How to optimise content for voice search

Siri, Alexa, Google Assistant – they’re all listening. Waiting for us to ask them questions about the things we want and need. Voice-activated search functions on mobile phones, speakers, and other devices are becoming the norm. At the beginning of 2021, 7 out of 10 of the UK public had used voice search in the last month.

Music and general search are the two main ways the technology is being used. In fact, 71% of UK voice-users are searching for answers to their questions at least once a week.

The interesting thing from a marketing perspective is that the way people use voice search is subtly different to the way they use text search. As voice search is used more often and by more people, optimising for it will become more important in your charity’s digital marketing strategy.

How does voice search work?

In basic terms, voice search uses speech recognition technology to identify individual letters and group them into recognisable words. It then identifies relevant keywords and trigger words on websites to direct the user to an answer or read one out.

At its best, the experience of using voice search is like chatting to a knowledgeable friend. You can make several tweaks to your website content to increase the likelihood that it will be found by voice search engines, as well as thinking carefully about how to give the best experience to the person asking the question.

Five tips to optimise your content for voice search

Answer the questions your audience are asking

The way we use voice search is slightly different to text search. When we make a voice search query, we are more likely to ask a full question, such as, “What are the symptoms of heart disease?”.

With text search, we tend to type keywords only. So for the same query, we might type “heart disease symptoms.”

It’s really important to understand the questions that your audience are asking to make sure that they are answered by the information on your website. Tools like, Answer the Public can help you find out the questions being searched around a particular topic.

Stuart Davies from Creative Bloom adds, “if you have a page set up to answer the common search queries then you have a chance of [getting into the] top spots on the knowledge panels which Alexa will reel off in voice search results.”

Optimise your content for ‘long tail keywords’

Traditionally, SEO experts advised that charities include keywords in website copy, meta tags, links and subheadings, to name a few. Because audiences use longer, more conversational search terms in voice search, charities need to start including ‘long tail’ keywords that are 3-5 words in length too. Particularly the trigger words that start questions, such as ‘how’, ‘what’ and ‘best.’ 20% of all voice search is triggered by a list of 25 key words.

Create skimmable content

When 10,000 Google Home searches were analysed, the study found that 40% of voice search results were pulled from what is called the featured snippet. Featured snippets were introduced by Google in 2014. The function pulls text, tables, lists and other information from websites and displays them directly in the search engine.

You can increase the chance that Google and other search engines will choose your content to answer a query by including regular subheadings, tables, lists and short, concise definitions. This way of writing will help all audiences visiting your site to access information because we all tend to skim read online.

Optimising for local search is vital

46% of all google searches are seeking local information, so optimising for voice search is particularly important for charities serving a local geographical area. Making your phone numbers and addresses clear on your contact pages and use long-tail keywords like ‘near me’ in meta tags will help to get your information shared in relevant local searches.

Update your Google Business Listing

Google uses its business listing service to support voice search, so having a listing and making sure that it’s up to date is another way to get found.

Focus on the experience

Voice search humanises the process of seeking support. If the answer to an emotionally challenging question returns a cold and clinical response, something has been lost.

Using clear, accessible, conversational and empathetic language on your charity’s website will improve your audience’s experience of voice search and more importantly, demonstrate that you care about what they’re going through.

Voice search is a digital trend to watch in 2022 and a great excuse to make sure your website content is accessible, knowledgeable and kind.