Win Results with Google Voice Search

Google Voice Search is the wave of the future.

We know that people won’t stop typing for research any time soon, but more casual queries are consistently moving into the ‘smart home’ realm. When debating over the dinner table, a quick voice search through the smart home can resolve an issue far faster than online research. When ordering a pizza or responding to a repair emergency, today’s families are increasingly likely to ask their AI assistant instead of going through the motions on a keyboard. Voice search is also an essential tool for driving hands-free as the technology advances.

What does this mean for today’s websites? The good news is that voice search results are web search results – read aloud in tiny blurbs. In many ways, voice search and snippets have similar requirements. This means that your website could be winning voice search results with just a few optimisation tweaks.

Mark Your Territory

Voice search is often used to find local services. It is used in the car when driving and at home. People use it to call for meals, schedule repairs, and find local places to visit. This means that if you are a local business, it’s time to make sure search engines know it. If you have not already gone through total geolocation methods to put your business on the digital map, do so now.

Start with GMB, Yelp, and possibly Angie’s List. From there, SEO your website content to mention your city, region, and the neighbourhoods you serve. Mention these regularly and write local content to support the SEO goal of localising your online presence.

This will help web crawlers, for voice or otherwise, know that you are nearby and available for local customers.

Hone Your Mobile Performance

Next, optimise your website for mobile performance. There is not currently a specialised infrastructure for voice, but mobile technology is what primarily carries voice search features. From smart homes on WIFI to phones on hands-free mode, voice search and mobile function are inherently linked. So make sure your website is ready for mobile. Have a mobile-responsive design and optimise your configuration to serve content quickly to mobile devices.

Ask and Answer Your Content

Now for the fun part: content. Voice search has a unique way of interacting with the user. Users ask organic questions, conversationally, to their phones and smart homes. Then the AI does a quick search and tries to find the best answer to that question. Just like winning a snippet spot, the best way to become the result of a voice search is to both ask natural questions and then answer them.

This leads to a question-answer format and extremely detailed FAQ pages. Start with the questions you know your customers will ask. Then expand your content to include questions that relate to your business, services, and then out to interesting industry questions.

From there, answer each question starting with a quick, succinct answer that a voice AI can repeat. Remember, voice search users don’t have a lot of time to listen to a spoken answer, so the best results will be fast answers, then the rest of your content follows with more in-depth answers for the online readers.

Become a Trivia Treasure Trove

Last but not least, add a dash of trivia. The one thing people consistently ask voice search is random trivia. What percentage of people are colour blind? What is the average cost of a kitchen renovation? People are naturally curious and voice search makes it easier to casually get answers to the things we wonder. Sometimes, these musings are the early stages of buyer decision making.

Write facts and figures in plain language. Translate survey results and studies into facts that people can enjoy, based on the kind of curious questions we tend to ask a voice-powered AI. Create sheets of facts or throw in isolated interesting stats into your content. Voice search users both benefit from and enjoy facts, and they can help in more ways than one along the buyer funnel.

Voice search is a rising trend and you can jump on the wave. With innovation and effort, you might even lead the curve on voice search optimization. Contact us today for more cutting-edge website strategies.