Negosentro.com | 2021 Voice Search SEO Trends You Have To Know | Nobody can deny the fact that technology evolves every single year. One of the clear winners of 2020 was voice search. This is because different systems, like Alexa and Siri, boast a colossal accuracy rate, up to 95%.
Every single week more people choose to use voice search instead of a regular search. This is especially the case when referring to mobile device users.
In 2020, we saw considerable increases in voice search usage statistics. We actually know that 50% of searches are right now voice-activated. With this in mind, it is clear that in 2021, you need to create an excellent voice search strategy. Search engine optimisation is changing, and it needs to include voice-related actions, or traffic will slowly but surely end up dropping.
Fortunately, there are many different things that you can do to create your perfect voice search SEO strategy. Although nobody can predict how technology will evolve and what new things will need to be taken into account, we can talk about 2021 trends that are a certainty. These are presented below.
Focusing On The Audience
Simply put, you need to learn all you can about your target audience. This includes what they ask Google to look for specific products, services, or information.
Generally speaking, voice search is adopted much faster among younger people than among older people. This means that if your target audience demographic is anywhere between 18 and 40, voice search cannot be ignored.
As SEO strategies will be created in 2021, and voice search will be considered, professionals will focus more on the audience in an attempt to understand what voice commands are used to look for anything.
Focusing On User Experience
It is impossible to optimise appropriately for voice search when you do not fully understand how people actually use it. Also, if a potential customer uses voice search on a smartphone, and then reaches your site, the user experience offered has to be perfect.
This means that in 2021, voice search SEO will work hand in hand with web development and design. Also, it will be necessary for SEO specialists to start focusing on getting ranked for long-tail keywords, as opposed to shorter keywords, which is the standard now for most businesses because of the higher traffic volumes.
Most long-tail keywords will be in the form of questions. For instance, when referring to an article about back pain, it will be important for the content to answer questions like how to get rid of back pain or how to learn if back pain is or is not severe.
The Featured Snippet Will Be More Important
The key to ranking for a voice search is to fully understand how customers use voice search. Usually, such a system is used when the user is not at home. He/she might be driving or use a smartphone while walking through a shopping mall. There is no time to scroll. Because of this, when the answer desired is placed in a Google featured snippet, the information will most likely be used.
Having snippets visible will not always lead to a click. However, it will drastically boost brand visibility. This has several benefits as time passes. The content that is created should be built with the secondary goal of being featured in a snippet. However, this does not mean that short sentences, numbered lists, bullet points, and images should not be used. The high-quality content creation norms we use right now in search engine optimisation still need to be respected.
Local SEO Will Be Even More Important
Google has been warning webmasters for a long time that local rankings will start to dominate rankings. When you use your smartphone to look for anything online right now, local results are already being prioritised. This means local SEO specialists are vital for the success of any business that services a specific geographic area.
In regards to voice search SEO, the good news is that most local SEO practices naturally help with voice search rankings. For instance, when a user looks for a restaurant nearby, he/she might ask a question like “Where do I find a Mexican restaurant?” If you own a Mexican restaurant in the area, it is local SEO that helps your business to be recommended.
Focusing On Long-Tail Keywords
This is, most likely, the most important 2021 voice search SEO trend you have to respect. Voice search queries are rarely for short terms. In most cases, a long question is asked, or a long query is mentioned. Two examples of common commands are:
- Where can I find X service?
- How can I perform X action?
This is the structure that you need to think about when you choose long-tail keywords to create content for. Voice search queries are almost always conversational in nature. They are longer than the text searches, and a failure to take this into account when doing SEO work can only lead to lower voice search result rankings.
As an extra example to help you better understand what kind of keywords will be targeted, instead of trying to rank for a keyword like “how to toast bread”, you will want to try to rank for a query like “how to toast bread when I do not have a toaster”.
The most challenging part will be to figure out what the potential customer looks for. Then, you need to answer with the content that you create. Some tips to help you deal with this better include:
- Using a survey
- Looking at online forums to see what people discuss
- Using software programs that record searches
The key takeaway is that when you want to rank in voice searches, you need to answer questions.
Analysing User Intent
You might want to know that there are three main reasons why people look for something on the internet. This is a part of user intent. When you want the content to rank, remember that voice searches are mostly driven by one of the following three goals:
- Looking to buy something
- Looking for some sort of information
- Looking for a product, brand, or service
Analysing user intent will continuously become more and more critical in voice search SEO because businesses will start to understand that people look for information online in a different way with voice searches than with text searches. User intent allows us to figure out how to create content that has a very high possibility of ranking.
Creating Fully Responsive Websites
Last but not least, the importance of responsive websites for businesses is already immense. Most business owners already know this, but they do not fully understand how vital responsiveness is. Those sites that in 2021 will not be built around the core principles of responsive websites will drop in ranks.
Never forget that any type of SEO and website design are linked. SEO rankings do suffer when users have a horrible experience. Add to this that more and more people every single day use smartphones to browse the internet, and it becomes clear that responsive websites are vital for the success of a business, any business.
Conclusions
If you have been optimising a website for a long time, and you focused on text searches, the good news is that voice search SEO will not be much different. It would be best if you still focused on the audience you target, and answer questions. However, there are clear differences that have to be taken into account.
Voice search SEO will be a fundamental part of local SEO in 2021, and the trends discussed above will be pivotal for the success of most businesses. This is particularly true for small- to medium-sized companies.
The sooner you start using voice search SEO tactics, the faster you will gain benefits!
—
Author Box
Article was written by local SEO specialist Adrian Cruce of SEO Company Canberra, an experienced search engine optimisation project manager and content writer. Feel free to get in touch with him on Twitter.
