The Evolution of Voice Search
In today’s fast-paced world, consumers don’t always have time to type keywords into search engines and sift through search results that may or may not be relevant. Mobile devices have made it easy for consumers to find the information they want when they need it, whether they’re commuting to work or walking on the treadmill. We’ve become spoiled with voice technology that allows us to simply speak commands and get the information we need.
We’ve seen search engines like Google respond to the way that search queries are now being performed by adjusting its algorithm to give preference to long tail keywords and conversational phrases in search results. As more voice technology floods the market, less consumers will be willing to type search queries on their small mobile device keyboards and instead rely on voice commands.
According to Google, voice search is most commonly performed for the following reasons:
- Entertainment: 21 percent
- Local businesses: 22 percent
- Personal voice assistance: 27 percent
The voice search trend is only going to grow, so it’s imperative that you take strides now to optimize your digital marketing strategy to appeal to voice technology. Since your website is the foundation of your online marketing strategy, optimizing your website for voice search is a good starting place.
How to Optimize Your Website Design for Voice Search
Traditional keyword typed search is on the decline. To survive in today’s voice technology world, you must make your website voice search friendly. Here are three enhancements to your website design that you need to make ASAP:
1. Mobile-friendly website design.
We’ve been talking about the importance of a mobile-friendly website design for a while now. Considering that more searches are now performed using mobile devices than desktop computers, Google now gives preference to mobile-friendly websites in search results. In addition, Google is moving to mobile-first indexing, which means the content on mobile websites is considered first when determining relevant search results.
If you’re ready to transition to a mobile-friendly website design, we recommend using responsive design. Responsive website design automatically adjusts to the screen size, platform, and orientation based on the user’s behavior and device used to access the website, providing a premium user experience.
2. Optimize the content on your website for conversational search queries.
Google’s search algorithm has been enhanced to better accommodate natural language search and better understand the user’s intent when performing a search. Re-work the content on your website to include long tail keywords and conversational phrases. Keep in mind that the average person speaks 150 words a minute, so the longer and more natural your keyword phrases are, the more successful you will be with earning conversions. Incorporate phrases that include geographic information and descriptive characteristics about your business.
3. Include content on your website that addresses customers’ questions.
Question queries on Google have grown by 61 percent in recent years. You need to understand the types of questions that your customers have and find away to thoroughly address them with your content. Adding a blog to your website provides you with an opportunity to address a variety of relevant questions in detail and create freshly indexed pages for your website.
The questions that you address should help people find your business, enhance their understanding of your business, and identify the value that your business provides. Take advantage of free online research tools like Answer the Public to come up with a variety of long tail keywords and conversational phrases that your audience is typing into search queries to find businesses like yours.
By optimizing your website design with the three tips outlined above, your business will be able to capitalize on the voice search revolution and earn more conversions.
