These tips are based on a study by Semrush titled “Voice Search Study: Factors Influencing Search Engine Rankings in 2019”
- Make sure your site loads fast for your users.
- Semrush found that PageSpeed plays a major role in voice search SEO. Their study showed that the average voice search result page loads in 4.6 seconds (52% faster than the average page).
- Have a secure site.
- HTTPS websites dominate Google’s voice search results. In fact, Semrush found that 70.4% of Google Home result pages are secured with HTTPS.
- Use short and concise sentences in your content.
- From Semrush’s study, it seemed that Google prefers short, concise answers to voice search queries. The typical voice search result is only 29 words in length.
- Use structured data markup for your content to help search engines better understand your content.
- The schema may not play a key role in voice search rankings. 36.4% of voice search results come from pages that use Schema (which is only slightly higher than the worldwide average of 31.3%).
- This could be useful for food/recipe blogs.
- Semrush found that sites that appeared in search results as a Featured Snippet ranked well for voice search. The study showed that 40.7% of all voice search answers came from a Featured Snippet
- Become an authority in your industry/niche
- Semrush found that authoritative domains tend to produce voice search results significantly more than non-authoritative domains. In fact, the mean Ahrefs Domain Rating of a Google Home result is 76.8.
- Share your content on social media to help your voice search rankings.
- Semrush found that content with high levels of social engagement performed well in voice search. With the average voice search result having 1,199 Facebook shares and 44 Tweets.
- Simple, easy-to-read content may help with voice search SEO.
- Semrush found that the average Google voice search result is written at a 9th-grade level.
- Write long-form in-depth content.
- Semrush found that the average word count of a voice search result page is 2,312 words. It seems that Google sources its voice search answers from long-form content from authoritative sites.