How Voice Search SEO Affects Your Rankings

Voice search SEO is the way of the future, and it certainly doesn’t seem to be going anywhere.

Voice search is only expected to increase in the coming years, and if your website isn’t up to the task, you may find that your rankings drop.

What’s the difference between voice search SEO and standard web SEO? We’re here to discuss some of the key differences – and to make sure you know how to ensure your website is up to the task.

Keywords

The main way that voice search SEO is mixing up the game in regards to your rankings is by changing keyword format.

You know what keywords are. They’re those short, concise key phrases that you litter through your content to ensure that your website actually ranks with Google or other search engines.

In the past, it was possible to stuff your content with keywords or use black hat techniques in order to make sure your website was displayed. However, SEO is constantly evolving. While those techniques are no longer relevant (and haven’t been for a while), the climate is still changing.

Voice search uses keywords still, but the format is a little bit different. While in the past, people may have searched Google by short phrases that gave the gist of what they were looking for, voice search demands a more natural approach.

This means that it’s time to focus on long-tail keywords and those which flow more naturally into conversation.

Long-tail keywords are exactly what you expect: long, conversational phrases that are shaped like questions or statements that a querent might ask or say.

The idea is to make sure your website is displayed after a querent asks their digital assistant a question. If their question doesn’t contain your original short-form keywords, you’re probably not going to rank in their results – and if you do, you’re not going to rank very highly.

Long-tail keywords get closer to what your querent is looking for and actually saying, so you have more of a chance of ranking.

Change your Tone

To take full advantage of the evolving voice search SEO trends, you may need to change the tone of your website.

You don’t have to do this all over, so there’s no need to worry about writing content for a complete website overhaul. However, voice search means that people are searching for things the way that they talk in “real life.”

To match what they’re looking for, you need to match their tone. This means you need to anticipate what they’re going to ask for before they ask it.

This doesn’t mean that you need to start employing psychics as SEO experts. In fact, there are very easy ways to take advantage of this!

One way is the one we’ve already discussed: long-tail keywords. Phrasing your keywords as questions gives you better chances of hammering the nail right on the head when your querent pulls up Siri.

Another great way to make sure that your tone matches your querent’s? Redo or create your FAQ page.

Think about it: What’s an FAQ page focused on? Questions!

We’ve already discussed how your audience is more likely to ask direct questions in voice search, which is the opposite of how most people used search engines in the past.

By having an FAQ page or changing it to be more conversational, you’re more likely to tap into what they’re actually asking, and therefore more likely to boost your ratings.

Go Local

The advent of voice search SEO means that your local information needs to be in tip-top shape.

A lot of querents use voice search to find things that are nearby. That means, if you don’t have your local information in order, your business won’t be displayed, and instead the business that could have been yours will go to another company.

This will equate to less traffic, which can result in your rankings taking a dip.

To make sure that this doesn’t happen, you need to do a few basic things.

Make sure your Google My Business listing is verified and up to date. You need a unique, compelling description – and don’t forget links to your company!

Another thing that will help you out are good-quality photos, hours of operation, phone numbers, and an address. Make sure it matches the one on your website!

With that in mind, you need to check your Internet profiles, both on websites and social media, and ensure that your phone numbers and address are up to date and accurate.

Be Mobile Optimized

It’s important to keep in mind that the vast majority of the time, people are performing voice searches on mobile devices. Therefore, to fully take advantage of voice search SEO, your website has to be mobile optimized.

Nothing’s worse than finding a great result while searching for a business on mobile, then navigating to their website and finding out that they’re not mobile optimized.

You can optimize your website for mobile by ensuring that your design is versatile and streamlined. Organization matters! Additionally, check images and speed on a mobile device. If your website loads slowly – or not at all – you know that you’ll have things to work on.

Voice Search SEO is Changing the Game

Whether we like it or not, we’ve all got to make our way into the future eventually. Luckily, the future isn’t too difficult to adapt to this time.

Sure, your keywords may need some tweaking, but there are easy ways to take care of that. An FAQ page can contain all the long-tail keywords you need, and you hardly even have to try!

Additionally, voice search SEO can negatively affect your rankings if you’re not mobile optimized or if you don’t have your local credentials filled out or up to date.

Make sure your local information is displayed across all channels – and make sure it matches up. That way, when people find you, they’ll know you’re the best!

If you have questions regarding SEO and other digital marketing strategies for your website, just reach out!