Voice search is here to stay - is your SEO addressing it?

Voice search is here to stay - is your SEO addressing it?

Voice SEO is the optimisation of keywords and keyword phrases for searches using voice assistants, such as Siri or Alexa. It is as important as 'ordinary' SEO.

Here are some of Cariad's top voice search tips to help with your SEO:

- Target question keywords and other long-tail keywords: To optimise for voice search, one of the best things you can do is target long-tail keywords, especially question keywords, in your content. By doing this, you’ll capture traffic from users who submit lengthier, more specific queries.

- Use conversational language in your content: You should give your content a conversational tone. This adds a more authentic feel and less formal writing styles make it more relevant to voice queries.

- Prioritise local SEO: Local SEO is crucial for businesses because it targets potential customers in nearby areas who are very likely to buy. It’s also one of the best ways to optimise voice search.

- Try to capture Google featured snippets: Google featured snippets are short pieces of content displayed on the Google results page above the organic search results. They’re pulled from a web page that ranks highly for the query and, if captured, can offer a major traffic boost. They could appear as a paragraph, a numbered or bulleted list, or another format.

- Use Schema markup: Schema markup is a type of structured data — essentially it’s code you add to your website’s HTML that helps Google and other search engines provide more detailed results. Schema markup typically includes key information about your business including hours, address, contact info, pricing info, reviews, and more.

- Optimise for mobile: Mobile devices generate over half of all global internet traffic. If that’s not enough to convince you that mobile optimization is important, consider that 27% of mobile users are using voice search on their smartphone

Keep your site fast: Like mobile optimization, page load time is another Google ranking factor that affects how well your site shows up in voice search results and beyond. Again, it’s all about the experience: Google wants to show results that will make us happy, and nobody wants a slow website.

Make sure you're using voice search SEO to its fullest potential for the most successful results.