SEO for Voice Search in eCommerce: How to Adapt Your Strategy

Why is Voice Search Important for SEO?

The use of voice search has grown significantly in recent years. This is largely due to the rise of smart speakers and voice-activated assistants like Amazon’s Alexa, Google Assistant, and Apple’s Siri. Research shows that in 2022, 57% of voice command users used voice commands daily. And by 2024, 8.4 billion digital voice assistants will be used worldwide. 

For eCommerce businesses, voice search matters because it presents a new opportunity to reach customers. Voice search is shifting how people discover and purchase products online — and eCommerce businesses must adapt their SEO strategies accordingly.

This article will explore the emerging world of voice search and how to leverage this channel to create better customer experiences while generating more sales for your eCommerce store.

Voice Search vs. Text-Based Search

With each passing year, it’s becoming easier and easier for online shoppers to search for anything they want by speaking into their devices and applying voice search. But it’s important to note that people use this technology differently from how they use text-based search. 

People often use short and keyword-driven queries when typing into a search engine. However, they are more likely to use longer and more complex sentences when using voice search. They might also use a more conversational tone. For example: “What’s the best product for…” or “Where can I find a great…”. 

It’s also important to note voice search is typically used in a different context than text-based search. When using voice search, people may be doing so while multitasking — cooking, driving, or doing housework. As a result, they will likely choose the first or second result provided by the search engine. 

The user goals could also vary depending on the type of device they are using:

• Smartphones: Quick Voice Queries. When people want immediate answers or solutions to pressing issues, they typically use their smartphones for voice searches.
• Smart Speakers: In-Depth Voice Search Exploration. People often rely on smart speakers within the comfort of their homes for more comprehensive searches. 
• Car Speakers: Voice Searches Addressing Consumer Needs. Employing voice search while driving is generally used for inquiring about locations, directions, and stores offering the best prices.

What is Voice Search Optimisation?

Voice search optimisation refers to adapting your content and eCommerce website to rank higher in voice search results. It requires shifting focus from traditional keyword optimisation. It starts with understanding how people use voice search and what they are looking for. 

As we’ve discussed, voice search allows users to find answers and solutions quickly and efficiently, which is why it’s becoming increasingly popular. With this in mind, eCommerce businesses must focus on creating strategic content that provides smart, helpful and informative answers to common user queries.

How to Implement SEO for Voice Search

The first step to success with voice search SEO is using conversational keywords and natural language. Optimising for humans and not for Google is always a great place to start.

Transforming your website for voice search may seem overwhelming at first glance. However, following some simple best practices will allow you to improve rankings and increase visibility among potential customers in voice search results:

• Understand your target audience. Start by understanding your audience and how they use voice search. What types of questions do they ask? What specific challenges or difficulties are they facing? 
  You want to provide genuine value and accurate answers to frequently asked questions about your products or services. This could include FAQ pages, product guides, and other helpful content pages with valuable information and solutions to common user problems. Here’s a proven technique to get you started with some of the common questions your customers have:
  – Create a page with a title that poses a frequently asked question
  – Present a brief and clear answer to the question directly following the title
  – Use the remaining portion of the page to provide in-depth information or clarification on the subject matter
• Conduct keyword research. Identify the keywords and phrases that your audience uses to search for information about your products. You can use Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, Rank Ranger and other common SEO tools to identify relevant keywords and phrases. However, to understand how people already use voice search to find your website, you can use Google’s Voice Search API. 
  Instead of just targeting specific keywords, incorporate conversational long-tail keywords and phrases that mimic how people speak in real life It’s a good idea to include question keywords and queries that start with “who,” “what,” “where,” “when,” and “how,”.. For example, instead of “best running shoes”, target the phrase “What are the best running shoes for marathon training?”
• Create conversational content. Optimise for voice search by mirroring conversational style. Use natural language in your content to make it more conversational. Shorter sentences and simpler language are easier for voice assistants to understand and read aloud. 
• Use structured data. Structured data helps search engines better understand the content, making it easier to find them in voice search results. eCommerce businesses should implement schema markup to help search engines identify your content’s purpose and context.
• Optimise for featured snippets. “Position zero” or featured snippets are concise answers at the top of the search engine results page. The fact that voice assistants often read snippets aloud makes them essential for voice search optimisation. Aim to create content that can rank for featured snippets by providing precise and concise answers to commonly asked questions.
• Proper text design. Use bullet points, tables, and lists in your content to make it easy for voice assistants to read and understand.
• Apply local SEO and use your Google Business Profile. For eCommerce businesses that rely on local customers, local SEO is crucial for success in voice SEO. Voice search queries could be location-based (meaning users look for businesses and products nearby). One effective strategy is to create location-specific landing pages and content that includes local keywords and phrases. Your business may also appear at the top of local voice search results by leveraging the Google Business Profile. 
• Advanced multilingualism. Voice search integration makes your content’s translation accuracy critical. It’s a good idea to seek assistance from a fluent speaker of the language to manage the translation and editing of your written material and content. Refer to Google’s guidelines for effectively managing multilingual websites.
• Interact with users on social media platforms. Voice search results frequently leverage content with a lot of likes and shares on social networks. Maintaining active and thriving social media pages and providing them with ample attention and care is crucial. The higher your level of interaction with social media users, the greater the likelihood they will come across your business via a virtual assistant.
• Optimise your video rankings in search results. An informative video can often be more effective than plain text in answering user queries. If a video can assist your audience, it is also valuable for voice search. Include conversational long-tail phrases in the video titles, for example, starting with “How To”, incorporate keywords in the video’s description and transcript, and use a clickable and enticing thumbnail that encourages users to watch your video. Where possible, Google can extract relevant video sections based on user requests.
• Enhance your Domain Authority. The higher your website ranks, the more powerful it is for voice search. You want to intensify your SEO efforts with proven best practices — backlinks, local search, technical optimisation, and more. These will positively impact domain authority — one of the most important ranking factors. 
• Improve your website speed. Site speed is critical in voice search SEO. A slow-loading website can result in a poor user experience and decreased rankings. Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights to identify areas where you can improve page load and site speed.
• Ensure your website’s mobile-friendliness. This is crucial, given that a significant proportion of voice searches are performed on smartphones and similar mobile devices. 
• Focus on a high-quality user experience. Optimise your website to make it fast and easy to use, with clear navigation and prominent calls to action.

By following these steps, you can gradually optimise your website for voice search and increase the probability of achieving a higher ranking in voice search outcomes.

How to Use Google’s Voice Search API

Google’s Voice Search API is a powerful tool to analyse data and acquire valuable insights on how your website is accessed through voice search. To use Google’s Voice Search API, you’ll need to integrate it by installing a small piece of code. 

One of the benefits of using Google’s Voice Search API is that it allows you to identify which phrases are most commonly used in voice search. This information can help you identify keywords and phrases that you can start to optimise your content for. Additionally, the tool can help you determine which pages on your website are most frequently accessed through voice search, allowing you to focus your optimisation efforts on these pages first.

How to Test and Measure the Effectiveness of Your Voice Search Optimisation Efforts

After implementing voice search optimisation techniques, it’s important to track the results and measure the effectiveness of your efforts.

• One method involves monitoring the analytics of your website: looking at the website’s traffic, bounce rates, and conversion rates and determining whether or not your voice search optimisation strategies are having the desired impact.
• Another way to measure the effectiveness of your voice search optimisation efforts is to conduct user testing: having individuals interact with your website using voice search and providing feedback on their experience. 
• Additionally, you can use voice search analytics tools like Voice Metrics to track the performance of your website’s voice search capabilities and identify areas for improvement.

One thing is for sure… voice search is no longer a trend but a necessity for eCommerce businesses that want to remain competitive in today’s digital landscape. Ignoring voice search optimisation can result in lost traffic, leads, and sales to your competitors who have optimised for voice search. We strongly suggest you start adapting your SEO strategy for voice search today!

Reach out to the LION Digital team to discuss how we can help.

Article by

ASSELYA Sekerova –
MARKETING & PROJECT MANAGER