The Power of Voice Search

By Rhian Biggs

Voice search has become an essential part of our daily lives. Whether you’re asking Siri for recipe inspiration, Alexa for weather updates, or using Google Assistant to find your closest coffee shop, voice technology has made it easier than ever to access hands-free, relevant information instantly. 

With advancements in natural language processing and machine learning, coupled with people’s growing demand for convenience, it’s no surprise that more than 20% of Google’s App searches are now conducted using voice search (Think With Google). With this figure expected to grow by 2025.

As marketers, it’s essential we understand how this trend impacts consumer search behaviour and adapt our search strategies to stay ahead in the search market. 

The Conversational Shift

Voice search is inherently conversational. People tend to speak more naturally when using voice commands, often using phrases and questions that they’d use in everyday conversation. To ensure our content matches how people naturally search using voice, we should focus on some key strategies:

• Incorporate conversational keywords and phrases into your content by researching common phrases and analysing search term results. Mirroring everyday language patterns and crafting tailored responses can make your content more discoverable through voice search. 
• Provide direct answers to common questions. Structuring your content to address specific queries will enhance its relevance. Focus on how users might phrase their questions. Incorporate question words like “who,” “what,” “when,” “where,” and “why” into your headlines and content to align your responses with their search intent.

Long-Tailed Keywords

‘Long-tail keywords’ are the foundation of voice search optimisations. They are highly specific, targeted phrases that align closely with the way people naturally voice search commands. 

For instance, instead of using a broad keyword like “running shoes,” consider a more specific phrase such as “women’s Nike running shoes size 12.” Similarly, “coffee shops” can become “coffee shops near me.” They are more reflective of real-life speech patterns and, therefore, more likely to be used in voice search queries.

While this approach may seem limiting from a traditional search perspective, long-tail keywords not only improve your chances of ranking top in voice search results, but they also closely align your brand with user intent, potentially resulting in more efficient performance. 

Voice Search & Local Business

Voice search is no longer an option but an imperative for the local business. As mobile and mobile-useful searches are on the rise, the customers are increasingly relying on voice search to seek out services in close proximity to themselves, often using queries like “best pizza near me” or “open-now hairdresser near me.” Such goal-oriented, hyper-local searches continue to characterise the manner in which potential customers are discovering business in close proximity to themselves.

In order to benefit from the behaviour, area businesses ought to optimise for voice themselves. That involves having the Google Business Profile fully completed and regularly maintained, which includes long-tail keywords specific to the area, in addition to having the contact information, business hours, and directions in proper form on the site.

Voice searchers are typically ready to do something. Book a table, request directions, or order quickly: many voice searches are local and have strong buying intent. Optimising for these prime moments of visibility can best be done by optimising for voice and especially for the local scenario.

Voice Search in E-Commerce

In the e-retail industry, voice searching is transforming the manner in which customers seek, compare and purchase goods through the web. Since smart speakers and virtual assistants are gaining places in homes, customers are increasingly becoming accustomed to giving voice commands such as “Add running shoes to my basket” or “Track my previous order from [Brand].”

Voice search also lends itself to re-order and repeat business, especially through interfaces such as Alexa or Google Shopping integration. It’s possible to create an integrated, voice-optimised purchasing experience to drive brand loyalty and streamline the conversion journey.

As more and more customers use voice to reach the end-to-end online buying process, brands which invest in voice commerce optimisation will benefit not only in the form of improved discoverability but also future-proof their e-commerce strategy in an increasingly competitive market.

Advanced Voice Search Optimisation Tactics

To tap voice search in its entirety, marketers must move past keyword optimisation and accept structured intent-based optimisation.

1. Leverage Schema Markup for Rich Results

Voice assistants pull in content from structured data and featured snippets. By adding schema markup (e.g., How-To, Product schema, and FAQ), you have a better chance of being selected as an answer for voice questions.

Actionable Tip: Start with high-performing product or blog pages and enrich them with structured data in JSON-LD. Make sure your markup is voice-friendly with tools like Google’s Rich Result Test.

2. Optimise for Featured Snippets and Position Zero

Such assistants typically read answers from zero position, also known as featured snippets. Craft your content to directly answer questions in 40 – 60 words. For instance, a fitness business targeting the question “How often should you run per week?” rewrote blog articles with an immediate short-answer lead and took that snippet, which became the voice response via Google Assistant.

Actionable Tip: Identify high-intent question terms with tools like AnswerThePublic or SEMrush’s ‘Questions’ report. Revise your content to include rapid, pithy answers higher up in the page.

3. Local + Conversational Content Strategy

A local restaurant had optimised their SEO for voice search. After incorporating conversational phrases and local keywords into the website content, they noticed a 20% increase in online reservations within two months. (Market Interview)

Actionable Tip: Mix geo-specific keywords with colloquial voice. Swap out meta descriptions and H1s for traditional voice query formats like “Find [product/service] near me” or “Best [category] for [need] in [location].”

Optimising for voice search is less about ranking than it is about forecasting human behaviour in micro-moments. Combining technical SEO (e.g. schema) with pieces of native-language content and local optimisation builds an approach that’s not only future-proof but user-centric.

Context Matters

Context plays a key role in voice search. Factors like time of day, location, and even recent search history significantly influence search results. For example, a query like “What’s the weather today?” is more likely to be asked in the morning, while searches for “restaurants near me” typically occur in the afternoon or evening. 

Understanding the importance of contextual relevance, and ensuring your search strategy is adaptable and dynamic can significantly improve your effectiveness. Being aware of when and where your audience will engage with voice search and optimising your content to meet their needs in the right context is key. 

This can be easily achieved by implementing dynamic bidding strategies to adjust your bids based on real-time factors such as device type and location. This will help you reach users at the precise moment they’re looking for information you can provide.

Adapting your search strategy to encompass voice search is no longer optional – it’s essential. Voice search optimisations require marketers to anticipate user behaviour. A proactive, smart, and agile approach – one that takes into account context, relevance, and a human-centred perspective – will help you succeed in voice search marketing.

Author: Rhian Biggs

Rhian Biggs, Senior Paid Media Account Executive at Tug, has over 4 years of experience designing and executing high-performing paid and owned media strategies in an agency setting across clients.