How to optimise for voice search

Most devices now have an option for you to perform a search on a search engine by simply saying what you’re searching for. There are even smart speakers with this capability, like the Amazon Echo speakers and their Alexa digital assistant. 

This makes searching much easier for consumers, but keep in mind that you may need to adjust your website to optimise it for voice search. This article will provide a few handy tips to help make sure your website will appear as a result during voice searches. The points we’ll cover include:

• Improve your website structure
• Think about the language you use
• Focus on local searches
• How Countingup can help manage income from voice search users

A big factor in optimising for voice search is speed. This means two things when it comes to website design. First, try to make sure your site loads quickly. Many people using voice search are on mobile, and mobile users will only allow a few seconds for a site to load before they try a different one.

To create a fast-loading webpage, avoid including things like high-definition videos on your web pages. Also, consider looking into optimising your image formats for any picture on your website. This means using the correct size of image and the correct type of file to ensure the picture loads quickly.

Secondly, streamline your website navigation. This is a good general SEO tip, as search engines rank websites that are easy to navigate very highly on their results page. With voice searches, though, the motivation is speed. People will avoid your site if it takes too long to use.

Whether they end up on your homepage or a specific product page, optimising for voice search means ensuring visitors have an easy time looking around. You have seconds to capture their interest, and a confusing website can scare them away. A simple, easy-to-understand website has features like category pages and clear fonts to aid navigation. 

People tend to use a different kind of language when performing a voice search than what they’d use when typing out searches. It’s important to capitalise on this when optimising your website.

One main change is that voice searches will form complete sentences, instead of being a collection of words like most typed searches. For example, a voice search might be “what are the best bakeries in Edinburgh?”, but the typed version would simply be “best bakeries Edinburgh”. You can adjust the wording in your website content to account for this. 

One of the best ways to do this is to focus on the fact that voice searches tend to be questions. Voice search technology will prioritise websites that answer these questions. Even if your content does this, though, you need to make that obvious to the device that’s searching. 

Try making your content titles into questions, then answer them in the body of your content. Don’t be afraid to include words like ‘how’, ‘what’, and ‘best’ into your headings, as voice searches will target these. 

It’s also a good idea to use natural language when you’re writing your content. When you’re writing about a product or service, especially if you operate in a very tech-heavy industry, you may end up using very technical language or adopt a very sales-focused tone. This isn’t great for voice searches, so try to sound as conversational as you can when writing.

People often use voice search when they’re looking for businesses that are local to them. This might be because voice search is very convenient for users on the go, such as drivers looking for a particular store or restaurant. 

This means that while targeting voice search users, it’s smart to optimise for local searches too. This is a good idea because it targets two groups at once — as well as getting voice search traffic, you’ll get more visitors from typed local searches too. 

Place names are key when you’re trying to optimise for local voice searches. Try to make sure that the name of the town or region you operate in is present in your content so that search engines pick up on it.

If your business has a physical location, another good way to attract local voice searches is to have a store locator page. This is simply a standalone web page that shows your address and contact details. 

If you’re operating solely over the internet, you can still attract local searches if you sell locally sourced products. This is a great opportunity for food-centric businesses, as it can be very simple to swap out your existing ingredients for local ones. Just make sure that you clearly state this fact on your site so that search engines can find you.

If you successfully optimise your website for voice search, you’ll open up your website to a whole host of new potential customers. This means higher sales revenue, and more income for your company. Keep in mind, though, that increasing your income means you might need to put more time into your financial management. 

Countingup is the business current account with built-in accounting software that allows you to manage all your financial data in one place. With features like automatic expense categorisation, invoicing on the go, receipt capture tools, tax estimates, and cash flow insights, you can confidently keep on top of your business finances wherever you are. 

You can also share your bookkeeping with your accountant instantly without worrying about duplication errors, data lags or inaccuracies. Seamless, simple, and straightforward! 

Find out more here.