The voice search revolution is here, and many companies are struggling to implement it to draw even more traffic to their websites. Such a trend is possible because many people have adopted voice search due to the ease of use and the ability to multitask while driving, cooking, or watching TV.
In fact, more than 40% of adults use voice search on a daily basis, and this number is predicted to rise. An insightful infographic by SEO Tribunal team, states by 2020, y, 50% of online searches will be voice-based.
Since most of the voice search results tend to come from Google snippets which appear on top of search results, you need to optimize for them in order to benefit from the voice search revolution. Appearing at the top spot on Google searches will not only enhance your online presence but also increase clicks and traffic to your site.
Here are five ways to increase the chances of your content appearing in Google’s featured snippets:
1. Use long-tail keywords in question form
Voice search results are usually 10 words and above as people use a conversational tone when searching. Therefore, you need to look up long-tail keywords that are in question form to match your content with user queries.
Add keywords that are similar to your main title and long-form keywords in your subheadings to be able to rank in several featured snippets. Such keywords can be found on sites like Answer The Public, Quora, and People Also Ask.
2. Give concise answers
Considering the fact that most featured snippets are just 29 words long, you need to create content that first answers questions in a precise and short manner before going on to elaborate your answers. More so, to ensure that Google uses your answers in answer boxes, your content should have a 9th grade reading level for widespread, easy understanding.
3. Create long-form content
Write awesome content that is above 2,000 words since the average search pages where snippets are picked from tend to be 2,312 words long on average. Google likes long-form content because it thoroughly answers user queries.
However, in order to make it easy for Google to spot your well-detailed answers, they need to be well-structured with factual details, such as numbers, dates, names, etc.
Also, use high-quality descriptive meta-tags on all your pages as at times Google uses them to make snippets if they’re more descriptive than your page content.
4. Optimize for local search
Most voice-based searches tend to be locally based with users looking for store locations, information on events in an area, and even weather updates. Hence, it’s vital to optimize your website for ‘near me’ searches by adding geographical phrases in your titles and content that voice searchers often use.
You also need to add your business contact info on all site pages. This will ensure that search engines know where your business is located and thus will provide the necessary ranking which will lead customers to your store.
5. Build domain authority
When it comes to voice search, Google looks at domain authority instead of page authority to determine whether or not to choose answers from a particular site. This is because domain authority is a great testament to the trustworthiness of a site since it’s your colleagues and consumers who help to determine this by sharing your content, linking to it, and spending more time on your site.
To build this kind of authority, you need to go back to tip No.3 above and write great content that urges people to share and link to it, improve the speed of your site to load within 2 seconds to increase your click-through rate, and make sure that the website is HTTPS secured.
Simplify and quicken your website’s ability to appear in voice search results by using the above ways to rank in Google’s featured snippets.
