5 Tips and Tricks For Optimizing Content For Voice Search

Internet users are now using voice assistants to search for information online. There are more than one billion voice searches every month. Moreover, over 40% of Internet users use voice search once a day to search for information online. The popularity of voice assistants and the widespread use of search by voice is not just helping people to access information faster online but is also changing the SEO landscape.

As a content marketer, you, therefore, need to adjust your content marketing strategies. This includes optimizing your content for voice search.

Although speech recognition technology is still new, it is becoming more popular by the day, and content marketers must take it seriously. The following tips and tricks will help you optimize your online content for search by voice.

1. Pay attention to consumer behavior

As a content marketer, it is critical that you understand your users when creating content. To achieve this, you must pay attention to user behavior and how they use voice to search for information online. Consumer behavior is predictable because internet users always want to:

• Know something – They are researching for something online.
• Go somewhere – They are looking for nearby businesses or shops.
• Do something – They want to know or get guidelines on how to do certain things.
• Buy something – They are searching for products or services from an online or physical store.

When optimizing content for search by voice, you must ensure the content addresses these consumer moments. This will help you to align your online content to potential search by voice queries.

When you take advantage of these moments, you stand a great chance of staying ahead of your competition. Your consumers will get relevant information that will allow them to make informed decisions.

You will also be able to predict at which stages users are more likely to require the services or products your business offers. Furthermore, you will be able to predict the type and nature of information users need to make informed decisions.

2. Understand the content

Language is contextual. At ground level, the same query can mean different things depending on where, when, how, and by whom. The best source for getting contextual content is the smartphone. Mobile devices send and receive all forms of data. You can process this data to comprehend a user’s present, past, and even future behavior.

In the past, search queries like “how to” or “near me” gave content marketers new phrases and keywords to optimize for. The same case applies with search by voice queries. When optimizing content, you should optimize it by context. A consumer is more likely to use search by voice when they are on the move. This happens when typing is inconvenient. As such, you must frame your content marketing techniques around these forms of searches.

3. Anticipate certain questions consumers ask in a conversational manner

Although search by voice uses whole sentences, it is also very specific in form. When people speak to digital assistants, they do not continue talking in a desultory manner. This is because specific questions lead to more accurate answers. For example, a query like “Find a Mexican hotel near me” can return exact results for a user.

As a content marketer, you must optimize your content and website for spontaneous but specific search queries. You can do this by designing a comprehensive FAQ page or blog. The page or blog should contain authority content. This is content you have created around conversational and longtail keywords.

First, you will have to do a research on the different types of questions the consumers you are targeting pose to digital assistants. This will allow you to create content around the queries you have identified. It is a great idea to take those individual questions and create answers or content in the form of a quality blog post.

The best way of optimizing content for search by voice is to ensure the content answers all customer queries. You must answer these queries in the most useful and best manner possible. Search engines will take notice of this and rank your website higher.

4. Focus on longtail keywords and phrases

Although many people use terse and awkward keywords to search for information online, this trend is changing courtesy of voice search. Voice searches always make use of longtail phrases and entire sentences which are elements of the natural language.
The way a consumer talks is without question different than the way they type. The keywords and phrases a consumer uses while speaking to a digital assistant will not be the same as those the consumer uses when typing.

For instance, “What is the best restaurant in Florida?” is a good example of natural or conversational language query. A consumer is more likely to use this language when speaking to a digital assistant and not when typing. This is opposed to “best restaurant Florida” which the consumer would type into the search bar.

When optimizing content for voice SEO, you must ensure the content focuses on longtail keywords or phrases. This is important because it is the very nature of search by voice.

5. Write quality and natural content

You must provide quality content when optimizing it for search by voice. Search engines should understand your content. You should also write the content in a way that people can read aloud. If you write natural content, aim to answer consumer questions in a precise manner. This will allow voice to pick up the content and give users the exact information they are looking for.

Conclusion

Consumers today expect to find relevant content on a website through voice search. It, therefore, becomes important for content marketers to adjust their strategies and react to this demand. By fine-tuning and adjusting your online content for search by voice, you will gain a competitive advantage in your industry.