Voice Search Tips for WordPress Blogs

Why type out a question when you can just ask it? This simple idea is driving the rise of voice searches, especially among younger people. As mobile technology keeps advancing, voice searches are set to grow even more in the coming years. In fact, predictions had already suggested that by 2020, voice searches would make up 50% of all searches.

To stay ahead and increase traffic to your WordPress blog, you need to optimize it for voice search. While quality content is key, there are several other factors to consider for effective voice search optimization. Keep reading to learn how to get your blog ready for the future.

1. Focus on website speed optimization

If you want your WordPress blog to be optimized for voice search, it must be fast. According to Backlinko, the average voice search results page loads in 4.6 seconds, 52% faster than the average web page. Also, as of 2018, Google started to use page speed for its mobile index. Many users use voice search on their mobile devices, making web speed optimization even more critical. 

But how can I make WordPress faster if I don’t own WordPress? Well, focus on the elements of your WordPress blog you can control, like themes and plugins. 

Perform an inventory of the plugins you’re using. Are they essential and up to date? Are there alternatives that will do the job without affecting load time as much? Once you have removed unnecessary plugins, you should see an increase in your website speed.

Regarding themes, you will want a small theme; around 50KB is considered a small theme size. Two seconds or less is considered fast for page load time. A well-organized, clean theme is also a plus for SEO.

Astra is an example of a great theme to use. It’s only 50KB in size and will load in 0.5 seconds with the default WordPress data. A suitable theme will increase your site speed, optimize your WordPress blog for voice search, and enhance your user experience.

2. Use structured data

According to the same Backlinko study, 36.4% of voice search queries come from pages that use structured data, also known as schema. Though it is worth mentioning that this isn’t significantly higher than the average, structured data is still worth using to give you an edge over close competitors. 

But what is structured data? Structured data gives search engines context about the data on your site. By implementing structured data, search engines can tell the difference between unimportant numbers and phone numbers, for example. 

3. Create relevant and unique content

It doesn’t matter how fast your website is or if you use structured data if your content doesn’t add value in the first place. You need to create relevant and unique content for voice search. The purpose of a voice search, like a text search engine, is to provide the user with valuable content relevant to their query. 

The best way to ensure your content is relevant and unique is to perform an inventory of your current blogs. Are they still relevant? Is the content unique? You need to use your judgment for relevancy, but you can use search engines to test for uniqueness. 

Type the name of your blog post into Google and assess the results. You will need to update your content if there are many blogs with similar content.

For example, you might want to avoid blog titles that mention ‘how to cook pork.’

If you feel the quality of your content isn’t good enough, there are many resources to help.

But if you need help writing new, relevant, and unique content, here’s how. Start by picking a single, precise topic to discuss. Write to inform, entertain and demonstrate new knowledge. Analyze the top posts ranking for that topic and write much better and more comprehensive content for your site.

4. Perform keyword analysis and consider search intent, too. Keyword analysis involves finding the search terms your target audience uses to find your content. Proper keyword analysis allows you to optimize your content so you rank in search engine results for the queries you want.

To perform keyword analysis, you need to determine your SEO goals. Which SEO niches are you trying to target? Next, write a list of potential keywords that relate to your business. If you run an online jewelry business, the keywords might be ‘necklace’ or ‘bracelet.’ 

5. Add long-tail keywords in your content

The way Google works has changed a lot in recent years. Gone are the days when Google simply looked for specific keywords to provide a relevant answer. Now, Google wants to capture more of the meaning of speech and text searches using Natural Language Processing (NLP).

Natural Language Processing means Google’s voice search algorithms ‘think’ more like a human would. Also, tone, context, and phrasing are accounted for by NLP algorithms. So what does this mean for optimizing your WordPress for voice search? You need to optimize your blog posts by targeting these long-tail keyword phrases.

Long-tail keywords are longer and more specific keywords. An example of a long-term keyword is ‘authentic nature experience’ instead of just ‘nature.’ Long-tail keywords tend to answer queries better. That’s why long-tail keywords will increase your chances of Google extracting answers from your blog or content whenever users do a related voice search.

6. Include question phrases

Unlike a regular search, a lot of voice searches are questions. Examples of voice search questions include ‘how do I make a souffle? and ‘where in Croatia is it good to go on holiday?’ So, it’s a good idea to include popular (and relevant) question keywords in your blog posts. 

Using a question in the title is the best course of action, but doing this for every blog post may be too much. Therefore, include those questions in other parts of the blog. 

The best way to get the right question keywords is to do a keyword search on your existing content topics. If you have a blog for a recipe, search the subject matter and see how high-ranking questions regarding the topic are phrased. 

Here’s an example of how to do this: 

First, search for a question related to your subject matter on your SEO tool of choice. For this example, I will use ‘how to make soup.’