Introduction to SEO and voice search
These days, the rapid evolution of technology has brought to the fore new ways of interacting with our everyday devices. Among these, voice-activated searches, made possible by virtual assistants such as Amazon's Alexa, Google Home, and Apple's Siri, are becoming an increasingly important part of our lives. These technological advances are also shaking up the world of SEO, adding a new layer of complexity to search engine optimisation.
A better understanding of SEO for voice referencing
SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is a strategy that involves maximizing the number of visitors to a website by ensuring that the site appears at the top of the list of results returned by a search engine. Voice SEO, meanwhile, is adding to the SEO landscape as users begin to conduct voice searches via their devices, generating more conversational and often longer search queries. It is therefore important to adapt SEO operations to meet the specific needs of this new type of search.
Preparing your site for voice-activated searches
Preparing your website for voice search may require major changes to your SEO strategy. First of all, you need to understand that voice search queries are generally longer and more specific than text searches. What's more, they tend to be phrased as questions. As a result, your keyword strategy will probably need to focus more on long phrases and specific terms. Finally, given that many voice searches are local, it is essential that your website is perfectly optimised for local search.
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Why voice search is already transforming SEO strategy
The first major studies on voice search date back to the release of Siri (2011), but it wasn't until 2016 that Google announced that 20 % of Android mobile searches were by voice. By 2023, Comscore estimates that this ratio will have risen to more than 50 % in certain countries in Asia and North America. This accelerated adoption is not just a fad: it's the result of a societal shift in the way we interact with technology. Marketers need to understand that voice queries are not just replacing the keyboard,
they are changing the linguistic structure of queries, search intent and the way in which responses are consumed (audio, intelligent screens, automotive dashboards, etc.). Traditional SEO, focused on optimising on-screen results, must therefore evolve towards SEO designed for the ear, for speed of response and for delivery by a virtual assistant.
Overview of voice assistants and search surfaces
Smartphones: the historic heart
Even though connected speakers have captured the collective imagination, 62 % of voice requests worldwide are still made via a smartphone. Google Assistant dominates thanks to its Android integration, while Apple retains a captive iOS ecosystem with Siri. The interest for SEO lies in hybridization: assistants take advantage of geolocation, app history and the micro-moment (for example: OK Google, show me an open café near me). This "always on" dimension implies local and contextual optimisation that is more refined than a simple text query on the desktop.
Connected speakers: the screen-free interface
With Amazon Echo (Alexa) and Google Nest, the user becomes screenless. This is a game-changer, because a voice assistant generally reads just ONE response, often extracted from a Featured Snippet. As a result, competition for the zero position is intensifying. According to a Backlinko study, 40.7 % of voice responses come from position 0. For a site, appearing in the top 10 is no longer enough: you need to aim for succinct content, rich in structured data and formulated for oral delivery. unambiguous.
Cars, TV and IoT: the next frontier
Ford, BMW and Mercedes are now integrating Alexa or their own voice assistants into their dashboards. Samsung, via Tizen, is connecting televisions and fridges to Bixby. Each new Elisa voice object adds new micro-moments.
its: searching for a recipe while your hands are kneading dough, finding a service station while driving, or adjusting the temperature in the living room. For SEO, this means shorter query patterns (e.g. France 2), a critical focus on speed of response and an emphasis on context (location, device, time).
Understanding the linguistics of voice queries
Keyboard queries are telegraphic (weather in Paris), while the voice invites natural language (What will the weather be like in Paris this weekend?). BrightEdge has shown that the average length of voice requests is 29 words, compared with 3 words for text. This linguistic divergence has direct implications:
- Explosion of the long tail: conversational expressions generate smaller but cumulative volumes.
- Predominance of who/what/where/when/how, the famous 5 Ws of journalism, often absent from traditional SEO.
- Stronger emotional and conative expressivity (can you, I would like to).
For example, an e-commerce site selling running shoes should deal with "which shoes to use to run a half-marathon on the road" rather than "road running shoes". The editorial team benefits from creating structured FAQs, conversational guides and phrasal H2/H3 titles that reflect this naturalness.
Featured Snippets and the quest for Position 0
Voice search relies heavily on Featured Snippets, Quick Answers and Knowledge Graph. When an assistant reads the answer, it often quotes the source: According to LeMonde.fr.... However, this quotation is made on average 0.54 seconds after the key interjection (Hey Google). The priority criteria detected by SEMrush to appear in position 0 include the length of the response (29-41 words), the presence of numbered or bulleted lists and a markup. simple.
Real-life example: in 2022, Bordeaux City Council reworked an FAQ page on "How to obtain a birth certificate". Initially positioned 5ethe page is moved to position 0 after :
- Write a 36-word summary answer.
- Addition of a FAQPage schema.
- Image compression and transition to a Time To First Byte (TTFB) of 150 ms.
Results: +320 % of organic traffic, but above all +750 % of telephone calls referenced as Voice Assistant in Google Analytics 4 (via the event source=voice).
Technical optimisation essential: speed, mobile-first and Core Web Vitals
Speed: 2 seconds or nothing
The Google Assistant algorithm favours pages that respond in less than 2 seconds. Backlinko has measured that the median latency of winning voice responses is 0.54 s, compared with 2.10 s for an average page. In practical terms, if your site uses a heavy CMS, activate server caching (Varnish, Redis) and implement HTTP/2 (or HTTP/3) for multiplexing. In a textbook example, the online magazine Topito went from 3.8 s to 1.4 s thanks to image lazy-loading and CSS/JS minification, thus achieving voice selection for short jokes for children.
Mobile-first: beyond responsive
Being mobile-friendly is not just about responsive design. Voice search often uses AMP or lightweight versions to speed up content delivery. It is advisable to test the site in Lighthouse Simulate Slow 4G to evaluate the Core Web Vitals, in particular CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift) which could disrupt snippet retrieval. Also consider lazy-hydration if you're using React or Vue: progressive hydration ensures that static HTML is serviceable before JavaScript execution.
Schéma.org, JSON-LD and Open Graph: speaking the language of machines
Voice search draws its answers from the Knowledge Graph; in order to appear there, entities (people, places, organisations) need to be tagged. JSON-LD is now preferred to Microdata because it doesn't break the HTML structure and can be used in a variety of ways. <script type="application/ld+json">. Critical types of voice :
- FAQPage provides precisely the question/answer pairs that the wizard can read.
- HowTo ideal for "how to" queries, which are in the majority on Alexa.
- Recipe A must for Google Nest Hub and Amazon Echo Show surfaces, which display milestones and timers.
Case study: In 2021, Marmiton is deploying a markup system Recipe enriched (nutrition, preparation time, video). The time spent per session via Nest Hub increased by 38 % and the "add to shopping list" conversion rate by 52 %. Structured data therefore acts like the SSO (Single Sign-On) of voice search: it authenticates your content to the AI.
Local SEO and near-me searches: a vital voice issue
According to Google, 58 % of voice searches on smartphones have local intentions. The Where's the nearest pizzeria? pattern illustrates the importance of optimising Google Business Profile, NAP (Name, Address, Phone) and accumulating reviews. Assistants often vocalise the average rating (This restaurant is rated 4.6 out of 5, based on 213 reviews).
The operator of a garage in Lyon noticed a spike of 64 % in incoming calls after :
- Added questions/answers to Google Business (Do you do roadworthiness tests without an appointment?).
- Integrated tags
geoandPostalAddresson the contact page. - Put weekly posts (offers) to feed the Updates tab accessible via Google Assistant.
Conversational content strategies
Building a dialogue tree
TrafficThinkTank proposes mapping macro-intentions (Information, Navigation, Transaction) and then writing tree structures: If the user asks for X, follow up with Y. A high-tech blog can thus plan :
What's the best 5G smartphone 2024? ➜ - Price? ➜ - <40 € par mois ?
This framework allows you to write paragraphs that answer the main question directly, while anticipating sub-questions. Assistants prefer complete answers, but not necessarily exhaustive ones. Aim for clarity, then ask for more information to capture the screen session.
Using anaphors and implicit reformulation
Users often ask: Who is LeBron James? and then How tall is he? Your content should be structured to isolate the attributes of an entity. A Wikipedia-like article, tagged with
Measuring and monitoring voice SEO performance
Google Search Console does not (yet) display a Voice segment. To get around this, you can :
- Track Featured Snippets via Semrush/SEMrush Sensor.
- Configure GA4 with a URL parameter such as
?utm_medium=voicefor the links that the assistant sends to your smartphone site. - Analyse the server logs and locate the user-agent Assistant or Google Speech-Assistant.
Amazon provides Skill Analytics for Alexa; if your brand has a skill, correlate internal requests with the evolution of organic impressions. From a KPI point of view, focus on: click-to-screen rates (for devices with display), phone calls, route requests and voice commands executed. These signals go beyond simple web traffic.
Case study: Domino's Pizza and Voice SEO
Domino's launched Dom, order pizza by voice via Alexa and Google Assistant back in 2017. Even before the skill was created, their SEO team had restructured the site:
- Simplified product pages (6 main options) to reduce voice latency.
- Schema .org Menu and Offer to display prices and toppings.
- Integration of a webhook that returns a deep link URL to the mobile application.
Results: 500,000 voice commands in the first year in the United States, followed by a roll-out to 13 countries. Key point: the company has coupled technical SEO (structured data) with user experience (One-Click payment). Good Voice SEO goes hand in hand with a fluid transactional funnel.
Anticipating the future: generative AI, multimodality and respect for privacy
The rise of LLMs and extended conversational research
With Google Bard, ChatGPT Voice Search or Microsoft Copilot, assistants are moving from a Q&A model to a prolonged conversation. SEO will therefore need to consider dialog consistency: content must remain relevant even after 4 rounds of questions. Here, the use of Graph QL coupled with a headless CMS facilitates the re-exposition of entities in different conversational contexts.
Multimodality: from voice to visual
Assistants with screens (Echo Show, Nest Hub) display text, images and video simultaneously. Optimise your <picture> for 1280×800 surfaces, provide VTT transcriptions of your videos and compress the JPEGs to 85 %. A page can first appear in audio, then switch to visual if the user so wishes. The challenge is twofold: speed and cross-channel consistency.
Privacy & first-party data
Voice is sensitive biometric data. In Europe, the GDPR requires explicit consent for voice analysis. Site owners must ensure that they do not store voice recordings or personal data transmitted by the assistant, unless they have given their consent. In the future, the disappearance of third-party cookies will make first-party data (newsletter registration, customer account) essential for retargeting users after a voice interaction.
Operational checklist for your Voice SEO roadmap
1. Perform a conversational keyword search (AnswerThePublic, AlsoAsked).
2. Writing FAQs in natural language (max 29-41 words per answer).
3. Implement JSON-LD (FAQPage, HowTo, LocalBusiness).
4. Optimise TTFB: aim for ≤ 200 ms (CDN, cache, HTTP/2).
5. Aim for Core Web Vitals Good (LCP < 2.5 s, CLS < 0.1, FID/FCP).
6. Improve local SEO: updated Google Business Profile, reviews ≥ 4.5.
7. Create a monitoring plan: logs, GA4 events, Semrush sensors.
8. Integrate voice search into the UX / Payment chain.
9. Form the content teams for the spoken response.
10. Reassess your Voice SEO performance on a quarterly basis.
Conclusion: moving from visibility to service
Voice search is more than just a new channel; it is repositioning SEO in terms of immediate service. It's no longer enough to be found: you have to be understood, retrievable in less than a second and useful without friction. By approaching technical performance, conversational semantics and structured data as an inseparable triptych, you can prepare your site for the post-screen era, where the voice assistant becomes the default interface. Those who adapt will turn every Hey Google or Alexa into a tangible opportunity, whether it's a click, a call or an order. It's up to you.
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