AI assistants like Siri and Alexa are gaining prominence not just in business settings, but in everyday homes. As these tools start to become more and more common, Google has begun to invest a lot in terms of voice search SEO. This means that digital marketers and business owners need to do the same, to increase the chances of ranking on these platforms as well as conventional Google Search.

So, let’s walk through what exactly this is, and how you can incorporate it into your SEO plans.

How does Google Voice Search Work? 

The process is actually a series of smaller processes that work to guide you to a set of results, the same as it would for text. Here’s a list of the steps in practice.

• Voice recognition: the assistant recognizing your voice and converting your words to text.
• Text analysis: the assistant looking at your converted speed for queries and commands to apply to the search.
• Search engine connection: after processing, the text goes to the search engine for query results.
• Search conclusion: The information is then given to you. The entire process takes roughly 1-2 seconds.

The Voice Searching Prospects 

We mentioned Siri and Alexa before, and while these are probably the two most common AI assistants you are going to hear, there are other options as well. For example, the Google Home family of products uses Google Assistant, and Microsoft products use Cortana. As of right now, we don’t know a lot about what separates one option from the other in terms of SEO. The good news here is that a lot of what we know about optimizing content applies across the board.

How To Optimize Content For Voice Searching

As a start, a large chunk of content searched for via voice is local content. The primary reason for this is that a lot of usage happens when people are on the go and have a quick question, possibly for directions or about the area they’re traveling in. Local businesses should be the first to try and capitalize on the concept with keyword selection like “near me” or with the local area involved.

It also bears mentioning that Google voice search keywords aren’t the same as keywords in other search formats. Think of it in these terms. People don’t type the way that they speak. As a result, while typing a search may look something like “digital marketing agencies near me,” a voice-based search may be more like “Alexa, find a digital marketing agency in my area.” Being able to tell the difference and alter your keywords accordingly will make a big change. As a general rule of thumb, keywords for voice-based searches are going to be longer and more conversational. 

Is there Schema.org markup for Voice? 

In 2018, Google partnered with Schema.org to develop Speakable, a tool specifically designed for all AI assistants to read marked text from a website via text-to-speech tools.

Conclusion

Voice search optimisation is an essential part of constructing SEO for the new world of digital marketing, but many of the other fundamentals stay the same. These include items like properly optimizing the back end for keywords, using images wisely, and avoiding common ranking penalties. Between trying to balance new areas like this as well as the standby essentials, it’s easy to get overwhelmed when it comes to keeping up with your SEO. A good way to get around this is by reaching out to professionals for a full SEO website audit. A Melbourne’s SEO provider the Grid Concepts is the perfect partner to prep for this new concept.