How to optimise for voice search (the non-geek DIY SEO guide)

The way people search for information is changing, and fast. Based on current use, 50% of all searches will be voice search by 2020.

Is it just me or does 2020 sound super sci-fi and ages away? Hold on, that’s next year, eek!

So the “death of the keyboard” isn’t here yet, but it’s coming.

The good news is, there is still time to catch up before your competitors leave you behind.

This is so vital because the smarter voice search gets, the more users will get ONE ANSWER which will be read out to them.

So whereas ranking around the top of page one in search results was previously sweet as, job done... Yep, sorry to say that’s no longer good enough.

Before long, if you’re not number one in search results, you’ll be nowhere.

But if voice search is the next big thing in SEO, why oh why are there so many articles about WHAT it is and how people use voice search, that abruptly end in a short list of what to do about it… without telling you exactly HOW to optimise for voice search?!

Let’s fix that today :)

More good news? Voice search is pretty intuitive. I find it easier than traditional SEO. So if you have a good dose of common-sense, you can do this.

Caveat time: If you’re looking for a hardcore SEO how-to article filled with jargon that makes your head spin… these aren’t the answers you’re looking for.

I’ve purposely avoided that and stuck to what YOU can do, yourself, now, to improve your rankings, so it’s your answer or business that gets picked by voice assistants.

Okay, so let’s get some quick data out of the way first for context, then let’s jump into HOW to optimise for voice search…

What do we know about voice search now?

• Last year Google told us over 20% of mobile device searches are now voice searches
• Hitwise reported 58% of all search queries are now on mobiles
• Men use voice search more than women (the more public the place, the less likely women are to use voice search)
• In order, voice search is currently used primarily to make phone-calls, perform simple online searches, send a text, for map navigation, note taking, and selecting music (source)
• Not surprisingly – since navigational search dominates – the reason why most people use voice search is because they’re driving, or their hands are full or dirty (such as when cooking) (source)
• Based on current growth, Comscore predicts voice search will be 50% of all searches by 2020

What can you do with voice search?

Other than asking Siri to ‘close the pod bay doors Hal’ or ‘tell me a joke’ – and whether your go-to is Siri (Apple), Cortana (Microsoft), Alexa (Amazon) or Google’s Assistant - you can now…

• play music
• get directions (this one’s a biggie if you have physical premises)
• order takeaways
• set reminders and alarms
• make a call
• convert a measurement while you’re cooking
• get help with homework and assignments
• dictate a text message
• stock up the fridge…

and find out pretty much everything else from today’s news headlines to the weather, all without typing a single thing.

Plus, let’s be honest here, it’s faster, easier and quite simply, more fun than manually typing in a search term. It’s also damn handy when you’re driving.

Have you put your company to the voice test yet?

I firmly believe voice search is best learned about through experience, as opposed to research (which is more true of traditional SEO I find). So do it yourself right now…

Especially if you have retail stores or physical premises - try asking your equivalent of ‘Where’s my closest florist?’ or ‘What florists are in Ponsonby’ [insert your business category or suburb here] - or whatever’s relevant to you.

Think about it this way: If you were telling a friend about your company, products or services, what would they ask? What are your FAQ’s?

Did your business come up? No? Even though you’re standing in it right now?! Uh oh

Right, before I lose you while you ‘Hey Siri’ and ‘OK Google’ your way through a disheartening list of questions that you also don’t come up for, let’s jump straight in to how to fix your voice SEO (Search Engine Optimisation), so you don’t miss out...

The non-geek voice search how to list

So here’s what should be on your voice search to do list, and coming up next as promised, is HOW to do each one:

1. Fix your local SEO first
2. Find out what your voice search queries are
3. Check your content, and add what’s missing

Yep, 3. Just 3. Do these 3 things and you’ll already be a long way ahead of your competitors. Here’s how…

1: Fix your local SEO first

So, as we just found out, navigation search dominates voice search terms, which is why fixing your local SEO is your holy grail if you have a retail store / restaurant / showroom / car yard / café … (you get the idea).

1 in 3 voice search queries are navigational.

But your own website is NOT the priority

Navigational search answers – like making sure people in your area can find you, get driving directions, find out your open hours, and be able to call you – does NOT use your website.

Nope, you need to sort out your business listing on OTHER websites first.

That means Apple Maps, Yelp and of course, the big one, Google Maps.

So your first voice search optimisation task is to check your business is listed on each site, add your business (or claim it, if you haven’t already), and fill abso-bloody-lutely everything relevant out about your business on each one (even if you’re already on there, it’s time for a little house-keeping).

So, step one… Check your business is listed and everything is filled out on:

• Apple Maps: Connect
• Yelp: For Business
• Google Maps: My Business 

2: Find out what your voice search queries are

You’ve probably noticed this already: How users phrase a voice search can be very different from what they’d type in to a search engine.

Think about it… if you wanted to know when Bill Gates was born, you might type ‘Bill Gates date of birth’ into Google, but you’d ask ‘When was Bill Gates born?’

Hopefully a lightbulb just went on in your head. Yep, voice search queries are more likely to be questions, starting with who, what, when, where, how, or why.

So whether you already have FAQ type content on your site – or if content marketing is on your to-do list for 2018 – this one’s for you.

Answer people’s questions – using question headlines – and you’re FAR more likely to be the one answer Siri or Google reads out or links to for voice search.

First up, you need to know your FAQ’s in order to answer them!

Do one (or all) of these steps next and create a list of your company’s voice queries:

1. Check your live chat questions

What do people ask your staff through live chat? Since live chat is talking to a person, what your website visitors type often matches voice search queries.

2. Check your Facebook page messages and comments

Again, in social media people tend to communicate with you in a similar way that they’d do a voice search.

3. Check your customer service and support request emails

You guessed it, lots more gold there too.

4. Ask your staff!

Ask your sales reps and support staff what questions they get asked all the time.

They should have an almost endless list of FAQs for you off the top of their head (if they don’t, other than you being really worried if they’re in the right job, ask them to check their sent emails and live chat replies for ideas).

BONUS TIPS

5. Still stuck? Try Answer The Public

One of my favourite go-to tools for article topic inspiration works brilliantly for FAQ research: Answer The Public Just type in your topic and it tells you what people are searching for.

6. Use your Google AdWords data

If you’re doing paid search, log in to your Google AdWords (or ask your agency for a report). Go to your keywords tab, and find the ‘search terms’ area. That’s where you’ll see exactly what people typed in, who then clicked on one of your ads to go to your website.

Once you’ve got that (hopefully long) list of FAQs, now you just need to write some answers!

3. Check your content, add what’s missing (and fix your copywriting)

Now you have that list of what people are asking, the first thing to do is check you answer your own FAQs on your own website! (doh)

Provided each answer is long enough to justify it (about 300 words minimum, that's 2 to 3 short paragraphs):

1. Give each FAQ answer its own page
2. Make sure your page heading (h1) is a question
3. Write your headline to match the way people will ask it in voice search - ie: it should be a question starting with who, what, where, when, why or how :)

If your FAQ answers are super short, then yes, you can combine them on to one page, but still include links to any FAQ answers that have longer answers to go on their own page whenever you can.

BONUS: How to own position zero

When you ask informational questions in voice search (like ‘When was Bill Gates born?’) the answer will often be read out to you.

If you want that answer to be from your company, you need to get position 0. That’s those ‘featured snippet’ answers you’ll have been seeing everywhere in Google lately, like this:

Your FAQs are one clever way to do that.

I highly recommend creating one FAQs landing page, with each question as a hyperlink, that can then be clicked to view each answer on a stand-alone page.

Having each answer on its own page has that HUGE added benefit of helping you own ‘position zero’.

You got it, if position zero is yours, that now means your answer is the one that’s read out, and you’re at the very top of search results #winning

Right, so now you have the top 3 non-geek ways YOU can get a head-start on voice search.

Ready? Set… GO!

Wow, only 1,800 words this time! That’s a short one for me ;)

Sad jokes aside (if you’ve read my ramblings before, you know I’m prone to short novels), I really hope you gained lots of handy learnings and practical advice you can put in to action.

If you did, please take a moment to like, share or add a comment below before you go. I admit it, I’m an appreciation junkie, feedback from you guys keep me motivated to keep writing. Thank you :)