There’s no denying it: optimizing for voice search on your website is the next big thing in the search engine optimization space. What started as more of a novelty feature is now a crucial feature of a concept called the “Internet of Things” (IoT).  

If people are to truly achieve the vision of using a network of smart devices that talk with each other for a seamless experience, voice search cannot be cut out of the equation. 

The Prevalence of Voice Search Today

Voice search is surging in popularity because of three big reasons. 

First, typing on mobile phones is clunky and error-prone. While touch screen technology, user interface (UI) design, and screen sizes have improved over the years to accommodate people with bigger fingers, there’s still much left to be desired. Touch screens are still prone to “ghost touches” because of smudges and will always be impaired by moisture due to sweaty palms. 

Voice search gets rid of that problem by eliminating the need to type using touchscreen keyboards. 

Secondly, today’s natural language processing is more sophisticated than when personal assistants like Siri and Google Assistant were first introduced. Due to machine learning and artificial intelligence, voice recognition software can now recognize different languages and the endless variations of it that are spoken to them. As more people use voice search, the software only gets smarter as it “learns” to identify more speech patterns. 

Thirdly, devices with built-in personal assistant functionality are now widely available. Almost every smartphone that has come out in the past few years has a personal assistant: iPhones have Siri, Samsung devices have Bixby, and others have Google Assistant. 

Taking IoT further are smart speakers, like the Amazon Alexa and Google Home, which act as command hubs in your home that you can order to do certain tasks, like playing music or turning the lights off. All of these devices rely on the power of voice search, thus giving you a seamless and hands-free experience. 

How Can I Optimize for Voice Search? 

Voice search is slowly changing the way people use the internet. Optimizing for voice search means tweaking your SEO efforts to accommodate the search habits of voice search users and trying to get ahead of the curve. Voice search will only get more significant and more ubiquitous, so you must start implementing these changes now!

Here are two ways to optimize for voice search:

  • Go for mobile-friendly 

Prioritizing mobile-friendliness makes sense because voice search was created primarily to enhance the mobile experience. Moreover, Google has long announced that they are already implementing mobile-first indexing. 

This means that if your website has not been optimized for mobile, it likely wouldn’t appear on search results anyway. 

  • Optimize for long-tail keywords

People use voice search differently from the usual way a person types on keyboards. 

Most have figured long ago that keywords are simply not enough for most online searches. For example, if you were looking at listings near you, you’d just type “homes for sale near me.” However, voice search users tend to use natural language—which uses long-tail keywords that are usually found in conversational search phrases. 

Conclusion 

To succeed in SEO and digital marketing means continuously looking for ways to enhance the user experience. The earlier you jump on a potentially useful feature, the more edge you’ll have because you’ll have more knowledge when other people are still figuring things out. If you want to get ahead of the curve in SEO in the future, voice search is the key to success. 

Voice SEO Pro gives you a competitive advantage by optimizing for voice search on your website. We elevate the customer experience and boost your digital performance through our affordable SEO services. Sign up today to get started on leveraging the power of voice SEO!