Voice search is rapidly becoming a major player in the world of search engines, and it’s a trend that multilingual websites can’t afford to ignore. As voice-activated devices like smartphones, smart speakers, and virtual assistants continue to grow in popularity, optimizing your multilingual website for voice search is essential for reaching a broader global audience.

In this article, we’ll explore how to optimize your multilingual website for voice search, focusing on strategies that improve your visibility and rankings in voice search results across different languages and regions.

Why Voice Search Matters for Multilingual SEO

Voice search is fundamentally different from traditional text-based search. Users tend to speak more naturally when using voice search, often phrasing their queries as complete questions rather than using short keywords. For multilingual websites, this shift presents both challenges and opportunities. Voice search optimization requires a more conversational approach, which varies across languages and cultures.

As voice search usage continues to grow globally, optimizing your multilingual website for this trend will help you capture more traffic from users who are increasingly relying on voice-activated search tools like Google Assistant, Alexa, Siri, and Cortana.

Key Factors for Optimizing Multilingual Websites for Voice Search

1. Focus on Conversational Keywords and Long-Tail Queries

When users conduct voice searches, they typically use more natural, conversational language. Instead of typing “best Italian restaurants,” they might ask, “What are the best Italian restaurants near me?” This shift in behavior means you need to optimize for longer, more conversational keywords.

For multilingual websites, this involves:

• Conducting localized keyword research: Identify the long-tail keywords and phrases that people in each region are using when they perform voice searches in their native language. Tools like Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs, or SEMrush can help you find these conversational queries.
• Using natural language: Write content in a way that mimics how users speak, not just how they type. This is especially important for voice search queries, which are often phrased as questions or commands.

For example:

• English voice search query: “Where can I find vegan restaurants in Los Angeles?”
• Spanish voice search query: “¿Dónde puedo encontrar restaurantes veganos en Los Ángeles?”

Tailor your content to address these questions and ensure that the localized versions of your website are optimized for conversational voice search queries.

2. Create Voice-Friendly Content

Voice search tends to prioritize short, concise answers to user queries, often pulling from featured snippets or position zero in Google search results. To optimize your multilingual website for voice search, focus on creating content that answers questions directly and succinctly.

Here are some tips:

• Answer specific questions: Create FAQ-style content that answers common voice search queries in a straightforward manner. For example, use headings like “What is the best time to visit Paris?” or “How do I apply for a visa in Spain?”
• Use structured data: Implement schema markup to help search engines understand your content and make it more likely to be featured as a rich result or snippet. This is especially important for voice search, as search engines often pull answers directly from structured data.
• Focus on local content: Many voice searches have local intent, such as “Where is the nearest pharmacy?” Ensure that your multilingual website includes localized content that caters to these local searches.

For example, on a travel site targeting users in France, you could create a blog post answering the question, “What are the best attractions in Paris during the winter?”

3. Optimize for Featured Snippets and Position Zero

Featured snippets, often called “position zero,” are the short pieces of information that Google pulls from a webpage to display at the top of the search results. These are highly valued in voice search because virtual assistants like Google Assistant and Alexa often read them aloud to answer user queries.

To optimize for featured snippets in multiple languages:

• Use clear, concise answers: Structure your content to provide short, direct answers to common questions at the beginning of a paragraph or section.
• Incorporate question-based headings: Use headings that mimic voice search queries, such as “How do I book a hotel in Madrid?” or “What are the best places to visit in Tokyo?”
• Include lists and bullet points: Google often pulls information from lists and bullet points for featured snippets, so organizing your content in this way can increase your chances of being featured.

For multilingual websites, ensure that each language version of your site is optimized for featured snippets by localizing the content to reflect the most common questions users are asking in each region.

4. Optimize for Local Search

Many voice search queries are location-based, such as “Where is the closest grocery store?” or “What time does the bakery near me open?” Optimizing your multilingual website for local search is critical for capturing voice search traffic.

To do this:

• Create local landing pages: Develop localized pages for each region that include specific location-based information. Ensure that each page is fully optimized with local keywords, addresses, phone numbers, and other relevant details.
• Claim and optimize Google My Business listings: Ensure that your business is listed and optimized in Google My Business for each location. Provide accurate, localized information, including operating hours, address, phone number, and services offered.
• Include local keywords: Use location-specific keywords in your content, meta descriptions, and headings. For example, if you’re targeting users in France, your keywords might include “restaurants à Paris” or “pharmacie près de chez moi.”

For multilingual websites, ensure that each language version is tailored to the local region’s search habits. For example, users in Spain may search differently from those in Mexico, so localized content is essential.

5. Ensure Mobile Friendliness

Most voice searches are conducted on mobile devices, so ensuring that your multilingual website is mobile-friendly is crucial for success in voice search. Google prioritizes mobile-optimized websites in search rankings, especially for voice queries.

To optimize your site for mobile:

• Use responsive design: Ensure that your website is fully responsive, meaning it adjusts to fit any screen size or device.
• Improve page load speed: Mobile users expect fast loading times, so make sure your site is optimized for speed. Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights to identify and fix any performance issues.
• Ensure easy navigation: Make sure your site is easy to navigate on mobile devices, with clear buttons, a simple layout, and touch-friendly design elements.

For multilingual websites, ensure that all language versions are equally optimized for mobile devices. Don’t neglect non-English pages—test the mobile performance of every language version to ensure a seamless experience across the board.

6. Incorporate Structured Data and Schema Markup

Structured data and schema markup help search engines understand your content and make it more likely to appear in voice search results. For multilingual websites, implementing structured data across all language versions is crucial for helping search engines identify and serve the correct content for voice queries.

Use schema markup to:

• Highlight important information: Add structured data for business details, product information, reviews, FAQs, events, and other relevant content that can help answer voice search queries.
• Support local search: Implement LocalBusiness schema to provide search engines with details about your business, such as address, phone number, hours of operation, and services offered in each location.
• Mark up FAQs: Use FAQ schema to help search engines recognize and pull your content into rich results and voice search responses.

Ensure that schema markup is correctly implemented for each language version of your site, and validate your structured data using Google’s Structured Data Testing Tool.

7. Monitor and Track Performance

After implementing voice search optimizations, it’s important to monitor and track performance to see how your multilingual website is ranking in voice search results.

To do this:

• Use Google Search Console: Track the performance of each language version of your website and identify any issues that may be affecting your rankings in voice search.
• Analyze voice search data: Use tools like SEMrush or Ahrefs to monitor keyword performance, including long-tail and conversational queries that may be relevant to voice search.
• Track featured snippets: Monitor which pages on your site are ranking for featured snippets and optimize further based on the results.

Regularly reviewing performance data will help you understand how your multilingual voice search optimization efforts are paying off and where you can make further improvements.

Case Study: Voice Search Optimization for a Global Travel Company

A global travel company with multilingual websites in English, French, and German wanted to improve its visibility in voice search results to capture more traffic from users searching for travel information via virtual assistants.

To achieve this, the company:

• Conducted keyword research for each language to identify common voice search queries related to travel.
• Created FAQ pages that answered specific voice search queries, such as “How do I find cheap flights to Paris?” and “What are the top attractions in Berlin?”
• Optimized content for featured snippets by providing concise, direct answers to common travel-related questions.
• Implemented schema markup for FAQs, local business information, and events.

After implementing these optimizations, the company saw a 20% increase in traffic from voice search queries across all regions, with higher rankings in featured snippets and improved engagement from mobile users.

Conclusion

Optimizing your multilingual website for voice search is essential for staying competitive in the evolving world of search engines. By focusing on conversational keywords, creating voice-friendly content, optimizing for local search, and implementing structured data, you can capture more traffic from voice search users and improve your overall SEO performance.

For businesses looking to expand globally, Web Zodiac’s SEO Services offer comprehensive solutions for optimizing multilingual websites, including white-label SEO services and enterprise SEO services. By following the best practices outlined in this guide, you can ensure that your multilingual website is optimized for voice search, delivering better results and reaching a broader global audience.