Overview
Do you talk to your phone? It’s okay! You are not crazy! In fact, you are part of a growing trend of Google users who use the voice query tools from Google to search for items on the search engine giant.
According to recent reports, 20% of all Google searches are now done using voice applications on mobile apps and Android devices.
With so many searches now happening via voices queries it is time to talk about how to get more voice search traffic.
After all, this is not just something that will help you get more traffic from Google. Other major tech companies have their virtual assistants like Siri, Cortana, and Amazon Alexa. Furthermore, as the technology gets better and better, more searches will switch from text to voice queries.
Jump ahead of this trend with the right set up on your website.
7 Steps for More Voice Query Search Traffic
- Mobile Site Optimization- The first thing you need is a mobile-friendly site. Ever since the new mobile-friendly algorithm update last year, it has become imperative for a company to use some type of responsive designed website.
By having a site set for mobile, Google becomes more willing to send mobile traffic to your site. Otherwise, you could be pushed down in the rankings.
If you are not sure if your site is mobile-responsive, give us a Shout!
- Think like your customer- Traditional search engine traffic was all about keywords. Instead, of natural speech patterns, Google used the easier keywords to determine traffic. That is why a keyword like “search engines voice query” might get more hits than “using voice query for search engine traffic.”
However, the second example is closer to how people speak. Hopefully! That is why the Google Hummingbird algorithm change completely overhauled how marketers attract search traffic.
The Hummingbird algorithm paid attention to the intentions of the web surfer, instead of the keywords they might type into the search engine.
For example, take the keyword King. Does it refer to the person in charge of the country? Which King? Maybe it refers to Dr. Martin Luther King? What about King Drive? As you can see, keywords can get murky.
Voice search requires clarity. That is because the vast majority of voice searches are on mobile phones. The user does not have the time to wade a lot of results.
- Google Voice Analytics- To help website admins, Google also announced they are setting up new analytics modules in Google Analytics analyze the impact of voice queries on a website.
This provides search marketers the opportunity to determine the best phrases to use to improve their voice traffic.
As Google Webmaster Trends Analyst John Mueller explained, “ it easier to pull out what people have used to search on voice and what people are using by typing. Similar to how we have desktop and mobile set up separately.”
- Improve Schema markup- Schema markup has been available to search marketers for about 4 years now. That being said, many entrepreneurs and smaller businesses still do not use the HTML coding on their site.
However, this Schema provides context to Google on the type of content being written on the page.
The more context, the more they can share this content with the right people. Voice search is very much context based. Knowing exactly who will search on your site determines the best way to reach them through voice search.
- Correct Feed Data- Since the vast majority of voice searches are for location based information, having the right location data, prices, and other feeds on your site is vital.
The directions Google provides comes from the feed data on your site. If this information is incorrect, then it can be disastrous for your voice search traffic.
Remember that a user on a mobile device doing a voice search for your address, probably wants to visit your brick and mortar store. Therefore, pay special attention to the location data.
- Be concise- Additionally, voice search requires concise information. Because these searches overwhelmingly happen on mobile devices, do not overload visitors with visuals and information.
Many sites on the web try to look good at the expense of clearly explaining their purpose. However, if a mobile user does not understand the purpose of a site, then they will probably not spend the time to learn.
Mobile voice searches require webmasters to organize the site thematically better for users to understand what they do even while on a tiny screen like an iPhone or Android.
- FAQ Strategy- Use Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How! Perhaps you remember this from grammar school. That is because along with being concise, you need to ensure that people on the go know everything about you.
The easiest way to do this is to treat your site like an FAQ. Using the basic questions format ensures that no one is confused when they are on your site.
Final Thoughts
Voice queries are the future of search. The technology is finally at the point where it can meet customer demand. That can only be good if your site is set up for voice queries.
Conversely, those who do not take the steps needed to prepare for a mobile voice strategy will start to lose search traffic. It is imperative then to start researching the best practices now before the field becomes satiated.
If you are looking to drive more voice search traffic to your website then reach out to us at Shout for a free consultation today!
