The Key Voice Search Features to Use in Your SEO Strategy

Siri, Alexa, and dozens of similar assistants are making voice search the next big thing. The problem website owners face is that the way people speak is very different from the way they type. This means there’s a whole new SEO strategy you need to develop says, Jessica Fender, Blogger at Onlinewritersrating.

Here’s how you can get started today on voice search 

THE MODERN CONTENT MARKETER’S BUYER GUIDE

Welcome to the 2019 edition of The Modern Content Marketer’s Buyer Guide. About 10 years ago, marketers realized that content is a critical piece of their pie, and have since been working overtime to generate content to help win the prospect’s attention.

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Create conversational text that mimics how your users speak

Your text really needs to up its game and become much more conversational if you want to rank well. Whilst you still want to maintain that air of professionalism, you’re going to need to become a little less formal. Here’re a few pointers that will tell you if your text is heading in the right direction:

• It should flow naturally like a conversation, and not feel like a long form sales letter from the 1980s
• You should avoid slang and colloquialisms unless they specifically tie in with the ethos of your brand. If in doubt, leave it out
• Ask questions, be rhetorical, and break the text up with catchy bullet points just like these
   

This will all help your text appear more relevant to the way a voice search is structured, and it will, therefore, rank higher.

Target long-tail keywords to account for longer search queries

Do you tend to avoid targeting long-tail keywords in your SEO strategy? You’re not the only one, and it can be hard knowing which ones to focus on. They can also stand out for all the wrong reasons and ruin the flow of some great text if they’re not positioned correctly by your copywriter.

Unfortunately, you’re going to have to change your approach now that voice search is on the rise. People often can’t be bothered to type a word more than they feel is absolutely necessary, but talking requires far less effort. Queries can easily run to 5 words or more, meaning long-tail keywords have never been more relevant.

“Voice search is redefining the way we think about long-tail keywords. They used to be a useful way to really home in on your specific niche or a certain part of your customer base. Now they’re becoming the core component of a successful keyword search” — says Luke Thomas, an SEO Specialist at Flashessay.com.

Understand that people voice search with questions

When someone is speaking out loud and they want to know something, they’ll ask a question. This isn’t the case for conventional text-based search, which means your current approach is sadly going to prove a little outdated.

Questions matter and you need to start targeting them. You don’t just do this by embedding the question itself into the text. You need to structure the bulk of your text like it’s the answer to a specific question. That way it will appear relevant to a new user when Google directs them to it.

Focus on the intention of the user during voice search

If you can get inside the minds of your customers, what you learn will prove invaluable. It’s really important that you target keywords which are relevant to what the user is trying to find out. These will nearly always be a question or an action. They either want to know something or do something.

“Voice search SEO strategies should be solely focused on targeting questions and actions. These are the two things people want to do, so why focus on anything else?” — says Sarah Jones, Head of Marketing at Professional resumes.

Action queries tend to be much shorter

Action queries are much shorter, so how do you target them? Well, just because long-tail keywords are now more important than ever, doesn’t mean they should be solely what your strategy is made up of. Here’re some common action queries that customers will use during voice search:

• Check hotel room availability
• Book plane tickets
• Check-in
• Checkout
• Get a quotation
   

They’re not questions, but plenty of people will still search them. Combine questions and actions, and you’ll have a winning strategy before you know it.

Final Thoughts

Voice search is changing the SEO landscape at a rate of knots, which is why there’s never been a better time to change your approach. Focus on conversational language that answers questions browsers use to search. Weave in some relevant long-tail keywords that form the main part of their questions too. That way you’ll have the right balance of relevant, engaging, and high ranking content all at the same time.