Voice search continues to be a hot topic in marketing. While voice search was once limited to speaking into your smartphone, the advent of smart speakers like Alexa and Google have made the ability to get on-demand information from almost anywhere. Understanding how people initiate searches and requests for information from these devices will help you cater your content marketing to garner the best results. Learn how to get your content marketing to support voice search and bring more traffic to your site.

How voice search differs from regular search

comparisonMany marketers assume that regardless of how someone searches, whether it be from typing in a search phrase or asking for information on a smart device, the results should be the same. Not quite so, actually. There are a few difference between voice search and text search that marketers need to be aware of. First, voice search has longer queries. The average text search is somewhere between 1-3 words while by comparison, voice search is generally longer-tailed keywords, with 7+ words. Second, locations plays an even more crucial role in voice search than text search. Voice search is highly location-dependent; as voice assistants have adapted to users’ preference for a single answer, they’ve also developed a higher capacity to respond to casually-phrased questions naturally. You may or may not get as targeted an answer with text search. Last, voice search tends to be driven by more conversational language. While people may type in “Mesa marketing consultants“, they’ll likely say something along the lines of “find marketing consultants in Mesa”.

Getting your onsite content aligned with voice search

Understanding how voice search differs from text search, you can see how important it is that your content marketing supports such searches to attract the right people to your site. One of the first ways to take advantage of voice search queries is to use proper sentences with long-tail keywords on your website. Most skilled SEOs know that they need to understand keyword phrases and optimize each page of their site accordingly, but this goes a step further. You need to incorporate long-tail keywords so that your searchers can find their way through to your site; specifically the page on your site most relevant to what they’re looking for. Long-tail keywords are ideal for this since conversational tones are different than what people might consider writing in text search. The easiest way to do this is by using a more conversational tone in your site’s content. Many marketers may have concerns about being “casual” on a business site, which is why many use this tactic in their blogging efforts where their content can speak directly to searchers.

Take a moment to think about how you typically do voice searches. By nature, we tend to ask questions to our smart devices so it makes sense that answer-oriented content fares well on voice search. Searchers would prefer having an answer to their questions to make sure your content is designed to easily answer those questions.

More content marketing tips for voice search

Here are a few more helpful tips to get your content marketing to support voice search:

  • Use keyword phrases focused on who, what, where, when, why and how
  • Add FAQs to your website
  • Use structured markup to help Google better understand your content
  • Keep context in mind when creating content, such as “near me”
  • Don’t use a lot of jargon or buzzwords
  • Think about how people look for content on voice search, and provide that kind of content on your site
  • Keep all types of search vehicles in mind; people still search by typing and search on their phones, so don’t forgo those in optimizing for smart speakers

Good user experience still provides the best results

Google mobile speed checkUX is more critical than ever with the rise in searches on digital assistants. That means you need to make sure your website is optimized for mobile. Use Google’s mobile friendly test to check your site. Also make sure that your site speed is optimal. Page speed could affect your chances of getting a response to a voice query. Make sure your site loads quickly. If you’re not sure how your website fares on page speed, use tools like GTMetrix, or Google’s mobile site speed tester.

Good content is always the best approach for your website

At the end of the day, it’s all about providing good, relevant content for searchers. Understanding how people are using smart speakers and other digital assistants can help you get your content marketing to support voice search. Make sure voice search is part of your overall small business content marketing strategy to get the best results.

Patty Hughes
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