Over the last 4 years, the The number of users using voice search is increasing significantly. We can say this today, at least indirectly, because there is no specific data available at the moment that exactly quantifies the number of people who use these options.
However, we have a forecast, studied starting from 2020, which seems to attest to a doubling, from 2020 to 2024, of the number of voice assistants in useThe figure may be impressive: from 4,2 billion units in use, according to statistics available on Statista, we would have arrived at 8,4 billion units, surpassing the world's population…but how is this possible?
It is possible because there are more devices, browsers and platforms on which to do voice search, so it is possible that the same person has 4, 5 or 10 different units with which he searches. And each of these units, relies on different systems to address responses: Google Assistant, Alexa, Siri, Cortana… in short, there are actions that can be taken from an SEO perspective for each possibility. SEO Interventions That Answer Longer Questions, more conversational, and trying to place Web sites and contents between the featured snippet featured: the famous “position 0” on the Google SERPs.
Then, if you want to position yourself on the first page you should read this article. Previously we told you about the EEAT, and here you will find (as we found) other tools to orient yourself and act in the increasingly complex panorama of SEO.
Content index
How to enable voice search on Google and other devices and platforms
To make the most of voice searches, it is essential to know how to activate them. Each system has its own voice assistant and specific methods for activation. Let's see the most popular ones and which ones big tech belong to:
- Google Assistant (Android and Google Home): On Android devices, voice search can be activated by saying "Ok Google" o "Hey Google", or by pressing the microphone icon in the Google search bar. To set it up, just access the Settings > Google > Services & preferences > Search, Assistant & Voice.
- Crab (iPhone, iPad, Mac): Apple users can summon Siri by saying “Hey Siri” or by holding down the side button (iPhone) or the function key (Mac). The configuration is found in Settings > Siri & Search.
- Alexa (Amazon Echo and Alexa App): Echo devices respond to "Alexa", while the mobile app requires manual or voice activation.
- Chrome and Microsoft Edge browsers: Both support voice search via the microphone in the Google or Bing search bar.
Pills for working on SEO on different systems
For Google Assistant It is essential to optimize the website by aiming at long tail keywords and giving concise and well-structured answers and aim for featured snippets, often used to respond to voice searches.
Crab it's based on Apple Maps, Bing and Yelp, so it is essential claim and update your listing on Apple Business Connect, making sure that address, hours, phone number and company category are correct and updated. Speaking of Bing, it is useful to optimize the site for this search engine, by registering on Bing Places for Business and applying targeted SEO strategies. Regarding Yelp here too you need to have an updated card with photos and detailed descriptions to encourage the reviews, which are important to answer.
For Alexa, finally, visibility depends on Bing, Amazon Skills and proprietary databases: here you can optimize by improving the Alexa Skills and optimizing your Bing profile as seen above.
Target conversational queries
People express themselves very differently when they do voice searches than they do when they write. Today, thanks to models of artificial intelligence that process natural language better and better, voice assistants also understand conversational questions well. Questions that users therefore ask with increasing freedom. For this reason, in general, if you want to intercept voice search and give answers you need to target long tail keywords.
For example, if you search for a web agency on Google, you could write “web agency Turin”; if instead you dictate your search to a voice assistant you could ask “find me the best web agencies in Turin specialized in SEO”. Relate this example to anything else you want to search for and you understand the logic.
A very good way to approach long-tail queries is create a well-curated and comprehensive FAQ section.
Voice search answers often come from snippets
Though Voice search favors longer questions, here too we must give quick and effective responses to increase the chances of being placed. In fact, even voice assistants, like search engines, give relevance to more relevant answers, which are usually the more synthetic. This is because the various algorithms immediately discover what you are talking about, what you are responding to and that you are doing it in a way that will be easily usable by users.
Here is an example snippet:
Keep in mind that snippets do not appear for all searches, but only to the extent that they can have a direct and not very detailed answer.
And what are the tricks to end up in the snippets?
- Write in FAQ form and any other question/answer form
- Use bulleted or numbered lists, like the one you are reading now.
- Structured Data Markup: uses a standard format such as Schema.org, written in JSON-LD, Microdata, or RDFa, to provide clear information about specific elements of a page.
- Mostly, provide relevant and concise information. Looking at the snippet above: did you notice how less important the questions/answers and bullet points are compared to the content?
Here is an example of structured data markup based on Schema.org:
The Importance of Local Search
Also here local searches matter, as they count a lot and more in SEO in general. So if you are aiming to rank in voice search answers, Structuring sites and content that favor geolocalization is very important. To do this, you must not only write the name of the city in an obsessive and uncontrolled way, but also take care of the cards relating to the various platforms you rely on, where they can give you reviews or from which you can manage profiles. So:
- Register on multiple directories possible (Maps, Yelp, etc…);
- optimize each profile by clearly specifying where you are and where you operate;
- takes care of the contents of the site and your blog by providing geographical information;
- encourages the reviews e reply ever.
What are voice search placement results? How to measure them?
Unlike traditional searches Voice search does not yet appear to have specific metrics in the various SEO tools. That's why today we've also given you a lot of general advice. Precisely because you need as many indications as possible to investigate and measure the results of your work through an indirect approach. An approach - among other things - that is basically used in all SEO, even if you find specific data. In fact, this data will have to be cross-referenced and interpreted. And interpretations are almost never objective. This is why SEO, no matter how you look at it, is always an investigation.
That said, we recommend that you follow these steps to see if you are doing the right thing:
- Analyze queries that start with “how”, “where”, “when”, “best”.
- Track how many people found your business through local keyword searches, often related to voice search.
- Check out who's placing in position zero on Google, because it corresponds to the positioning among the snippets.
- Analyze various parameters such as clicks, conversions, calls, interactions, purchases…in short all the usual ones data collected to see if you are getting traffic and, most importantly, if this traffic is being successful.
