Voice Search is when a person uses a mobile or in-home device to conduct a search vocally and is delivered verbally by the search engine (only one answer is given by voice, mobile will still show a SERP but not an at home device). To become a delivered result you need to have a very strong mobile and desktop ranking.
Voice answers are often ranked within the top 3 rankings, 60% are from a featured snippet.
How to Rank For Voice Search
Here are some deciding factors for a voice answer:
- The site needs to be HTTPS
- The page should be using schema (as applicable)
- The page needs clean HTML coding
- The page needs great site speed (less the 1 sec First Byte Speed, less the 4 sec for full page load)
- Read level needs to be simple and understandable (8 on the Flesch Kincaid Grade)
- The page needs to have a good backlink profile (best if anchors match the voice search)
- The page needs to have a good PageRank and Trust Score
- For business replies, you need to have good Local SEO and a verified and up to date my business page
When you are writing or optimizing a page for voice search, its best to optimize for featured snippet placement. To do this you need to put in the leg work first.
Steps To Rank For Voice Search
Step One – Understand The Search
Voice search is mainly questions like Who, When, Where and How with some why and little what. People often are looking for information about deals, sales and promotions; tips and information; upcoming events/ activities; business information (hours, locations); and customer service/support.
Step Two – New or Old Content
The second question is do you write new content or optimize existing content by adding and reworking already ranking pages? To start with its best optimize existing pages that rank within the top 3 rankings, adding or reworking content to be formatted for featured snippets, using the ranking keywords as the subject to identify the voice search keyword options. From there adding new content with the purpose of ranking and voice search will be easier since you have had a bit a practice.
Step Three – Identify Your Search
Like any SEO you need to find the keyword you want to use. Unlike standard desktop SEO, voice search tends to use conversational keywords that are 3+ words long. A great starting place for this is https://answerthepublic.com/. Where you search your subject and it reviews questions asked about the topic.
From here you need to identify the question type you want to answer depending on your purpose and intended audience. Think about what point of the cycle your question will talk to. Think about what customers you want to talk to. Are they investigating, are they interested, are the customer who needs help, are they a loyal customer?
Once you have identified a few topic questions see if they currently have a featured snippet and what their search traffic is like. You want one that has a search snippet with searches for the rated desktop search topic. For example “what’s after mass effect andromeda” the search is “mass effect andromeda 2” and the voice search question. But you also might want to go with ones that do not have a lot of compaction so it is easier to rank. Going for ones that do not have a featured snippet box is ok too, google ads new ones daily.
Step Four – Writing & Coding
The search keyword/ question should be a <h2> tag followed directly by the answer in a <p> <table> or <li> code depending if it is a paragraph, table or list answer. None of the content should be emphasized with <span>, <strong>, etc. coding. Paragraph answers should be given in paragraphs 54-58 words long each containing the answer keywords within the first sentence as possible.
A list and table answer should start with priming words before the content such as “Here are, start with, follow these steps”. It should have a minimum of five points, but if it has 10 or more then the snippet will only show some and have a “more items” link that will drive traffic to the page. When you are doing a list, it should be numbered “1” without a dividing character.
Lastly, when writing this content it is important to make your page title and meta description has a CTA that shows there is more information than what a snippet would show. This will also help drive mobile traffic.
Conclusion
To rank for voice search you need to rank at the top of searches for main desktop search and your voice search question/ topic. To do this you need to optimize your page’s content, backlinks, ranking, and technical foundation. To be the answer Google Home gives you should have a featured snippet for page and an optimized business profile for your business information.
Voice Search is the future of search to be ahead of the class you need to put in the effort for what is important to your business and brand.
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Original post: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/voice-search-seo-optimize-your-site-create-content-bethny-card/