How to Incorporate Voice Search Into Your Website

Intro

Even in 2023, voice search still seems new. However, the concept has been around for some time. Back in 1961, IBM launched Shoebox, which was the first tool to recognize speech. However, it wasn’t until Apple created Siri in 2011 that people started to see the potential voice search had.

Through the decade that followed, voice search saw steady growth. Then ChatGPT came about. Now, almost 12 months on, the demand for AI integration in voice search is higher than ever. Within a year, there will be 8.4 billion voice assistants—more than the number of people in the world.

With voice search being such a priority, we’re here to tell you how to make sure your website is using it to the best of its potential.

What is voice search?

Voice search is exactly what it sounds like: people use their voice to search the internet for whatever it is they need. This might mean interacting with a virtual assistant, application, or search engine.

Voice search is different from traditional methods like typing on Google or Bing. It uses fields of AI, such as natural language processing (NLP) and speech recognition, to search without typing.

Voice search vs. text search

When you use voice search, it’s a completely different experience. It’s a more conversational interaction, and it is similar to a dialogue. Text-based searches, on the other hand, are less personal and rely on you to filter out the answers you need to search engine results pages (SERPs).

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Data source: Upcity

Siri, Alexa, or Google Assistant?

The voice search sphere is competitive, and the top contenders are Apple’s Siri, Amazon’s Alexa, and Google’s Google Assistant.

According to Statista, approximately 40% of people aged 55+ are using Alexa, while 60% of young adults (up to 24 years of age) prefer Siri. Whether you’re shouting ‘Hey Siri!.’ ‘Alexa.’ or ‘OK Google,’ the technology behind your chosen voice assistant is the same.

These AI-powered voice assistants have now become integral parts of both our personal lives and the world of business. Voice assistants have influenced a variety of industries. This includes retail, healthcare, hospitality, banking, education, automotive, and even customer service and support, where call centre outsourcing often uses voice recognition to route calls to the right agents.

Why voice search matters for your website

With the rapid growth and adoption of voice search, businesses can no longer ignore this new way of working. And if you’re going to optimize your website for voice search, there are some key changes you’ll need to figure out.

Voice search changes the way people phrase their queries. It’s almost like going back to the Ask Jeeves days of the mid-late 1990s. With voice search, users tend to be conversational and use natural language.

Instead of typing ‘Sheffield weather forecast’ in a search, people now ask Siri about Sheffield’s weather. They’re more likely to say, ‘Hey Siri, what’s the weather like in Sheffield today?’ rather than ‘Hey Siri, Sheffield weather forecast.’ This shift in language means websites should adapt to suit new search patterns.

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Preparing your website for voice search

With so many people using their smartphones for voice search, it’s important to bring your website up to speed. This means ensuring it is mobile-friendly. In other words, the website design must perform well on a smartphone screen, tablet, or other mobile device.

Besides mobile optimization, the website also needs to be responsive. The layout and content need to be user-friendly, consistent, and fast to load.

Data with structure

Voice search relies on structured website data. When search engines have context about your content, they can present it effectively in voice search results. This structured format is called “schema” or “schema markup.” It is a standardized code or vocabulary added to the webpage HTML to help search engines understand your content. Essentially, this adds labels to your content, which can result in rich snippets and make your website more likely to rank in voice searches.

Loading speed

Your page speed matters, and it can be even more crucial for voice search. People expect a fast response when using Siri, Alexa, et al. If your page isn’t loading fast enough, you’re simply going to be overtaken by one that is. This is because your bounce rate will be higher, which has the effect of putting you lower in Google rankings.

Strategies to consider to improve page speed include:

• Optimizing images by choosing modern formats with better compression and quality.
• Minimizing HTTP requests.
• Use content delivery networks (CDNs) to serve content from servers geographically closer to the user.
• Implement browser caching.
• Minimizing redirects.
• Compressing resources to reduce file sizes.
• Reducing plugins.
• Optimizing alternative text (alt text) to convey purpose and content.

Local SEO

Voice searches often include words like ‘nearby,’ ‘nearest,’ and ‘near me.’ By optimizing your site for local search, you can attract nearby customers. To increase your likelihood of ranking high in local search results, update your business profile on Google with your location and ask for local reviews.

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Creating voice search-friendly content

Besides optimizing your website structurally, you’ll also need to create your content to align with how people interact with voice assistants. Here are some important strategies:

• Write in a natural, conversational tone: Choose vocabulary that people _actually _use. For example, use ‘start’ instead of ‘initiate,’ ‘ask’ instead of ‘request’ and ‘help’ instead of ‘assist.’
• Use long-tail keywords: These are more specific and are often used in voice searches because they match speech patterns. Long-tail keywords can increase your visibility for voice searches.
• Structure your content for voice search: This helps voice assistants extract answers from your content. Use headings, bullet points, and numbered step-by-step lists.
• Publish FAQs: People using voice search often want quick answers. Think about questions people might be asking and incorporate them into an FAQs section.
• Aim to appear in ‘Position Zero’: The ultimate featured snippet–by providing well-structured and succinct answers to common questions.

Optimizing for voice search keywords

As mentioned, voice search works better with long-tail keywords. This is because they’re more conversational and question-oriented. For instance, use ‘quick and easy vegetarian pasta recipes’ instead of ‘recipes and ‘natural remedies for migraine relief during pregnancy’ rather than ‘migraine pills.’

To identify long-tail keywords for your niche, use research tools like SEMrush, Ahrefs, Answer the Public, and Google’s Keyword Planner. Here, you can identify voice search queries and their search volumes.

With your keywords identified, incorporate them naturally into your content. Also, consider creating content clusters (when you group a series of questions on a specific topic, for example, in FAQs). Content clusters help search engines direct voice search users to your information, increasing your visibility as a brand.

Image sourced from Semrush

Technical considerations

There is also an important technical side to optimizing your website for voice search. These can improve your Google rankings while also improving overall user experience.

HTTPS and security

Besides website security, for security's sake, HTTPS-secured websites rank higher, too. Since 2014, Google has used HTTPS as a ranking signal. A couple of years later, Google also started showing sites as ‘not secure’ in the address bar, which obviously isn’t great for marketing either!

As such, search engines favor those that have Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption as they’re deemed to be safer and more trustworthy.

Accessibility

Although voice search is useful for many people, it’s essential for some. Voice search has allowed people to access content that they otherwise wouldn’t be able to. For example, people who have physical disabilities, cognitive or learning disabilities, and chronic conditions rely on voice search to go about their lives.

Besides making lives easier for people, optimizing your site for voice search has other benefits for your business. As well as making you rank higher, it also makes sure you’re not losing out on ‘the Purple Pound’—the spending power of disabled households.

Image sourced from wearepurple.org.uk

To ensure accessibility with screen readers:

• Make sure you use proper HTML markup.
• Use semantic headings.
• Use descriptive link text.
• Add alt text to images.

Testing and monitoring

Like all things related to website optimization, voice search optimization is an ongoing process. You need to know how to monitor your website’s effectiveness and adjust things according to evolving trends.

Useful tools like Google Search Console allow you to monitor the performance of your website in voice searches specifically. You can find out the search queries that lead users to your site, and you can also check for technical issues here.

You can also use SEMrush, Ahrefs, and Moz. These tools analyze your voice search performance and compare it to your competitors. Knowing where you are means you can fine-tune your voice search strategies and adapt to changes quickly. While there are general metrics that apply to any form of website design, you'll want to look at specific metrics for voice search performance.

Just like a call center uses call centre KPI examples to maximize its operation efficiency, you should be using SEO—and specifically Voice Search Optimization—KPIs like conversational keyword rankings and voice search traffic to assess how you’re doing.

Voice search is here to stay

Siri was both revolutionary and “just a fad” when it first appeared over a decade ago. Yet, voice search has come a long way since then and is certainly here to stay. For businesses and website owners, it has now become imperative, which has meant a shift in approaching website design and content.

To rank well, websites must be mobile-friendly, have structured data, and use SEO techniques. Website speed is also important. In addition, content must be voice search-friendly. It should include long-tail keywords, conversational language, and local SEO. Digital interaction is seemingly more and more voice-driven, and businesses need to adapt to stay at the top.