Voice Search and E-commerce: How to Make Your Online Store Voice-Friendly

Voice search has become an increasingly popular way for people to search for products and services online. In fact, it is predicted that by 2023, the number of voice assistant users will reach 8 billion worldwide. With the rise of voice search, it’s essential for e-commerce businesses to optimize their online stores for voice search to remain competitive in the market.

In this blog post, we’ll discuss how you can make your e-commerce website voice-friendly to attract more customers and improve your online sales.

Focus on Conversational Language

When it comes to voice search, people tend to use more conversational language than when typing in a search query. For example, a person might type “best smartphones” into a search engine, but when using voice search, they might say “what are the best smartphones available now?”.

As an e-commerce business owner, it’s important to keep this in mind when optimizing your online store for voice search. Use conversational language in your product descriptions, category names, and even your URLs. This will make it easier for voice assistants to understand your content and serve it to the right audience.

Optimize for Local Search

Many people use voice search to find local businesses and services, so it’s essential to optimize your e-commerce store for local search. Include your location in your product descriptions, category names, and your “About Us” page.

Another way to optimize for local search is to claim your Google My Business listing. This will help your business appear in Google Maps, and it also provides valuable information about your business such as your opening hours, contact details, and customer reviews.

Use Schema Markup

Schema markup is a type of code that you can add to your website to help search engines understand your content better. It’s especially useful for voice search because it provides more information about your products and services, making it easier for voice assistants to provide relevant results.

Using schema markup can also help your e-commerce store appear in featured snippets, which are the boxes that appear at the top of search results that provide a quick answer to a user’s query.

Provide Clear and Concise Product Information

When using voice search, people often ask specific questions about products or services. To ensure that your online store is voice-friendly, provide clear and concise product information that answers the most common questions your customers might ask.

For example, if you’re selling a laptop, provide information about the screen size, battery life, and storage capacity. You might also include answers to questions such as “what is the operating system?” or “does it come with a warranty?”.

Use Structured Data

Structured data is another type of code that you can add to your website to help search engines understand your content better. It provides more detailed information about your products, such as the brand, color, and size, which can be used to create more accurate search results.

Structured data can also be used to provide more information about your business, such as your opening hours, contact details, and customer reviews.

Make Your Website Mobile-Friendly

Voice search is often used on mobile devices, so it’s essential to make sure that your website is mobile-friendly. This means that your website should be optimized for smaller screens, load quickly, and be easy to navigate on a touch screen.

Google has a mobile-friendly test that you can use to check if your website is mobile-friendly. If your website isn’t mobile-friendly, it can affect your search engine rankings and your overall user experience.

Focus on Page Speed

Page speed is another essential factor when it comes to optimizing your e-commerce store for voice search. People expect fast results when using voice search, and if your website takes too long to load, they may abandon it and look for a faster alternative.

To improve your website’s page speed, there are several things you can do. First, optimize your images by compressing them and using the right file format. Second, use a content delivery network (CDN) to speed up your website’s load times. Finally, minify your CSS and JavaScript files to reduce the size of your website’s code.

Implement Voice Search-Friendly Navigation

The way people navigate your website can also affect how voice-friendly it is. Use simple and clear navigation that is easy to understand and use. You might also consider implementing voice search-friendly navigation, such as using natural language to describe your categories and product pages.

For example, instead of using “Shop Men’s Shoes”, you could use “Find the perfect pair of men’s shoes” or “Browse men’s shoes by style and size”.

Include FAQ Pages

Frequently asked questions (FAQ) pages can be an excellent way to make your e-commerce store more voice-friendly. People often use voice search to ask specific questions, and FAQ pages provide a quick and easy way to answer those questions.

Include questions and answers that are relevant to your products and services, and use conversational language to make them easy to understand.

Test Your Voice Search Optimization

Finally, it’s essential to test your voice search optimization to ensure that it’s working correctly. Use voice search yourself to see how well your website performs and make adjustments as necessary.

You might also consider using tools such as Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test or Google Search Console to check your website’s performance and identify any issues that need to be addressed.

Conclusion

Voice search is an increasingly important part of e-commerce, and it’s essential for online store owners to optimize their websites for this technology. By using conversational language, optimizing for local search, using schema markup and structured data, providing clear product information, making your website mobile-friendly and fast, implementing voice search-friendly navigation, including FAQ pages, and testing your voice search optimization, you can create a more voice-friendly e-commerce store that attracts more customers and increases your online sales.