How To Use Voice Search Optimization To Get More Traffic

Voice search optimization is a set of efforts to improve your site’s performance for searches using voice command. 

Voice search is already part of how many consumers discover products online. A 2025 consumer study found that 56% of respondents occasionally use voice assistants to find products online, while 10% use them frequently. This suggests an opportunity for ecommerce businesses to make their website content more accessible to conversational searches.

By implementing voice search optimization techniques, you can prepare your content for the future of search. Learn more about the best practices for voice search optimization and how these best practices can help ecommerce stores specifically.

What is voice search optimization?

Voice search optimization is the process of improving your site’s performance for search queries initiated by voice commands, also known as voice searches. 

Traditional search engine optimization (SEO) best practices—like creating useful content, site indexing, optimizing for mobile, and improving site speed—support voice search optimization efforts as well. 

But optimizing for voice search emphasizes conversational language and targeting more long-tail keywords.

How does voice search work?

Many voice search users run queries through digital voice assistants like Apple’s Siri or Amazon’s Alexa, which use artificial intelligence (AI) and natural language processing technology to respond to natural language queries. 

Users can access digital voice assistants through voice-activated devices (like Amazon Echo Speakers) or AI-powered apps (like Google Assistant or ChatGPT). 

Users can also use voice-to-text technology to search on traditional search engines like Google, Yahoo, or Bing. Voice search result formats depend on the device and can include search engine results pages or spoken responses to user questions.

Businesses that run on Shopify also bring voice search shopping directly to their online stores. For example, Talkify is a Shopify app that lets shoppers use spoken queries to search an online store’s product catalog so customers can find products without typing.

Why optimize for voice search?

Voice search is becoming popular with consumers. Statista found that nearly a quarter of internet users worldwide used voice assistants each week in late 2025. Voice is also playing a role in ecommerce through voice shopping.

According to 2026 research from NIQ, 10% of consumers had used a voice assistant to purchase or reorder products within the previous month.

Voice search is expected to continue growing in the coming years. According to a 2025 Global Industry Analysts report, the global voice search market is projected to grow from $3.7 billion in 2024 to $11.2 billion by 2030, representing a compound annual growth rate of 20.4%.

Connected device sales are also increasing, meaning consumers are becoming more familiar with voice search technology and have more access to it. 

In addition to busy people who want to search hands free, perhaps while multitasking, voice search can improve website accessibility. This helps increase your target audience and potential customer base.

Best practices for voice search optimization

• Use a conversational tone
• Include more long-tail keywords
• Target local searches
• Optimize your site for mobile search
• Structure content for direct answers
• Use schema markup

Here are a few best practices to help optimize your website for voice search:

Use a conversational tone

Voice searches tend to use more conversational language than traditional text-based search queries. Instead of typing “best outdoor activities Santa Fe,” a user might say, “Hey Siri, what are some fun things to do outside in Santa Fe?” 

You can improve traditional and AI search engine visibility for these requests by creating clear content, avoiding overly formal or technical language, and using conversational keywords. These use natural speech patterns and are often complete sentences or familiar sentence fragments. 

For a more natural content flow, you can include question keyword phrases, like “Which heel styles work best for wide feet?” with concise answers in an FAQ page on your online store.

Your target market may not always use the same terms or phrases you do. Avoid using industry jargon or technical and clinical terminology by itself if your customer doesn’t. 

The more you know your audience, the better you’ll be able to “speak their language,” even if the terms they use are different from those you use. 

For example, does your primary customer looking for security systems search for “residential security” or “home security?” Combine your keyword research with audience analysis to refine your answer engine optimization (AEO) and SEO strategies.

Include more long-tail keywords

Voice searches are typically longer than traditional text-based searches. Most users speak faster than they type and include more information and words in each query. Instead of “men’s loafers,” for example, a user might say “Find burgundy men’s loafers for sale size 10 under $50.”

Your business can optimize for this type of search with highly specific phrases. These long-tail keywords represent the far end (or “tail”) of the search demand curve. Because they’re more detailed or niche keywords, they have lower search volumes than traditional keywords, and are often less competitive. 

They have at least three words and may use natural speech patterns, although they don’t need to qualify as conversational keywords to provide voice search value. 

Look for long-tail keywords that reflect specific customer needs, then incorporate them naturally into product descriptions, collection or category pages, buying guides, and FAQs. Avoid creating content solely to target every possible variation, but prioritize queries relevant to your products and useful to shoppers.

To identify long-tail voice search keywords for your brand, use keyword research tools. Enter a broad keyword, and the tool will provide related keywords along with information about monthly search volumes and competition.

Target local searches

Local search queries help users find businesses in a specific geographic location. Examples include “mattress store in Raleigh” or “ebikes near me.” 

Research shows that local queries are one of the most popular types of voice search. They can also signal strong customer intent to buy, making them particularly valuable for your business. You can use local SEO tactics to optimize your content for local voice search queries. Here are four strategies to try:

• Set up a Google Business profile. A Google Business profile can help you appear on Google Maps and in location-based Google searches. If you have a pop-up shop, physical store, or retail partner to stock your products, include up-to-date contact details, hours, and website links.
• Add your location to your site. Create a dedicated webpage or include retail location information on your Contact and About pages. Many local businesses also include street addresses in site footers. 
• Join other directories and listings. Add your company to other search engine directories (like Bing Places and Apple Maps) and local business listings (like Yelp and the Yellow Pages). Include a link to your site, and keep your information up to date.
• Earn more reviews. Positive reviews in search engine business listings can also boost performance. Solicit reviews by sending post-interaction emails to customers and starting a loyalty program that rewards customers for writing honest reviews.

Optimize your site for mobile search

Over half of all web traffic comes from mobile devices, so mobile-friendly site design is critical to any SEO strategy. It’s particularly important for voice search because about 56% of voice searches come from mobile devices. Here’s how to optimize for mobile:

• Use responsive site design. Responsive site design adapts to different screen sizes. It automatically adapts your site’s layout and resizes images and text for smaller screens. Shopify provides responsive themes that you can edit and view across device types.
• Minimize copy on pages. Users may expect a text-heavy page on your blog but may not scroll past a wall of text to view product images or find the Add to Cart button—especially on a smaller screen.
• Design for tapping. Make interactive and clickable elements big enough for thumbs to tap on—a minimum of 48 by 48 pixels. 
• Design vertically. Smaller screens mean more vertical scrolling, unlike desktops with horizontal screens. Stick to single-column layouts and carefully consider every header, image, and button to reduce clutter.

Structure content for direct answers

Google featured snippets are short content excerpts that appear above other links on Google’s search engine results pages. As of 2018, 40% of Google Assistant voice results come from featured snippets, so if your content is featured there, it’s more likely to be used in voice search answers.

You can increase your likelihood of appearing in a SERP’s featured snippet when you:

• Provide direct, high-quality answers to common search questions
• Use keyword-rich headings and subheadings
• Use numbered steps or bullets to format answers when applicable

Use schema markup

Schema markup is machine-readable code that helps search engines find key information about your business. This can improve your site’s overall search performance, help search engines locate answers to common voice search queries, and increase your chance of earning featured snippet placement. 

It’s also invisible to human users, so you can use it to provide key data to search engines without worrying about how it affects site design.

Arthur Camberlein, technical SEO lead at Shopify, emphasizes its usefulness. 

“Schema markup are indicators, additional context for bots to better understand your content,” he says. “Implementing schema markup serves as positive directional information for EEAT, further enhancing your site’s credibility in the eyes of both users, LLMs and search engines.”

Shopify automatically adds certain types of structured data to supported themes, such as products, prices, and availability, giving search engines machine-readable information about your store. 

You can review your theme’s structured data and use Google Search Console’s Page Indexing report to monitor how Google crawls and indexes your store.