If you have ever shouted “Google”, “Alexa” or “Siri” followed by a question, you have carried out a voice search. Just like when you type a question into a search engine, the digital assistant that you’ve yelled at will scour the internet and bring you back an answer. Writing for voice search means creating copy that will make your business the answer to those questions.
In 2022, there were 3.1 billion voice searches EVERY MONTH…let’s take a moment and realise how huge this opportunity is, and how relatively untapped it is. And it’s only getting bigger.
So, what do you need to know?
1. People use more words in voice search, but answers are shorter.
The questions yelled at our digital assistants tend to be significantly longer than those we type into search engines. “Alexa, who won the Oscar last year for the best supporting actress?” vs “2022 oscar supporting actress”.
The answers that your assistant spits back are, paradoxically shorter! “Ariana DeBose” rather than “Ariana DeBose’s Best Supporting Actress win for her role in The West Side Story is historic in more ways than one…” There is also Position Zero results, which I’ll get to in a moment.
So what does that mean? It means that we have to be more succinct with our language. Unless it is strictly part of your brand voice, avoid being long-winded and overly formal. Don’t use 8 words when 1 would do.
2. Keywords are still crucial
Yes, of course you still need to focus on your keywords. If you don’t have the search terms on your page it will never be in the results. However, it is more important than ever to get those keywords in your titles, URLs, and first paragraph. Get them right up front so that they feature in the search results.
3. You need to structure your content
Please, please, please structure your content. That means titles, subtitles, lists, snippets (absolutely crucial for voice search, see point 4) meta data – pay attention to all of it when you are creating new content. Not only will it help you be indexed in voice search results, but it will also help people stay on your website when they reach it as your content will be easier to read.
4. You need to aim for Position Zero
For voice searches on visual devices like TVs, smartphones and PCs, you will still be presented with a page of web results. For audio devices, you will be given one result. The top one, which is known in the SEO biz as Position Zero – the one before the first result! To get there your content needs to be concise and answer the question asked in a structured way.
5. Don’t neglect your FAQs
FAQs are the overlooked wonderchild of web content when it comes to voice searches. They are exactly what the search engines are looking for – questions your users are searching for with concise answers.
Writing for voice search is a skill in itself, and I could give 10 more tips without too much extra thought – but I don’t want to overwhelm you! If you want to find out more, get in touch and I can teach you the skill, or help optimise your site for voice search now.
