“Ok Google, how do I optimise my website for voice search?”
Whether you’re talking to Google, Siri, Alexa, or some other virtual assistant, technology has made it easy to look anything up online without lifting a finger – literally.
This tool is becoming increasingly popular, with one study showing that 57% of Australians use voice search. Likewise, more than a quarter of Australians own a smart speaker, with 67% of owners using their speaker daily.
Naturally, business owners should be looking to ensure their websites include voice search SEO. Here are some key tips for voice search optimisation.
Tap into local searches.
Voice search is used often to find local services and stores. Consumers can ask their virtual assistant anything from ‘what is the closest Italian restaurant near me?’ to ‘how late is Chinese Noodle House open?’.
These types of question-based search queries have sparked an influx of keywords like ‘near me’ popping up in on-site content. Another common way people are searching is by saying the service they are looking for followed by the name of their suburb or city, for example, ‘Italian Fitzroy’.
To make the most of this trend, make sure your business is listed on relevant local online directories, such as Google Business Profile and Yellow Pages Online. Also focus on optimising your website for local searches with relevant keywords and content.
Use conversational keywords.
A clear difference between people typing in search terms, and saying them, is the phrasing itself.
Instead of entering a few basic keywords, searchers will ask a complete question.
For example, instead of typing ‘hair products dry hair’, a user might verbally ask ‘what are the best hair products to use on dry hair?’
This search term is much more conversational, and is considered to be a ‘long-tail’ keyword. This means that business owners should be incorporating more conversational keywords into their website copy in order to pick up these hits.
Improve your page speed.
Page speed has long been a major player in search results, and it will continue to play a large role in voice search for Google and other search engines.
Page speed refers to how quickly your webpage loads, and it is important as not only will users give up within mere seconds if a page doesn’t load fast enough, Google won’t rank you particularly well, either. For voice search, when the user is in a hurry to find an answer, this window of time is even more important.
Speed up your webpage to avoid a high bounce rate due to a lagging page load time. You can do this by optimising images, enabling browser caching and other simple tricks.
RELATED: Quick fix – 7 ways to improve website page speed.
Include an FAQ section.
People regularly use voice search to ask questions, and one of the most direct ways to provide answers to those questions (and boost your visibility with potential customers) is to build an FAQ section on your website.
Tools like AnswerThePublic make it easy to find out what people are asking in relation to your business. Once you have a set of relevant questions to work from, create keyword-rich, helpful answers of around 100 words to include in your FAQs. As a bonus, this kind of content is also great for increasing your chances of appearing in featured snippets in Google search results pages.
Check your website’s mobile responsiveness.
20% of all mobile web searches are made using voice search, so it’s essential to make sure your website is as easy as possible to view and navigate on mobile devices. Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test is a quick way to see how your website shapes up, and the results will include suggested fixes for any identified issues.
Optimise for voice search with a Yellow Pages Online listing.
Appear in more location-based voice searches with a listing on one of Australia’s largest and most established online business directories. Whether it’s a free listing or a content-rich paid ad, a listing on Yellow Pages Online puts your business where customers are actively searching for your products or services.
Talk to us about a Yellow Pages Online listing and start growing your business today.
