As the number of voice search and virtual assistants continues to grow, so does the number of users who are adopting voice search in their daily lives. Since voice search technology continues to improve, the way we optimize our websites should also improve so that we can take advantage of the growing popularity of voice search.
Google’s own voice search uses a combination of natural language processing and text to speech, to understand a user’s request. The question is then processed through a database where it tries to match the question with an answer, which is then returned to the user. Other virtual assistants such as Apple’s Siri, Window’s Cortana, and Amazon’s Alexa are using a similar technology for their voice search capabilities. Here are four ways to optimize your website to ensure that you are capitalizing on the growing trend of voice search.
1) Take Advantage of Schema Markup:
Take advantage of every opportunity that you have to incorporate schema markup in your website. Incorporating schema markup will provide search engines with information that will help them to understand the content of your website.
2) Optimized Micro Data:
Including microdata such as pricing information and location-based data will provide search engines with data that will be useful to provide quick answers to users. The majority of voice search queries are questions pertaining to directions or locations.
3) Conversational Phrases:
Re-evaluate the content on your website and focus on the tone so that the content can have more of a conversational focus. Use adverbs such as “Who,” “What,” “Where,” and “Why,” which are very common in question-based searches, will allow your content to seem more humanized.
4) Utilizing FAQ:
Users who are utilizing the voice search functionality are looking for a direct answer to their question. This means that utilizing an FAQ section on your website is crucial to helping search engines identify quick answers for questions.