Optimize Your Site for Voice Search with these Tips

Two years ago, the speech recognition error rate was 25%. This was one of the main reasons why voice search failed to gain immediate popularity. Now, according to Behshad Behzadi, the director of Google's Conversational Search, the error rate is just 8%. As a result, voice search is gaining popularity. Siri and Cortana are prime examples. In fact, the immense appeal of voice search has put it as one of the SEO trends to look out for in 2017. The two main appeals of a voice search are that its hands-free and fast. You will certainly be able to reap the benefits by optimizing your site for voice search.

Include natural sounding keywords

How many times have you told Siri a complicated word and the intelligent personal assistant returned results for another? So, it would be better if you pick natural sounding keywords. Also, include synonyms related to those keywords. For PPC, you may include keyword expansion. You may use Siri or Cortana to check whether they accept the keywords you picked. Try in different accents as well.

Make your site mobile-friendly

According to Google, 25% of mobile searches were conducted via voice searches in 2016. If you think about it, it is easy to do a voice search through your mobile. For instance, if you are traveling in a crowded bus, typing in the sentence or a word can be difficult. However, with the voice search option, all you have to do is say the word or sentence and the results will be displayed on your phone. By making your site mobile-friendly, you can increase your site's chances of getting displayed during a voice search. 

NAP (Name, Address, and Phone Number) consistency

By keeping your NAP information consistent, you will not confuse the search engines. Remember that a search engine sources information from all over the web. Making your NAP information consistent can be a tedious task, especially if any of those information has changed in the recent years, however, by doing it, you will increase your chances of getting a hit. Also, this will help to avoid any confusion for the people looking you up.

Add local terms

By including local terms, you will make the job of a search engine looking for you easier. For example, if you provide a delivery person with your nearest landmark that is not part of your official address, the delivery person will be able to locate you much faster and with less confusion. Just like that, if you can tell the search engine that your business is located near a bank or a mall; the search engine will be able to pull up your information much faster. For example, a user may just type restaurants near city park, if your content has the information 'near city park', your restaurant will be picked up by the search engine quickly and displayed.

Another appeal of voice search is that it allows for a very natural interaction between the user and the search engine. If you have seen the ads of Siri, you will definitely understand the appeal.

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