amazon Echo.

There is no doubt that digital assistance and voice search SEO is growing together. In most cases where you activate any of your devices with your voice, you are using voice search.

But that is not enough. Smart speakers are now another part of IoT (Internet of Things), and even before you will know it, every household will eventually have a refrigerator with a smart speaker installed.
Not to mention that even your car that has a built-in AI relates to voice search.

Difference Between Voice Search and Typed Search

Well, the superficial difference is quite easy to mention, and the in-depth difference is vast. The difference between typed search and voice search depends upon how, when, and what we search for.

How We Search

The way we talk to digital assistance creates new keywords for voice search SEO. Those keywords are more conversational than typed keywords. This matters while doing voice search optimization because on-page optimization is very much dependent upon the keywords that you use.

We might generally type “easy donut recipe” while using a typing search, but with a voice search, we are more likely to say, “How to make donut at home”? The results that feature in both the searches are even different from each other.

This way of working is related to the Hummingbird update of Google. Google became an answer engine with the Hummingbird. The users can get tons of relevant search results in Google without clicking on any link.

Hummingbird stresses semantic search, which is mostly the conversational keywords and the meaning of suggested query. The way Hummingbird matches the internet to the users’ needs and the context is the foundation for voice search.

Google is interested in knowing the intent behind the searches of its users, which is hard for machines to understand. The purpose is divided into four categories by machines: informational, transactional, actional, and navigational.

If you make your second, third, and nth search related to the same topic of your first search, Google understands what you are talking about.

This experience is more intuitive and conversational, and that is why voice search SEO relies upon semantic search.

When We Search

Users search using voice search all the time, from home, during office hours, and even while driving. People are more likely to use voice search on their mobile devices. The usage of voice search is up by 150% while driving, and which are mostly the ‘near me now search.

When you search for anything nearby, Google uses its geolocation to fetch answers to your question.
The same goes for Siri, as it uses Apple’s maps app, which uses data from different companies like Foursquare and Yelp.

Even when Google and Siri use different geographic databases for their voice search results, they use Google in their regular search results.

Google is more likely to read the answer found in the featured snippet to you, while Siri awaits to listen to “Can you read this to me” from the user before reading the result after performing the search.

Since both Google and Siri use the Google search engine database, both show the same results.

The bottom line here is that when people are seeking a quick answer, they tend to use voice search. That is why content optimized for voice search SEO is needed to directly answer specific questions asked by the users.

What We Search For

When people use voice search, they are more likely to get access to some microdata instead of looking for instructions on complex tasks.

Google knows that you would like to have a quick answer in the result rather than taking extra time to visit a site. That is why it features microdata in the search result. You would prefer getting one search result instead of sifting through the top 10 search results.

When you do a voice search, you will still get the result that you get in a regular search, but when Google reads the featured result to you, you get satisfied with your query, and you don’t bother with the other result of the answer page.

Why Is Voice Search Optimization Important To SEO in 2021?

The voice search is undoubtedly changing the approach of technology and the internet. But what is the impact of voice search on search engine optimization?

Natural Language

With the improvement of the voice recognition systems, voice technology can follow and understand everyday language use, so users can command like they are talking to a human. As per the internet trends report by Mary Meeker (VC and internet trend specialist), 70% of the voice searches done in the English language were made through natural language.

Length of Keyword

Voice search keywords are generally longer than typed searches. The keyword length of voice searches is an average of about 29 words. Future SEO strategies need to use more long-tail keywords. The added benefit of using long-tail keywords is that they bring a higher probability of conversion.

Question Words

Voice searches are mostly consisting of question words like how, when, where, what, and who, which are generally omitted in the typed searches. Every digital marketing agency needs to deliver relevant and accurate answers to the voice searches, and distinguish between simple questions and questions which need comprehensive answers.

Questions that can be answered via featured snippets can’t generate more traffic. According to SEO Clarity, there are only 25 keywords that trigger 20% of the voice searches. Those include the question words and some commonly used verbs like make, can do, and key adjectives and nouns. An SEO Company in Houston needs to create optimized content according to the questions which have a higher value.

Local Search

Voice search has brought increased importance to local search. Consumers who use voice search are more likely to do local searches. As per the research, more than 58% of consumers use voice search while looking for a local business. A digital marketing agency needs to optimize its strategies and should account for the ‘near me’ queries.

Semantic Search

Semantic searches try to find the user’s intent within the context of the terms used. The user’s search history and the global search history, the variation in the keyword spelling, and the location of the user aid this understanding.

Google’s Rank Brain is an artificial intelligence system that can recognize words and phrases to improve the outcomes of the internet search. Hummingbird is another technology that helps in natural language queries. Hummingbird helps the answer pages be more relevant based on the internet and the content of search terms and helps related pages rank higher.

SERPs

More than 75% of voice search results rank in the top 3 of the SERPs (Search Engine Result Pages). Top result pages show rich answer boxes while answering the voice search queries. 30% of the Google queries include featured snippets. Brands on the first page of the Google search are used in the featured snippets, rather than brands with no position.

eCommerce

The voice search impacts eCommerce. Many consumers prefer voice search while making a purchase online—more than 60% of users who use a voice speaker, purchase using a voice search assistant. Optimizing the digital assistant, therefore, must be a priority for online retailers.

How To Optimize Voice Search For The SEO Of Your Business?

#1- Choose the Topic

The content that our SEO agency in Dallas and other locations creates for your business must be relevant to the questions asked by the users. Start with answering questions including how, when, what, who, and where related to your business. Use as many queries that match the way a voice search is done within your copy.

#2- Structure Your Answers

Use long-tail keywords while structuring your answers instead of using small phrases and keywords. Keeping your answers around 30 words or less is perfect. It is also better to ask the question by yourself and test how the response works.

#3- Long Content Optimization

While creating long-form content; make sure that you answer questions within that. The higher the number of long-tail keywords in the content, the more probability is there for you to rank higher on the search engine. Your digital marketing agency in san jose can use keywords in the headers too.

#4- Short Content Optimization

If you have not created an FAQ page for your website, prioritize doing it right away. FAQs are a great way to relevantly answer the questions asked by your users. Make your answers precisely based on what they are looking for.

#5- Use Natural Language

We know that we already talked about natural language multiple times within this content. But that is because using natural language is super important while optimizing your Google voice search SEO. A professional Phoenix SEO agency will shape your content the way people speak, and it will increase the chance of your answer being shown up in the search results.

#6- Featured Snippet

Optimizing your featured snippets is a great idea to get a big bounce. Make sure that the featured snippets answer the questions asked by the users. Use scannable content (use bullets, headers, etc.) and schema markup to optimize your featured snippets to get better results.

While optimizing your voice search SEO, you need to know a few more points. Google voice prioritizes the websites which load faster, so one needs to be sure that the images used in a website are also optimized, and the files are compressed. Including high-quality links is another way to increase the domain authority and help in search ranking.

Key Takeaway

In 2020 and beyond, businesses that match the users’ queries will beat their competitors using voice search. Make sure that the directory listings, social media, contact information, and your business categories are specially designated for voice search.

The impact of voice search technology in SEO is specific. The vast rise and adoption of technology and its impact on businesses will be considerable.

When your SEO agency creates an SEO campaign, great content is still the king. But using natural language keywords that come in the voice searches will help you position your brand above the competition.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

How Does Google Voice Search Work?

Google’s voice search program uses speech recognition to identify words and then checks its database to provide the user with relevant results. Voice search functionality is based on speech recognition technology designed to combine phones and phonemes to convert speech into an identifiable set of words and letters.

How Does Voice Search Impact SEO?

It is estimated that almost 50 percent of all online searches will be made through voice search in 2020, and for a good reason. Voice search is a more convenient and faster way of searching the web as speaking is far more natural than typing. Voice search can drastically improve user experience. Due to its increasing popularity, Google and other search engines now emphasize voice search optimization.

How to Track Voice Search Queries?

Google is yet to add voice search queries to its reports. Until Google rolls out the feature, you will have to track voice queries the same way you track search queries. To identify voice queries in Google Search Console, watch out for these voice query characteristics:

  • Voice queries are longer and contain conversational words
  • Voice queries provide instant gratification
  • A large number of voice queries tend to be local in nature

What is the Future of Voice Search SEO?

Voice search will only keep getting better and more popular. Many SEO experts believe that the rise of voice search will shape the future of SEO. In the future, digital marketers will emphasize incorporating natural speech in the content to boost search rankings.

Conversational, long-tail keywords will be preferred to their short-tail counterparts. SEO experts will focus on specific keyword phrases that people use when they are close to the point of purchasing a product or availing a service. Keywords that describe product features and benefits in a clear and detailed way will become increasingly popular.

In the future, creating a mobile-friendly website will top the priority list of every business owner.

What is the Voice Search Vs? Text Search Trend?

Voice searches are usually longer and more conversational than text searches. This is understandable, as speaking feels more natural than typing. It is expected that around 50 percent of all searches will be voice searches in 2020. Another study predicts that around 30 percent of all browsing sessions will include voice search.

How to Implement a Voice Search On My Website?

Here are some tips to optimize your website for voice search:

  • Create an FAQ page
  • Use long-tail keywords
  • Optimize for snippets
  • Use conversational tone
  • Improve page speed

author

Gaurav Madan

About Author

Gaurav is working on various verticals like IT & Software Solutions | Digital Marketing | E-Commerce | BPO | Outsourcing | Offshoring | Global Deliveries | Exports | Education. Gaurav believes in CHANGE, which is constant throughout the LIFE so be with the CHANGE Gaurav is having, In-depth experience in IT Solutions, Offshoring, Internet Branding, Sales & Marketing, Managing New Projects & Processes, Solution Designing and Transitioning of New International and Domestic business engagements. Proficient at managing & leading teams to run successful operations & experienced in developing procedures, service standards, client satisfaction using standard frameworks for business excellence.

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