Speed is key
Google announced back at the start of 2018 that from July, page speed would be a ranking factor for mobile as well as desktop searches. The increasing importance of page speed as a ranking factor would inevitably be reflected in voice search results too. And it has – a recent study by SEO expert Brian Dean on his website Backlinko found that the average voice search result page loads 52% faster than the worldwide average.
This makes a lot of sense when you think about it. When you ask Google Assistant or Amazon’s Alexa or any other voice search device a question, you want it answered immediately. It’s the main reason that voice search is the fastest growing search type – it’s quicker and more convenient than traditional typed searches. So, if you want your website to rank as high as possible in voice search, make sure your pages are loading as quickly as possible.
Short & simple content
When it comes to voice search, Google has further guidelines on the characteristics of the ideal “search speech” answers it, and its users, expect. Google splits its evaluation of voice search answers into two ratings – Needs Met Rating and Speech Quality Rating. Needs Met relates to the relevance of the response (something every SEO should be all too familiar with), while Speech Quality concerns how it was answered.
The three main three features of Speech Quality are:
- Length – is the response an appropriate length?
- Formulation – is the response grammatically correct and formulated like a native speaker?
- Elocution – were words pronounced correctly and was the rhythm and intonation of voice natural?
It’s pretty clear from the guidelines that Google wants voice search answers to be short and specific. Moreover, BackLinko’s study found that the average voice search result is only 29 words long. Brevity is definitely a virtue when it comes to the world of voice search.
Although “eyes-free voice assistants” (as Google likes to call them) are becoming increasingly sophisticated, their elocution is still not perfect. Voice search results must therefore be worded in the simplest way possible to give eyes-free devices the best chance of understanding and articulating the answer.
Whereas traditional SEO strategies have focused on the length and formulation of content, it is only with the advent of voice search that SEOs will now have to also consider how it is articulated. – Is anyone else picturing a metallic ‘Alexa’ Doolittle repeating the phrase “The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain”? No? Just me then.
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