Voice search is gaining in popularity and you can’t afford to ignore it. It’s part of SEO that marketers don’t often think about, although we were writing about it at Wax several years ago. (Here’s a link to that post…some interesting stuff on where it came from if you like that kind of thing.) Every business needs to optimize its websites and content for this trend.
What is Voice Search Optimization?
Voice search optimization is optimizing your website and content to make it more accessible to voice search users. This includes optimizing your website for voice search queries, ensuring that your content is easily accessible via voice search, and making sure your website is mobile-friendly and optimized for fast loading times.
Why is Voice Search Optimization Important?
Voice search is becoming more popular as people look for more hands-free ways to access information.
According to Google, 55% of teenagers and 41% of adults use voice search daily.
By 2023, 8 billion digital voice assistants will be in use worldwide.
You HAVE to optimize your website and content for voice search to remain competitive and relevant to your target audience.
Top 5 Tools for Voice Search Optimization
Don’t start without this one, because if your site isn’t fast it won’t matter how well-optimized it is. Google Mobile-Friendly Test is a free tool that allows you to check whether your website is mobile-friendly and optimized for fast loading times. This tool is essential for voice search optimization because voice searches are often performed on mobile devices. The Mobile-Friendly Test provides you with a report that outlines any issues that need to be fixed, such as slow loading times or non-responsive pages.
- Pros: This tool is free and easy to use, and provides you with detailed information about any issues that need to be fixed.
- Cons: The tool only provides information about mobile-friendliness and loading times, and does not provide information about other aspects of voice search optimization.
SEMrush is the grand poobah of SEO tools and includes a number of features that are useful for voice search optimization. (The link above is for a free trial, so definitely check it out.) That includes keyword research, site auditing, and competitive analysis. SEMrush also provides you with a list of voice search queries that are relevant to your industry, allowing you to optimize your content accordingly. If you have a site or business where you really need to pump up traffic and conversions on a regular basis, this is the too for you.
- Pros: SEMrush provides you with a wide range of SEO features that are useful for voice search optimization, and the tool is easy to use.
- Cons: SEMrush is a paid tool, and the pricing can be high for small businesses.
AnswerThePublic
AnswerThePublic has a basic subscription that is just $9 a month. I use it all the time to research questions that people ask about a particular topic. This tool is useful for voice search optimization because it allows you to optimize your content for the specific questions that people are asking via voice search. This is a GREAT starter tool for SEO, and you can add it to your toolkit for next to nothing.
- Pros: AnswerThePublic is cheap and easy to use, and provides you with a list of questions that people ask about a particular topic.
- Cons: The tool is limited at what it can do compared to SEMRush and Moz.
Moz Pro
Moz Pro is a comprehensive SEO tool that includes a number of features that are useful for voice search optimization. These features include keyword research, site auditing, and competitive analysis. Moz Pro also provides you with a list of voice search queries that are relevant to your industry, allowing you to optimize your content accordingly.
Pros: Moz Pro provides you with a wide range of SEO features that are useful for voice search optimization, and the tool is easy to use.
Cons: Moz Pro is a paid tool, and the pricing can be high for small businesses.
Yoast SEO
I’m a diehard Yoast SEO fan. It’s a free plugin for WordPress that gives you a simple green ,
yellow or red light as you write. The plugin includes a number of features that are useful for voice search optimization, such as the ability to add structured data to your website to help search engines understand your content better. Use this one, especially if you’re a small shop or have copywriters who aren’t deep in the SEO side.
- Pros: Yoast SEO is a free tool that is easy to use and provides you with a range of SEO features that are useful for voice search optimization.
- Cons: Yoast SEO is limited to WordPress users, and some of the advanced features may require a premium subscription.
Let me know if you need help with SEO, I’ve got some great partners to send you to.